Bruce Arians appears to throw Tom Brady under bus after first loss
Tom Brady did not play particularly well in his Tampa Bay Buccaneers debut on Sunday, and head coach Bruce Arians is not going out of his way to defend his Hall of Fame quarterback.
Arians on Monday was discussing Tampa’s 34-23 loss to the New Orleans Saints, and he made some remarks that could be interpreted as throwing Brady under the bus. For starters, Arians said the Bucs were prepared for everything the Saints threw at them. He indicated that Brady looked worse in the game than he did in practice despite the preparation being adequate.
#Bucs coach Bruce Arians on Tom Brady: "He looked like Tom Brady in practice all the time so it’s kind of unusual to see that in a ballgame because they didn’t do things that we didn’t get ready for. Everything they did we thought we were ready for.''
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) September 14, 2020
That may not seem like much, but it sounded at least somewhat like Arians was pinning the blame on Brady rather than the coaching staff. Arians then said Brady didn’t play well but that he expects the 43-year-old to have “more determination” this week.
Arians: "..I would expect him to have a little more grit, a little more determination this week. https://t.co/wxO8eInxYH
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) September 14, 2020
At the very least, the commentary from Arians is not something Brady is accustomed to. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is known for saying hardly anything to the media, while Arians is a lot more forthcoming.
Brady completed 23-of-36 passes for 239 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss. The Saints are one of the best teams in the NFC, so it’s hard draw too many conclusions based on that game. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to rescue Brady from some brutal Jameis Winston jokes and unflattering remarks from his head coach.
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