Tom Brady explains comments about Buccaneers’ effort

Sep 20, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Brady raised some eyebrows this past week with comments that seemingly questioned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ effort. On Friday, he had the chance to elaborate.

Brady said on this week’s edition of his “Let’s Go!” podcast that the Buccaneers’ “effort level on gameday” was embarrassing and needed to be corrected. This raised many questions about what Brady actually meant by that, and on Friday he seemed to downplay it a bit.

“What can we control? We can certainly control our attitude, our effort,” Brady said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I think everything has been below the line this year. We’re 4-5. … I don’t think there’s any reason to be happy about anything we’ve done. Obviously, we’re not playing to our standards — we’re not there from an effort standpoint, execution standpoint, emotional standpoint. We’ve got to figure it out — this is a good place to do it.”

Brady is not necessarily backing away from his remarks, but he does seem to be broadening the scope of them a bit. He is right that the Buccaneers have been below their standards this season in most respects, but accusations about effort will always capture attention.

The Buccaneers are not the only disappointing team of 2022, of course. It is interesting to see how others are taking a slightly different approach to calling out their performances than Brady has.