Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 2-0 to start the 2022 NFL season, but the former New England Patriots quarterback's mood has overshadowed his success on the field.
Brady made it clear in a recent press conference that at age 45, there's "a lot of (expletive) going on" in his personal life. Those issues caused him to miss time with the team during training camp, and he'll also get Wednesdays off each week of the season.
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The seven-time Super Bowl champion was visibly frustrated during the Bucs' Week 2 win over the New Orleans Saints. Tampa's offense failed to score in the first half and had only three points through three quarters before pulling away in the fourth. Brady was seen screaming at his teammates on the sideline and spiking his tablet device.
On a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times joins Tom E. Curran for a wellness check on Brady.
Patriots Talk: Patriots grades and a Tampa Tom Brady wellness check | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
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"I think there obviously is something in his personal life that is affecting him," Stroud said. "We've all seen the weight loss. I don't think that's part of the TB12 plan. Maybe it is, I don't know. For what we saw out there on the field Sunday, he was very short-tempered. He's tablet-throwing Tommy now. Jumping on his own players for dropping passes and things like that. He even said on his podcast that he was a little too wound up. ...
"But there's no question that the whole episode of retiring, unretiring, new head coach -- there's a lot of changes going on. It's been a different year altogether."
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Despite whatever off-field issues may be haunting him, Brady's unmatched work ethic is still on full display when he's with the team. The question is, what's forcing him to divide his attention?
"He's definitely got a lot of things going on. But he still manages to practice five days a week or six days a week and shows up on Sunday ready to compete. That fire is still there, but they're doing it a different way," Stroud added.
"None of us can really speculate on what's going on there, but it's not good. It's definitely causing him some stress. It caused him to miss time away from the team. ... It just feels like it's more important for him to be away than present with this football team."
Also discussed in the episode: Phil Perry hands out his grades for the Patriots’ performance against the Steelers. Will the Patriots be throwing it deep more? And Brent Harris of WBAL discusses what went wrong for the Ravens against the Dolphins.
Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube.