Tom Brady’s extended absence ‘a good thing’ says Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles

Tom Brady missed 11 days of the preseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but do not view that extended absence as a hindrance to the team. Head coach Todd Bowles doesn’t.

In a sitdown conversation with Tony Dungy for NBC Sports, Bowles referenced Brady’s absence “as a good thing” for the team. Bowles went on to explain that Brady missing time forced the offense to work on developing other areas, something that will help Tampa Bay “on the long run” (Via JoeBucsFan.com):

“I thought it was a good thing,” Bowles said. “… And it kind of helped us develop our run game a little more. You know, it’s like, ‘Ok. We’ve got to play with Blaine [Gabbert] or Kyle [Trask], let’s develop things we have to do to win the ballgame.’ And I think in that process we got our run game going a little more because we spent a little more time on it, which we probably wouldn’t have had he been here. So I think it’s helped us on the long run. And we figured out that we’re a team and not just one guy and a team.”

Getting younger players and backups reps in the preseason certainly helps, but one has to wonder if Brady needed to miss time in order for that to happen. Either way, we’ll see how Brady and the Bucs look this weekend as the NFL season kicks off.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.