TAMPA, Fla – Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady led three goal practices – two of which ended in touchdowns – in the Bucs’ first training camp scrum, the first time Brady played at Raymond James Stadium in a Bucs uniform.
There were no fans, but it was crowded and cannons fired as Brady’s team – the first team’s attack and defense – beat the Second Team’s units. Blaine Gabbert, 15-6.
“He was excited. He was ready to go,” said coach Bruce Arians. “It was his first time in a game atmosphere. He had great command. He brought them in and out, imposing his will on some of the guys who were tired.”
In his first practice, he led a 16-game streak that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown with Ronald Jones diving over the goal line.
“No butterflies… I’ve been in the field a lot of times, but it’s more exciting than butterflies,” said Brady, now 43, entering his 21st season. “You are on the field, you are preparing with your teammates. We all had to dig a little deeper – a 16 game practice to start the scrum, the guys would get hit and go in and out. There were a lot of good things to learn from what we were doing. “
Arians added: “When you get the first long drive of the year, the guys start hanging out. He put their ass in the clique and he rolled them up and keep it under the 25 second timer, 45 seconds. They weren’t. close at all. But he was ordering it pretty well. “
On Brady’s second try, he hit a bounding Cameron Brate for a 2-yard touchdown, followed by a two-run conversion by LeSean McCoy.
In his fourth set, Brady fired a deep shot at Scotty Miller from his own 25 which brought first-team unity to their opponent’s 28, but he fired too high passes aimed at OJ Howard on the second. and fourth, and Brate on third and 4, with the drive stalling at 7.
“I would have expected him to slam some guys a little harder when they were struggling with the heat,” Arians said. “But he was solid… he was everything I thought he would be.”
Brady’s unofficial stats: 13 for 18 for 170 yards and a touchdown.
For Brady, it’s about finding a balance while learning the right buttons to push with his teammates.
“I try to feel it. When we need a little spark, try to provide that. When we need a little pick-me-up, provide it. I try to have an impression on a daily basis and I do. try to keep the intensity level really constant, ”Brady said.
“I think the competition is on. It doesn’t start in two weeks. It has already started. So with each passing day we have to learn from what we do, we have to learn from each other. Games, fixes , all the different things that we’re trying to update with because it’s so different without preseason games. … It happens fast. And I think today was a good indicator for all of us that it’s just around the corner and we’re going to have to tighten up some things so that we can be ready to face a great football team in a few weeks. “
The season opener for the reigning NFC South champions New Orleans Saints will be in two weeks. All the offense has been set in and now Brady is relying only on repetition, including to make up for lost reps this offseason, although looking at him in the fray you wouldn’t know he was playing in a new offense for the first time.
“You have to focus on what the process is, and it’s a daily basis. Today has been the most important day because it’s the only one we’ve had,” Brady said. “And it was in our stadium, on the skates, hitting, live. It was a learning curve for us and we have to understand it, understand what we did wrong, learn from it and move on and get back to work tomorrow and try to be better tomorrow. “
For the most part, the Arians were happy, although he joked that he wished it was warmer so his players could “wilt a bit in the heat” as part of their acclimatization to the playing conditions. particularly happy with Brady’s performance on the third down, but wished they could score in their two-minute situation instead of just a basket.
“I thought Tom was very, very effective. Good leadership job,” Arians said. “Overall he had a hell of a day.”
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