Eli Manning Sets Expectations For Tom Brady’s First Season With Bucs

The 2020 NFL season is shaping up to be unconventional for all players, especially Tom Brady.

The upcoming campaign will mark Brady’s first with a team other than the Patriots. The six-time Super Bowl champion, who played the first 20 seasons of his career in New England, now is tasked with trying to revamp the Buccaneers, who haven’t reached the playoffs since 2007.

While Brady already is down in Tampa Bay, he’s been unable to get on the field with his new teammates due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is critical time lost for any quarterback, but even more so for a 42-year-old about to play his first season with a new team.

In an appearance Monday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Eli Manning explained how he expects Brady and the Bucs to be impacted by the altered offseason and preseason.

“I think it’s gonna be tough for him, just the fact he can’t be doing everything he wants to be doing with the team and getting ready,” Manning said, as transcribed by the New York Post. “Obviously they have some playmakers at receiver there, when you got talented receivers it makes it a little bit easier to get on the same page with ’em.

“It will be interesting how it all plays out and how quickly he can just adjust to a new organization and new players and new offense, all those new things, especially with the limited timing he’s gonna have being with them.”

Some playmakers probably is putting it mildly by Manning. With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard all at his disposal, Brady’s transition to Tampa Bay is poised to be a smooth one, even with the obstacles in place.

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