Few likely believed Bruce Arians back in August when he said Tom Brady would be treated just like any other Buccaneers player.
But through one game of the Brady era in Tampa Bay, the Bucs head coach has lived up to his word.
Arians was awfully critical of Brady’s Week 1 performance against the New Orleans Saints, which included a pair of interceptions. Tampa Bay’s offense, as a whole, looked pretty out of sync in its season-opening loss at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Brett Favre, for one, believes Arians should not have taken aim so bluntly at his new quarterback, whose track record of making adjustments speaks for itself.
“Getting to Bruce Arians’ comments, true or not, I think the last person you want to call out after the first game of the year is Tom Brady,” Favre said Tuesday on “The SiriusXM Blitz with Brett Favre and Bruce Murray,” as transcribed by ESPN. “Now, maybe they had a mutual truce going into the game, going into the season, ‘Hey, I’m going to be hard on you. I want the guys to know we’re going to treat you the same even though technically I’m not, so are you OK with it?’ If they have that truce, great. If not, I think you are barking up the wrong tree.”
Favre continued: “Dissension could easily enter quickly. Maybe the Saints didn’t do anything that they were not ready for other than we didn’t protect very well, Tom gets hit a couple of times, you get a little jittery, it happens.”
“First half of the Super Bowl against the Falcons he was getting nailed, played lackluster at best. They went in, had a come-to-Jesus at halftime, they don’t even come close to touching him in the second half and he’s flawless. So they clean up the protection, the timing, the chemistry will come. Will it come overnight? I highly doubt it, but it will come pretty quickly, though, and they very easily could be 4-1 after five weeks.”
Brady will look to bounce back Sunday when he plays his first home game at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs and Carolina Panthers are slated to kick off at 1 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports Images
