Tom Brady spoke to the media Sunday for the first time since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed receiver Antonio Brown to a one-year contract.
It came after Brady led the Buccaneers to a one-sided 45-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Week 7.
Brady reportedly was a “driving force” in the team’s decision to sign Brown, despite head coach Bruce Arians disputing that report during his own media availability Sunday.
Brady made it clear he wouldn’t get into the “personal conversations” he had with Brown, but expressed how he felt the Buccaneers group will allow him to fit in.
“I’m not getting into personal conversations, you know, we’ve had together,” Brady told reporters Sunday, per the team. “Yeah, I mean the guys we have together are amazing players, teammates… We got a good group. We’re all expected to go out there and work hard every day, do our best to help the team win. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to win football games and we’re here to do a job.”
The longtime New England Patriots quarterback, who played one game with Brown during September 2019, was also asked how he would describe him as both a player and person. Brady somewhat deflected when it came to Brown’s character issues, which caused the four-time All-Pro to be suspended by the league for eight games, and instead noted his on-field production.
“Well, he’s a tremendous football player,” Brady said. “I played with him for a brief period of time. So, looking forward to working with him again, see what role he can come in. He’s a very hardworking guy. Again, we’re all going to go out there on the practice field and do the best we can do and we’re going to see how it all fits together. There’s a lot of hard work ahead.”
The reality is, though, the Buccaneers have plenty of pass-catching options. I mean, Brady threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, completing passes to nine different players Sunday. It caused some to wonder just why the Buccaneers needed to take the chance on Brown.
“Well, it’s up to us to get to work. We had a decent day today and glad we won on the road, but none of it matters for next week,” Brady said. “There’s a lot of football left to play. There’s a lot of good football teams. We just got to keep growing. We got to learn each other, and continue to try to be more effective, more efficient, and that happens on the practice field, gaining trust in one another and we have to stay after it.”
Brown will be eligible to return from his suspension after Week 8.
