Is Bucs OC Byron Leftwich Now Taking Veiled Shots At Tom Brady?

Tom Brady wanted a change from New England, and he got it.

Since joining Tampa Bay, Brady has been the subject of criticism from Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, somewhat routinely getting thrown under the bus, which reportedly has led to tension between the two.

Brady’s missteps in a Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams got him called out by Arians, and judging by some recent comments, the QB’s offensive coordinator now is taking veiled shots, as well.

Consider this remark from Byron Leftwich, a former NFL quarterback who now runs Tampa Bay’s offense.

“You guys know how I am, I tell you this all the time,” Leftwich said, via ProFootballTalk. “The quarterback is the offense. I say that all the time. Remember, I understand that it’s still a version of entertainment, so something has to be said. And when plays don’t work and when things don’t work, that’s what comes with losing in this league. We all accept that, we understand that.

“All we can do is hopefully get the next opportunity where we can be in position to do the right thing so we can have the opportunity to win the football game. It’s hard to win week in and week out, we understand that. Everyone expects us to win every game. We get that. But our job is to go out and prepare ourselves and get in position to try to win every football game also. So we understand those responsibilities.”

While there’s a lot of fluff there, all you need to see is: “The quarterback is the offense.” That right there is Leftwich saying that everything — good and bad — starts and ends with Brady.

There is merit to the apparent frustrations of Arians and Leftwich, too. Brady’s basically called/calls the shots in Tampa, getting the team to bring in Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, LeSean McCoy and Leonard Fournette. The end result has been an inconsistent offense and gaffes from Brady.

Tedy Bruschi came to the defense of Brady by calling out Arians, and maybe he’ll have to do the same now with Leftwich.