It’s all systems go for Tom Brady.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback revealed Friday at a press conference his surgically repaired left knee is feeling good at the outset of training camp. Brady in February underwent surgery to repair a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee, an injury he played through for the entire 2020 NFL season and ultimately overcame to lead Tampa to the Super Bowl LV championship.
“It feels good now,” Brady told reporters, per the Buccaneers. “I mean, it was not my favorite offseason of all time. I haven’t had surgery in a long time, so you kind of forget the rehab process and so forth. So it’s kind of a long, arduous offseason when you go through rehab like that. I got a lot of time with my family, so that was really enjoyable. But (I’m) happy to be back to work and try to get out and get better tomorrow.”
After detailing the regimen he followed last season in in order to stay on the field and meet his high standards of performance, Brady said he is happy he can prepare for this season under more conventional conditions.
“It’s exciting for me,” Brady said, per the Bucs. “I mean, it was just a lot of maintenance last year. (Personal trainer) Alex (Guerrero) and I would spend time day after day. I just (say), ‘Hey, let’s tape it’ and take the tape off, pregame, pre-practice taping it at 7 a.m., leaving the tape on at night and just trying to stabilize it as best I could. You know, I’ve had a lot of injuries, and football is just what it is. I think you manage them over the course of a year and I kind of knew what I was dealing with — it was kind of what I was dealing with, and this year it’s nice not to have to deal with any of that — just show up and try to get my workouts in. … .”
Brady, who’ll turn 44 next week, is on course to enter his 22nd NFL season feeling better than he has in quite some time. That only can bode well for the Bucs’ hopes for success, as they look to defend their crown with largely the same roster they used to win it last season.
