The ongoing absence of quarterback Tom Brady continues to be a bizarre situation, and Thursday's explanation from Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles further adds to it.
Brady has been away from the Buccaneers for the last week. At the start of his absence, Bowles shared it was excused by the team and noted how the Buccaneers and Brady pre-planned the absence before training camp started. Bowles also said at that time how Brady would return to the team after Saturday's preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.
Well, that doesn't seem as concrete now as it did one week ago.
"We'll see. We'll talk about it next week," Bowles told reporters when asked about Brady's return, per The Athletic's Greg Auman. "I'm not concerned about it right now. We're trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said sometime after Tennessee. There's no definitive date for me. We'll keep in touch and find out."
Brady's absence was reported to be due to "work-life balance" rather than a personal emergency regarding Brady or someone he was close with. Bowles, who called it a "personal" situation, said he wasn't concerned with Brady missing time given the quarterback's experience. That all seemed a little questionable, but justifiable, at the time.
Now, though, especially seeing how Bowles said it was pre-planned only to now have that plan seemingly up in the air, it's strange. There hasn't been much speculation regarding Brady's absence by any of the well-known NFL reporters during the last week.
