Mike Evans received a one-game suspension for his fight with Marshon Lattimore in Week 2, and Tom Brady's response wasn't much of a surprise.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-10, but they will be without their top wideout against the Green Bay Packers in Week 3. The NFL chose not to suspend Lattimore, likely seeing Evans as the instigator in the in-game brawl that ended with the pair being ejected from the game.
On his podcast, "Let's Go," with Jim Gray, Brady discussed what it meant to have Evans stick up for him, and he gave a blunt comment on the receiver's suspension.
"I love Mike," Brady said Monday, per Pro Football Talk via JoeBucsFan.com. "And the fact that Mike would come out there to defend me, it means everything in the world to me as a teammate and a friend. And Mike knows how I feel about him. So, in the end, emotions are a part of sports. Sometimes they boil over, and they obviously did yesterday. And it's an unfortunate circumstance. I don't think it deserved any type of suspension. I think that's ridiculous. You know, hopefully we can move past it, get to a better place. You know in the end, I appreciate Mike having my back. I know he'll learn from it. And he knows that we all have is back."
It's not much of a shocker Brady would stick up for his teammate, especially one he would have liked to have against the Packers with Chris Godwin and Julio Jones hampered by injuries. The quarterback and wide receiver duo have built up a strong connection in Brady's short tenure in Tampa Bay, one that has proven quite valuable and deadly for opposing defenses.
Brady will have to improve on his slow start to the season and hope other pass catchers can step up if the Buccaneers hope to beat Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers.