Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady on Thursday took exception when asked whether he critiques and changes the offensive game plan last-minute.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mike Silver, after the Buccaneers loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 14, published a column expressing just that. Silver wrote how Brady held meetings with skill-position players before games and made changes to Tampa Bay’s game plan without the knowledge of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
“On the night before each game, Brady runs a separate meeting with the Bucs’ skill players during which he goes over the game plan, makes tweaks to assignments and formations and provides a revised blueprint — one which first-year head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and the rest of the staff are left to discover in real time once the game begins,” Silver wrote Sunday, per Pro Football Talk.
Brady and Leftwich faced questions about the report in their first media availability since it surfaced. The 45-year-old quarterback showed his distain for the notion, as well as the question.
“No. I have no idea,” Brady told reporters when asked if it was true, per the team. “Anybody can write anything and say whatever they want, so no. I’m not going to respond to every (report).
Brady concluded: “Next question.”
There’s been boiling frustration with Brady and the 6-7 Buccaneers given how the season has played out. Brady hinted at that immediately after Tampa Bay’s loss in San Francisco, criticizing the team’s lack of consistency after the Buccaneers were handed a 35-7 defeat.
The season’s not over for the NFC South-leading Bucs, though, and it will be up to Brady and company to turn it around against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15.
