Tom Brady did not put together his best performance in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints, and anything less than perfect has never been good enough for the six-time Super Bowl champion. It sounds like his teammates were reminded of that in practice this week.
James Palmer of NFL Network was told by a Bucs player that Brady cranked his intensity up a notch in practice leading up to Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
“He doesn’t want to lose at anything. Especially a football game,” the player said. “So we’ve seen him come out to practice just locked in and focused.”
Brady threw two interceptions against the Saints, one of which was a brutal pick-six. The rough game even led to some Jameis Winston jokes, which Brady probably did not expect to see this season.
To make matters worse, Brady had to deal with questions from the media this week about Bucs coach Bruce Arians openly criticizing him. Arians pointed out after the Week 1 loss that Brady did not play his best despite the Saints not throwing anything at the Bucs that they hadn’t covered in practice.
When asked if he was surprised by Arians’ commentary, Brady offered a brief and somewhat icy response. We’re not surprised to hear he is hyper-focused heading into his second game with Tampa Bay.
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