Tom Brady reacts to Chase Young callout ahead of wild-card showdown

When asked by a reporter during Wednesday’s media session about Young’s boisterous smack talk, Brady didn’t bite. Instead, the savvy Bucs signal-caller highlighted how Young’s an outstanding player.

Further, Brady posited that perhaps Young’s callout might have a lot to do with how he played for Michigan while the rookie defensive end played his college ball from Ohio State.

As alluded to in the tweet above from Jenna Laine of ESPN, the narrative that emerged in the wake of Young’s chatter revolved around whether the young player might have provided the Bucs some bulletin-board material. Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said earlier this week that might indeed be the case.

“We’ll have our hands full, but it’s one of those games where you better watch what you wish for,” Arians quipped, per NFL.com, while also calling Young “a hell of a player.”

Washington head coach Ron Rivera mostly concurred with Arians’ observation. However, Rivera chalked it up to Young’s passion and youth.

“It’s going to be bulletin board material, let’s be honest about that,” Rivera told the media on Monday when asked about the clip, per NBC Sports Washington. “They’ll have fun with it. You’ve got to chalk it up to youthful exuberance, but that’s who Chase is.”

As is the case any time one of these narratives surfaces ahead of a big game, things of course will be settled on the field regardless of the drama, trash talk and the like that precedes it.

Kickoff of the Tampa-WFT showdown comes at 8:15 p.m. ET Saturday at FedEx Field, with Brady’s Bucs heavily favored over Young’s Washington squad.