Tom Brady returns to Buccaneers after 11-day absence

Tom Brady is back. 

Brady has been the talk of the football world throughout August after he took an unexplained break from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for supposed "personal reasons" that lasted through this past Saturday's 13-3 preseason loss to the Tennessee Titans. 

However, Kevin Patra of the NFL's website wrote that Brady was back at the Buccaneers' team facility on Monday for the first time in 11 days. The Joe Bucs Fan website added that the 45-year-old took a family vacation in the Bahamas during his absence. 

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht both previously insisted that Brady's August sabbatical was preplanned and cleared by team officials, but neither gave a direct explanation for why the seven-time Super Bowl champion wasn't taking part in preseason practices seemingly out of nowhere. 

"I know exactly when Tom is coming back, and I’ve consistently said it would be sometime after the Titans game," Bowles said ahead of the weekend. He added at that time: "I’m not worried, so I don’t know why anyone else would be worried." 

As Josh Alper noted for Pro Football Talk, Brady is on track to resume practicing and standard football activities ahead of this coming Saturday's preseason finale at the Indianapolis Colts. Logic suggests the G.O.A.T. won't participate in that contest and will instead get ready to face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 on Sept. 11. 

Perhaps Brady really was just having a nice time filming an episode of "The Masked Singer" for Fox, his future employer.