Buccaneers' Tom Brady: 'I just want to do football' ahead of Rams game

In news that will shock absolutely nobody who has followed his Hall of Fame career, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady is focused on the task at hand heading into Sunday's home playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams. 

Per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, the 44-year-old signal-caller took a deserved day off practice Thursday but made it clear that he's committed to eliminating and avoiding any potential distractions before the weekend and his next must-win matchup. 

"I don’t do anything extra this week," Brady explained, according to PFT's Michael David Smith. "I just want to do football. That’s all I want to do, prepare and get ready. That’s how we should all approach it. This isn’t the time for the trips to the movie theaters. This is the time to lock in on football. This is all we have, three days left and then we’ve got to earn more. Look at it like that, everything, you can put off until the end of the year, and we hope the end of the year isn’t Sunday. But you have to earn it." 

Rob Ninkovich, Brady's old teammate, generated headlines when he said on ESPN's "Get Up" earlier this week he can envision the G.O.A.T. retiring whenever his ongoing playoff journey ends, either in defeat or with an eighth Super Bowl victory. Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich offered little response to that take other than to say that Brady "is playing at a high level" coming off last Sunday's 31-15 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. 

In short, no reporter should bother wasting his or her question asking Brady about his long-term future ahead of Sunday afternoon.