Tom Brady and the Buccaneers managed to hide for all of 2020 the fact that he played with a torn MCL in his left knee. It turns out that his knee was holding him back for a lot more than one season.
In a recent interview with Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Brady talked about the impact of shedding a device that helped increase stability in his knee since returning from the torn ACL and MCL he suffered in 2008.
“It’s good for me to feel like I can move around freely,” Brady told Stroud. “I had a knee sleeve on for 13 years. Just that little bit of compression keeps a hamstring from working the right way. You try to compress the knee to keep it more stable, but then you’re also compressing the quad. This is the first time that I’ve been able to run and not think about it. I’m not going to turn into Michael Vick out there but at least I’m not going to be super restricted.”
Last year’s restrictions including extra taping aimed at further stabilizing the left knee. Per Stroud, Brady underwent daily treatment and taping with Alex Guerrero at 7:30 a.m., daily.
Brady previously has explained the time and focus that he devoted to the knee last year. By removing that from the equation in 2021, he has even more time to focus on being even better than he was last year.