With meaningless Week 18 game looming, it would “bother” Tom Brady to not play

Posted by Mike Florio on January 2, 2023, 10:18 AM EST
Carolina Panthers v Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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The Buccaneers have won the NFC South. They’ll be the No. 4 seed in the conference. The outcome of Week 18 won’t change that.

So here’s the question. Will they rest their starters for Week 18, at Atlanta?

“We’ll see how the injury situation looks, and we’ll get together as a staff and talk this week,” coach Todd Bowles on Sunday, regarding the possibility of giving players the final game of the regular season off — including quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady doesn’t like that. He told reporters that it would “bother” him to not play, pointing out that he has only missed games when injured (in 2008, after a Week One ACL) and when suspended (in 2016).

“This is football season,” Brady said. “We’re football players. It’s what we do. We play football.”

Brady is only eight completions away from tying the single-season completion record that he set in 2021. And, if he possibly won’t be back in 2023, this is one more game that he can play before packing it in.

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28 responses to “With meaningless Week 18 game looming, it would “bother” Tom Brady to not play”

  1. They all should play. The offense needs as much work as it can get. Try to build on the momentum they started yesterday. And would suck to have this be Brady’s first under .500 team

  2. People will take this as Brady needs to satisfy his ego and break more records. There is still plenty to work on offensively. Need to get the run game working.

  4. One more minor point: Brady, as a starting quarterback, has never had a losing record in high school, college or the pros. If he sits on Sunday, that streak remains intact. (Note: He had a 5-5 season in high school.)

  6. Breaking one more all-time QB record and the difference between a winning and losing record this season – that sounds like a 100% meaningful game from Brady’s point of view.

    It would be one thing if the team had been firing on all cylinders for weeks, but it looks like they’re just starting to find their groove.

    “This is football season. We’re football players. It’s what we do. We play football.” What a refreshing attitude. Tell that to the Broncos players who don’t like practicing in pads.

  11. He’s going to play but it may only be a couple series.

    It’s not like he never did one series or one quarter games in New England when things were locked up.

  13. At age 45, the statistics demonstrate that Tom Brady is STILL one of the Top 5 quarterbacks in the league. In fact, Brady is performing at a level that NO other quarterback in the history of the NFL performed at at age 42 (besides Tom Brady) and only several before him performed at at age 40 ( including himself).

  15. If Tom Brady got severely banged up in a meaningless game, they would do terrible things to poor Todd Bowles. Save Todd Bowles. Bench Brady for week 18.

  16. after listening to the interview what was telling was what he said about his suspension, that he was being polite. lol. He definitely isn’t over it. He even still sounds like he wanted to play on no ACL in 2008. He clearly hates missing games. He’s probably going to keep playing until someone says he can’t.

  17. Brady wants to assure every one of his 21 playing seasons are all of a winning record.

  19. In the past, Brady might have played a few series or a quarter, then sit. In this case though, given that Tampa Bay’s offense has finally started to click, I think he may want to keep it going longer, rather than potentially killing any momentum.

  21. No fan of Brady, but the great ones, the HOFer’s always want to play, no matter what. Through either competitiveness, love for the game, stats or ego, they want to be out there. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, particularly when you don’t know when you’re gonna take your last snap.

  22. pkrlvr says:
    January 2, 2023 at 10:39 am
    If you don’t think Brady is coming back in 23 you haven’t been paying attention

    ———

    Bob Kraft has been paying close attention…and he has many regrets

  23. What is so hard about this decision? He sure has some nerve to make a statement like that knowing full well he is ultra protected by his dad goodell who specifically orders defenses to not hit him, so what injury concerns could he possibly have? The rest of the players on the field don’t have that option and he calls them out like hes some big time hero? Who can’t see thru this egomaniac? The most overrated fluke player who ever lived. The king of lob passes and screen plays and crying to the refs

  24. The offense started to click against a bad team.In the playoffs….there won’t be bad teams playing,except the Bucs

  25. Brady is a smart guy, unlike half the people posting in the comments. Brady knows one good game doesn’t fix this putrid offense, they need all the work they can get before it’s win or go home.

  26. That, in a nutshell, is why he’s legendary. He just loves to train and play. That’s it. Whether it’s the playoffs or a meaningless pre-season game.

  27. As a Patriots fan, I was truly spoiled for 20 years. So spoiled that I find I have no appetite anymore. If they start winning again, great. But I don’t have to have it. I have enjoyed the winning streaks, the one-a-kind comebacks, the Cinderella style upsets early on, and the dominations later. That twin dynasties were not possible without Brady but having said that, it was indisputably Belichick who was behind not only the training of Brady but the defensive calls that made the difference in some of the big games. Marholm Butler does not intercept Russel Wilson unless Belichick trains him for precisely that play all week.

    For some reason, Steve Grogan remains my favorite QB all time, even if he wasn’t even the best the franchise had to offer.

    Belichick won’t be able to win another Super Bowl without a top 5 QB. He could have years ago, but once Bill Polian pushed through all those new rules that favored the offense … it’s been a different sport.

  28. tough talk from tom. wait until someone touches him in the game, he’ll be flailing those arms looking for a roughing call. the rule changes in the passing game and the protection afforded qbs these days is the reason brady lasted this long. give him credit for that, as he has outlasted everyone else, but recognize it for what it is, a reflection of a changing game,

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