Tom Brady will be away from Buccaneers until Aug. 20 to deal with personal matter
BOSTON -- Tom Brady is taking some personal time. The Tampa Bay quarterback won't return to the Buccaneers until Aug. 20, head coach Todd Bowles announced Thursday.
That will give the 45-year-old a week-and-a-half away from the team as he tends to a personal, non-football matter. Brady's extended absence was first reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport early Thursday morning, but has been planned since before training camp, Bowles revealed.
"We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp knowing he wasn't going to play the first two games," said Bowles.
Brady was on the field Wednesday during Tampa's joint practice with Miami. As Bowles said, Brady wasn't expected to play against the Dolphins on Saturday night, which is probably a good thing given all that has come to light with the Dolphins tampering with Brady ahead of his free agency a few years back.
Brady will miss two preseason games while away from the team. Bowles said Thursday that his confidence is "pretty high" that Brady will be Tampa Bay's starting quarterback come Week 1, which makes it sound like there is a sliver of doubt that Brady will be under center Sept. 11 against the Cowboys.
Bowles would not expand on the reason for Brady's absence when asked on Thursday.
"It's a personal issue," he said. "That's all I can tell you."
Brady retired from football during the offseason, but announced just 40 days later that he would come back for his 23rd NFL season.