Tom Brady is getting some time away from football — in the middle of the season.
The 45-year-old veteran Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback has been granted Wednesdays off from practice for the rest of the year. He took this past one off, prior to the Bucs’ 20-10 win over the New Orleans Saints over the weekend, and now it sounds like that policy will be standard going forward.
Of course, we can only wonder about the reason behind that decision, considering our lengthy and numerous reports about Brady’s alleged marital problems with wife Gisele Bündchen… But we digress…
Related: Tom ‘Knows This Is His Last Season’ If He Hopes To Save His Marriage! Yikes!
NFL journalist Ian Rapoport was the first to publish the news of Brady’s day-off deal. In a Monday morning report, Brady’s experience in the league was cited, writing the QB “will receive the veteran treatment” for the rest of the season. Rapoport reported it as a planned “veteran rest and personal day” designation.
Hmmm…
Brady has taken very brief, unplanned periods of in-season rest before. Over the past two years, the former University of Michigan star was granted occasional Thursdays off from practice, but it wasn’t a regular thing. Now, it will be. Wednesdays are officially designated as personal days for the star.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles tried to be as open as possible about it in comments to the media later on Monday afternoon. he shared Brady wasn’t the only veteran who wouldn’t be practicing on Wednesdays, either:
“For most players, it’s important. But I think when you play in the league a certain amount of time and you prepare a certain way, it’s not necessary to practice that guy all the time. You’re going to practice, but you’re not going to practice all the time. You’ll get a day off here and there because it is a long season.”
That’s all true! Football is very demanding. And goodness knows Brady has proven himself.
But even though he’s getting rest, it sounds like TB12 won’t be away from the team?? On Tuesday morning, fellow NFL insider Albert Breer reported Brady will still be in Tampa on Wednesdays even if he doesn’t take reps on the field:
One important note here, building off @RapSheet's Sunday report—Sources say that while @TomBrady will have Wednesdays off from practice, he'll be in the building for @Buccaneers meetings, walkthrough, etc., etc.
(That nuance matters bc Wednesday is when the gameplan goes in.) https://t.co/PDUjKpWt63
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 20, 2022
Huh! So he’s getting time off, but it’s not really off? Maybe they are just trying to manage his physical load? He is 45 years old, after all. Still, what does Gisele think about these non-off day off days?? That’s the real question!!
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To that end, the timing here is sus. Brady has never been given this off-day designation before in his career, and it’s not like he hasn’t been over 40 in the league for a few years now!! Plus, Perezcious readers will recall how he had that mysterious 11-day absence from Bucs training camp during the preseason. In an already-infamous press conference after returning from that abrupt absence, Brady told reporters “a lot of s**t” was going on in his life:
“It’s all personal, you know. Everyone has different situations they’re dealing with, and we all have unique challenges to our lives. I’m 45 years old, man. There’s a lot of s**t going on, so you just have to try and figure out life the best you can. You know, it’s a continuous process.”
Of course, the rumors have been flying far and fast about a rift in the relationship between the sports star and the supermodel. She’s said to be living far apart from Tom, and we can only wonder where they stand emotionally. Thus, we wondered whether these Wednesdays off could give him an opportunity to travel to Gisele and calm tensions. But if he’s still in the building in Tampa working on the team’s game plan, well…
Thoughts, Perezcious readers?? Share your take on this tense situation down in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN/Gisele Bündchen/Instagram]