TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady on Wednesday said he knew he’d need offseason surgery on his left knee as early as April and May of 2020.
“It was an injury I dealt with since last April-May,” said Brady, who had the procedure after leading the Bucs to a Super Bowl title in February. “I knew I would have to have something done at the end of the year. Happy I did it.
“It was probably something that was needed — it certainly needed to be done and there was a great outcome. I feel I’ll be able to do some different things this year that I wasn’t able to do last year.”
Brady declined to give specifics on the injury, saying he’s “a little bit old school” in that regard.
“You deal with [injuries] and make the most of them,” Brady said after his second minicamp practice. “The good part is I’ll be able to commit a lot of time to other parts. I’m sure I’ll be faced with different adversities this year, but I had to spend a lot of time tending to that particular injury, which happens when you have something that you need to ultimately have surgery on to get fixed.”
Brady, who was not on the injury report during the 2020 season, said he had the procedure 15 weeks ago Wednesday. He was cleared to resume throwing three weeks ago, with his only limitation being coach Bruce Arians holding him out of blitz periods in the event an outside linebacker turned the corner too quickly and bumped into him.
Brady has looked strong in minicamp practices. On Wednesday, during a red zone drill, he connected with tight end Cameron Brate on two leaping grabs in the end zone and on a back-shoulder fade, and then on a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski, who made the catch with a defender draped on him. He also pump-faked a defender to hook up with wide receiver Cyril Grayson — his third read — on a touchdown, and found running back Leonard Fournette in the end zone on a short pass.
But the highlight of Brady’s day was the two-minute drill. After converting a fourth-down pass to Chris Godwin, Brady found receiver Scotty Miller on a 40-yard pass in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown that was reminiscent of last season’s NFC Championship Game.
“Yeah, that was a little déjà vu,” Arians said.
“I feel like I’m there,” Brady said. “From this point to the beginning of training camp, I feel like I can work hard on football improvement as opposed to getting back to a rehab place where you’re more baseline.”
Brady’s only struggles of the day came in red zone 7-on-7s, in which he was intercepted by safety Curtis Riley. Another pass sailed too high and bounced out of receiver Mike Evans‘ hands, while another intended for Godwin was deflected by cornerback Carlton Davis. Brady also was forced to throw the ball away.
“Just continue to see different coverages, different situations,” Arians said when asked what more he wanted to see from his 43-year-old quarterback to close out the Bucs’ three-day minicamp. “That wasn’t his best red zone period. He was pretty solid. But our defense is doing some things that I don’t think anyone else in the league is doing right now, so it’s gonna be good training for us.
“I can hardly get out of bed myself. … I ain’t that much older,” the 68-year-old Arians said jokingly. “But yeah, he’s an amazing guy, the way he takes care of himself and trains and makes sure. He has so much fun out of there. You can trick your brain into feeling good.”