The Buccaneers’ pursuit of a second consecutive Super Bowl title is off to a heated start.
During training camp on Sunday, a botched two-minute drill spurred frustration from Tom Brady, who is known to have a short temper. After taking a pair of sacks and overthrowing a receiver, Brady slammed his helmet into the ground and punted the ball forty yards to an adjacent field.
“Got to make (bleeping) plays when you’re tired fellas,” Brady reportedly told his teammates after the series of miscues, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
“Guys have to make plays,” Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said following the practice. “You’re in a critical situation, you can’t fall down. (Brady) gives you a chance to win the game. You’ve got to go down and win the game. I don’t care how tired you are.
“We’ve got to be a much smarter football team. After watching practice, we made way too many mental errors.”
Arians was quick to dispute a reporter’s speculation that fatigue played a role in the poor performance.
“There’s no such thing,” Arians said. “Fatigue makes a coward out of you. We got a few of them and it’s whipping their ass.”
The Buccaneers have a month to iron out their kinks. They kick off the 2021 NFL season on Sept. 9 against the Cowboys.