Tom Brady never experienced a preseason game last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after signing a two-year deal worth $50 million with the team after a 20-year stint. The lack of preseason games due to COVID-19 restrictions contributed to Brady’s struggles early in the regular season as he had no chance of develop chemistry with his new teammates. But as the season went along, Brady managed to learn on the fly and led the Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl title since 2002 via a 31-9 triumph over the then-defending champions Kansas City Chiefs.
On Saturday, the 44-year-old Brady finally played his first preseason game with the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium with 64,866 fans in attendance. Brady played just one series, completing one of two passes for nine yards, as the Buccaneers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 19-14. Despite this, Brady expressed joy seeing fans filling Raymond James Stadium for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit more than a year ago.
In a series of Instagram stories, Brady posted a series of photos with his teammates from their first preseason game. He posted a photo with center Ryan Jensen with the caption “felt great to be back” and a photo of the team taking the field with the caption “Raymond James seemed happy to be back too!!” Brady also posted a photo of himself watching in the sidelines and accompanied it with a funny caption “first Buccaneers preseason game down.
Feel like I might have a future here!” that he followed with a winking emoji. The Buccaneers are trying to become the first team since the 2003-04 New England Patriots squad to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles. As for Brady, he’s trying to win his eighth Super Bowl ring in his 22 seasons in the NFL.
Bucs cut three players
After their first preseason game, the Buccaneers announced that they have waived three players as part of efforts to trim the 90-man roster to 85 by Tuesday.
Per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com, the Buccaneers waived tight end De'Quan Hampton, cornerback Cameron Kinley and wide receiver Josh Pearson. The Buccaneers still have six tight ends on the roster while they have a deep wide receiving corps. The move was the end of Kinley’s journey with the Buccaneers after he received special permission from the Pentagon to defer his enlistment into the Navy and attend training camp with Tampa Bay this preseason.
Arians excited about joint practice with Titans
Before the Buccaneers meet the Tennessee Titans in Week 2 of the NFL preseason, they will hold joint practices this week. Head coach Bruce Arians on Sunday spoke about the joint practices with the Titans, saying it would give his team a chance to ramp up the level of intensity in practice and as well as practice game situations against a live opponent. Arians added that some starters might see less action in their second preseason game, depending on the outcome of their practice with the Titans.
