Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen on Friday believes that the team would be even better in the upcoming season compared to last year. “I’m excited about this year. I really think we’re gonna be better,” Christensen declared during his press conference. Christensen saying he believes that the Buccaneers’ offense would be better than last season with 44-year-old Tom Brady playing his second season in Tampa Bay. According to Christensen, Brady looks like a 25-year-old with the energy he has on the practice field, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
“He looks like he’s about 25 years old out there bouncing around. He’s enjoying himself. You can tell he’s comfortable and he feels good and he’s really had a nice camp,” said Christensen, per the transcription of his interview on YouTube.
Bucs have better understanding of each other
“He really, really is amazing even for all of us who have watched him for so many years. It’s amazing what he does and how he attacks practice and how he enjoys it,” he added. Earlier, columnist Peter King of NBC Sports said that Brady looks young and acts young, based on his observation during training camp. Matt Audilet of The Spun also reported Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said that the team has a better understanding of each other now as they gear towards becoming the first team since the 2003-04 New England Patriots to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
After winning their first Super Bowl title since 2002 following a 31-9 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, the Buccaneers have brought back all of their 22 starters from that team, 11 on offense. With Brady at the helm, the Buccaneers were ranked No. 2 in terms of yards per game (289.1) and No. 7 on total offense with 384.1 total yards per game last season.
Brady slams punishment on defense
During a discussion with some of his teammates linebacker Lavonte David, wide receiver Mike Evans and tight end Rob Gronkowski, Brady discussed the changes that he has seen in the NFL since he arrived as a 199th overall pick by the New England Patriots in 2000, per Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports.
In that talk, Brady declared that the biggest change he has seen is the defense being wrongly punished by the NFL when offenses make mistakes. According to Brady, a huge amount of defensive penalties are actually due to poor offensive decisions. Brady said that when he was playing against Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis, he wouldn’t throw the ball in the middle because he knows that the linebacker would destroy his wide receiver. But now, Brady said quarterbacks can risk those throws because they know that defensive players would be penalized if they hit the wide receivers too hard. Brady insisted that defensive players should not be penalized for the mistakes of their opponent’s offense.