Yahoo Sports Brett Favre: Tom Brady is 'the last person' Bruce Arians should call out after rough season opener
Bruce Arians was hard on Tom Brady after his rough debut with the Buccaneers on Sunday, but Hall of Famer Brett Favre doesn’t understand why.
In Favre’s eyes, Arians is “barking up the wrong tree.”
“I think the last person you want to call out after the first game of the year is Tom Brady,” Favre said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday, via NBC Sports. “Now maybe they had a mutual truce going into the game, going into the season, ‘Hey, I’m going to be hard on you. I want the guys to know we’re going to treat you the same even though technically I’m not, so are you OK with it?’ If they have that truce, great.
“If not, I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Dissension could easily enter quickly.”
Bruce Arians criticizes Tom Brady after loss
Brady went 23 of 36 for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air, and ran one in himself in their 34-23 loss to the New Orleans Saints. He had two interceptions in the loss, however, one of which was run back for a touchdown.
Arians didn’t hold back when criticizing his new quarterback on Monday, either, saying he had “looked like Tom Brady in practice,” but not during that game.
“He’s had it before. I mean, he knows how to bounce back,” Arians said. “He knew he didn’t play very well. It’s not what he expects from himself nor do we expect.
“I would expect him to have a little more grit, a little more determination this week.”
Favre — who played in the league from 1991-2010, most notably with the Green Bay Packers, before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016 — isn’t putting the blame on Brady.
Given the fact that Brady is playing with a completely new team for the first time since he entered the league in 2000 and there was no preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Favre thinks that the six-time Super Bowl champion just needs some time to adjust in Tampa.
“Tom’s performance was not what we’ve come to expect from him but I’ll say this, it wasn’t far off,” Favre said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via NBC Sports. “And you’re right, the first drive I think most people said, ‘Well, he hasn’t missed a beat. That’s typical Tom.’ I was a little bit surprised at how he started. I was not surprised with how the rest of the game unfolded. New team. He’s been in a familiar environment forever.
“And then all of a sudden not only is he with a new team, football itself is totally different right now. No preseason. Yeah, we saw, we heard where he was getting some kind of workout in, whether it be virtual or in the parking lot. But, look, it’s not even close to the equivalent of real bullets. And they protected OK. Tom, you know, if you protect him he’s gonna pick you apart, I don’t care if it is new receivers or not. And it just wasn’t typical protection. I’m not blaming the line, I’m not blaming Tom Brady.”
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