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Jenna Lane Contributing to ESPN Contributor
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- has reported on the Pirates since 2009
- Joined ESPN in 2016
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Thomas DeBauers, who was noncommittal when asked by reporters Thursday about the return date of quarterback Tom Brady, has left the team for what he called “personal matters” starting Aug. 11. When Bowers announced that Brady would be leaving, he said that Brady would be in The Buccaneers are back after the Tennessee Titans’ second preseason game in Nashville on Saturday night, meaning Brady could be back in team practice as early as Monday, Aug. 8. 22. But Powers No firm return date was provided, and on Thursday he said he wasn’t sure when Brady would actually return, even though Brady’s absence was pre-planned ahead of training camp a few weeks ago. “We’ll see,” Bowers said Thursday. “We’ll discuss it next week. Don’t care about it right now. We’re trying to practice and play a game with Tennessee. I said ‘sometime after Tennessee’. No firm date for me. But we will Check it out, we’ll keep in touch, we’ll find out.” Brady It’s been a break for the past few days, but this is the first time in 23 years that he’s been away from the team for a significant amount of time during training camp or preseason. He did miss OTAs in 2018 with the New England Patriots to spend more time with his family, but those practices were optional and took place in the spring, well before the regular season began. Brady gets the team’s credit for all his absences with the Buccaneers in 2022 Approval, though it’s the kind of flexibility that is highly unusual for an NFL team to grant approval. Bowers said he has been in touch with Brady. left the team and expressed his confidence that Brady will be his starting quarterback when the Buccaneers visit the Dallas Cowboys to open the regular season on Sept. 11. By donning a suit that week, Brady would become the oldest quarterback in NFL history to start the regular season at age 45.