Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was caught on camera berating members of his offensive line, imploring them to play better during an eventual loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday.
But at least one member of that unit is perfectly fine with that. During a media session Thursday, center Robert Hainsey said Brady’s outburst is exactly the type of emotion he prefers to see from the team’s captain.
‘I want nothing else from a quarterback than that, than a guy who’s willing to tell us what we need to do and step up,’ Hainsey said. ‘If he’s just sitting over there and not getting us going, and not trying to help us, he wouldn’t be who he is today. So I love that from him. I know we all love that from him. It might look weird on TV, but that’s football. It’s a team sport, and that’s what you want from great teammates and great leaders, and he’s the best there is.’
Brady was under constant duress during Tampa Bay’s 20-18 loss against Pittsburgh. Though he was sacked just twice, Brady was forced to get rid of the ball quickly, throwing in an average of 2.55 seconds, seventh-quickest in the NFL among eligible quarterbacks in Week 6.
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That the pressure came with the Steelers still missing 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt and with three starting defensive backs — including two-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick — out was even more cause for concern.
During the second quarter, sideline cameras from the FOX Sports broadcast captured the outburst, which contained several expletives.
(Warning: Video contains NSFW language.)
The Buccaneers gained only 75 rushing yards and Brady completed 25 of 40 passes for 243 yards and one touchdown. While the Bucs moved the ball reasonably well, they faltered in the red zone, converting just one of four trips and failed to punch in touchdowns on either of its two goal-to-go attempts. The Buccaneers got as close as the four-yard line (twice) and the one in those drives. Instead, Tampa Bay converted three field goals of 30, 27 and 24 yards.
In an appearance on his ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast that published Monday, Brady addressed the sideline outburst.
‘I don’t know if it’s motivation, but I do think that it’s a bad day when there’s more F-bombs than touchdowns,’ Brady said in the episode. ‘So that was not one of my better days. But F-bombs, they used to kind of keep from showing you in those moments but now it’s kind of for the world to see. So that’s just the way it is.’
The Buccaneers (3-3) will try to turn things around Week 7 when they travel to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers (1-5).