When you’ve accomplished what Tom Brady has throughout his legendary 23-year career in the NFL, you’re allowed a measure of freedom and power when it comes to how things are run on your side of the ball.
Evidently, Brady’s level of influence when it comes to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers includes holding court with the offensive skill-position players the night before every game, making changes that even his coaches don’t discover until they see them play out during the game.
That’s according to longtime NFL writer Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, who dropped this little detail in his postgame column following the Bucs’ 35-7 blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday:
The level of responsibility that Brady imposes upon himself has always been massive, and this year, he’s taxed to the max. One example: On the night before each game, Brady runs a separate meeting with the Bucs’ skill players during which he goes over the gameplan, makes tweaks to assignments and formations and provides a revised blueprint — one which first-year head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and the rest of the staff are left to discover in real time once the game begins.
Those tweaks haven’t seemed to help much this season, as the Bucs have struggled to move the ball and score consistently on offense all year long. The same was true Sunday, when they managed just a garbage-time touchdown to avoid a shutout against the 49ers.
