‘Tom and I are fine’: Bruce Arians responds to criticism on postgame comments about Tom Brady

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — If you have stumbled across a rumored scenario where the head coach and the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are engaged in some sort of blame game, you should take one or two (or 12) deep breaths.

Bruce Arians abides by the “coach them hard and hug them later” rule when it comes to interacting with his players. He is never afraid to speak his mind – and he did it on Sunday and again Monday when he was asked about the play of quarterback Tom Brady.

“Mike read it right,” Arians said in reference to Brady’s first interception immediately after the Buccaneers’ loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. “He should have been across his face but Tom overthrew it. The other one was a screen pass with an outlet called. He threw the outlet and it was a pick-six, bad decision.”

Arians, after taking a second glance at that first interception, clarified on Monday that Mike Evans misread the coverage and he should have continued running the route. Brady was not at fault here.

He also commented on Brady’s demeanor after the loss to start the season.

“He knew he did not play very well and it is not what he expects from himself nor what we expect,” said Arians. “I would anticipate him to have a little more grit and a little more determination this week.”

Apparently, a portion of the population is finding fault with Arians.

Why?

He spoke about Brady like he spoke about his other players, assessing where they played well and where they play poorly. He also stated the obvious in regards to the play of the man under center. If you watched any portion of the game – with the exception of the Buccaneers’ opening drive – you would know Brady did not reach his typical level of superstardom.

No, Bill Belichick never shared his disappointment with Brady publicly – but Arians is not Belichick. You would have to ask him but the odds are Brady does not want Arians to morph into his former head coach.

He left the Patriots for a reason.

He joined the Buccaneers for a reason.

Brady has not addressed the comments but, according to the Arians, the two of them are perfectly peachy.

“Tom and I are fine so I do not really care what other people think. So it is just what he and I think,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “We left the stadium fine and we showed up today fine so there ain’t nothing to talk about.”

Exactly.

“There ain’t nothing to talk about.”