When Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians announced earlier this month that Tom Brady would have to undergo knee surgery at some point this offseason, he noted that the procedure would he a simple "clean-up," however, it seems the surgery might have been slightly more serious than that.
According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, the surgery was more than a clean-up and a source even told Volin that when the true nature of the injury comes out, it will "build [Brady's] legend even greater."
If you need proof that the injury might have been more than a minor operation, just look at the timeline for Brady's recovery. Arians said on Wednesday that he's expecting his quarterback to be sidelined for at least four months following the operation on his left knee.
"I think he's probably looking [at] somewhere around June, right now, from what I hear," Arians said of Brady's recovery time, via ESPN.com.
The timeline from Arians could explain a random tweet that Brady sent out earlier this week.
Although it might not be related to what Arians said, it would certainly make sense if that's the case. Brady knows he's going to be stuck rehabbing his knee for the next few months, which means there isn't going to be much for him to do, so he's crowd-sourcing ideas for how he should spend his time.
Twitter aside, the fact that Brady is likely going to miss the entire spring portion of the offseason isn't that big of a deal. During his final few years in New England, the quarterback regularly skipped the team's offseason training activities (OTAs) so that he could spend more time with this family. Also, Brady might not end up missing anything at all and that's because there's no guarantee that OTAs are even going to happen this year. After all, they were canceled last year due to the pandemic and the NFL has yet to announce how things are going to work this offseason.
Once Brady is healthy, it sounds like Arians would like to see him get together with some of his teammates like the quarterback did last year, but the Buccaneers coach also pointed out the obvious and that's the Brady doesn't need OTAs at this point in his career.
"Wherever they meet and work out -- I'm hoping we have an offseason for the younger players," Arians said. "Tom doesn't need it, but for the younger players -- first-, second- and third-year players -- we've missed two years of player development with where we're at now. We don't need to miss another one."
If there are OTAs this year and Brady does show up, Arians said there would be one big advantage to having his quarterback in attendance, even if he's injured.
"His leadership -- he doesn't have to be out there throwing it anymore," Arians said. "He can be there standing and coach the s--- out of them."
Although no one in Tampa seems too worried about the injury, if I'm the Buccaneers, I'm at least mildly concerned that my soon-to-be 44-year-old quarterback just had a surgery that's going to sideline him for four or five months. Of course, Brady is probably just going to view this as another challenge to overcome and respond by winning four more Super Bowls.
The Buccaneers clearly think that Brady is going to be just fine, because they've already been talking with him about the possibility of an extension with his contract set to expire at the end of the 2021 season.