Tom Brady Admits 'Tough' Challenge In Adjusting With Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Learning a new playbook had not been a burden for Tom Brady until his exit from New England in March to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting the upcoming NFL Season. The 43-year-old admitted that the adjustment phase has been tough for him as he specifically pointed out the challenge of learning terminologies from Bruce Arians’ system.

"It's been different having the opportunity over this time to move and to, for example, study my playbook -- I mean I really haven't had to do that in 19 years, so you forget, 'Man, that's really tough,' like all of the different terminologies," said Brady in a report published by ESPN Thursday.

"You're going back a very long time in my career to really have to put the mental energy in like I did. I have to work at it pretty hard physically, still. I put a lot of time and energy into making sure I'm feeling good in order to perform at my best, but mentally I think that's been the thing that's obviously had its challenges.”

The current pandemic certainly did not help Brady in making a seamless transition in Florida. With about a month left before the start of the new season, the ex-Patriot is running against time as he starts an extensive run through the book with Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.

"I think conversations we probably would've had in April, we're having now," Brady said. "I think that part has been challenging too, but the only thing you can do is adjust to the situation, adapt the best way you can (and) put as much time and energy now as we can into it.

“I think the reality is, the clock is ticking on everybody. We're going to have to work as hard as we can and not waste any minutes of any day trying to get used to one another. (We need to) embrace the challenge and see it as an opportunity to see what we can become."

Despite the earlier restrictions on offseason programs due to the virus threat, Brady has made sure to make up for the lost time by organizing workouts aimed to build camaraderie with his new teammates.