NFL insider says Tom Brady's sudden absence from Buccaneers training camp is about 'work-life balance'

• Tom Brady will be absent from Buccaneers training camp through at least next weekend.
• NFL insider Ian Rapaport said that Brady's absence was due in part to "work-life balance."
• Brady had briefly retired during the offseason, leading some to speculate he had already made plans with his family.

Tom Brady is taking a break.

After Brady was excused from practice twice last week, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles told reporters that his starting quarterback would be absent from training camp through at least next weekend.

While the news was a surprise to those following the team, it was not a surprise to Bowles.

"This is something we talked about before training camp started," Bowles said. "We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp, knowing he wasn't going to play the first two games. He didn't want to take away reps from Blaine [Gabbert] and Kyle [Trask], as well as 'Griff' [Ryan Griffin] going into these next two games, knowing it's something he needs to handle."

"It's a personal issue," Bowles said, when asked if the absence was related to a potential injury. "That's all I can tell you."

With more than two decades of NFL experience, Brady is far beyond needing an extended preseason tune-up. Further, veterans taking it a bit easy during training camp is not uncommon in the NFL. Still, the suddenness and length of Brady's apparent departure are striking.

As NFL Network's Ian Rapaport explained while appearing on "The Pat McAfee Show," Brady's absence could be chalked up to his need for work-life balance.

"It was planned. No one is worried. He's fine," Rapaport told McAfee. "To my knowledge, it is not a medical emergency relating to him, or I believe anyone close to him. I was told that everything is okay. The best description I got about this was that it is important to find a work-life balance.

"Brady has been doing this for 23 years. He knows this team as well as anyone. He wasn't going to play in those two [preseason] games anyway. So he steps aside, it sounds like, to do some actual, personal things. Family things. And lets the other guys get the reps."

—Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 11, 2022

Ben Volin at the Boston Globe speculated that given Brady's brief retirement during offseason, it was possible he had simply already committed to family plans believing August would be clear on his schedule this year.

—Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 11, 2022

Brady's teammates expressed trust in him to be ready despite his time away. Speaking with reporters on Thursday, linebacker Devin White offered his support to Brady and wished him well in whatever was keeping him away from the game.

"He's a human at the end of the day," White said. "He's got personal problems going on, but he's a guy that has been doing it for so long, he don't need to be here. If he's not here, we know he's still working. He's got a great supporting cast around him, and he's going to get his work in whether he's here or not here.

"When he comes back he'll never miss a beat. That's the only important thing," White continued. "More than football, we're praying for whatever he's got going on as a human being and we hope everybody else do too. That's all we ask for, for his well-being. Football comes second, him being a human comes first."

—Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) August 11, 2022

Despite Brady's absence, Bowles said he had a "pretty high level of confidence" his quarterback would be ready, come the Buccaneers' Week 1 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.