Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had a mixed start to the season. Many have attributed the recent results to the fact that the team lost TE Rob Gronkowski. But Brady does not believe so. Brady has opened up about the effect of Gronkowski’s retirement and why the Bucs are struggling amid clamor from the fans demanding Gronk’s return.

Tom Brady opened up about the recent struggles of the Buccaneers and the retirement of Gronk on his “Let’s Go” podcast. Joined by Jim Gray and NBA superstar Kevin Durant, Brady defended his team amid hysteria around Gronkowski’s return.

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When pressed about the effect Gronkowski’s retirement had on the form of the Buccaneers, Brady said the team had a lot of time to plan for this.

“I mean generically speaking you could use that excuse for a lot of people. If you are using that excuse for why you are not performing well, I think you are doing a detriment to the team because we got a lot of time to plan for this,” Brady said of Gronkowski.

“Naturally when you lose a great player, a great personality and a great teammate, naturally it doesn’t help the team but at the same time we got a lot of time to prepare. The guys who have been in there for us have worked really hard,” the legendary QB added.

For Brady, Gronkowski’s retirement is no excuse for the Bucs to not perform well. He stressed the need to turn the season around with there being “no easy way about this.”

“There are a lot of reasons why we haven’t played at our level of expectations and we gotta turn this around. No easy way about this,” Brady said.

The Buccaneers and Tom Brady till game Week 6

The Buccaneers had a strong start to the season as they won their first two games. Since then, they have won just one of the next four. Most recently, they went down to the Pittsburgh Steelers in game week six.

Tom Brady is looking to add another Super Bowl ring to his already illustrious collection. For that to happen though, the Bucs have to turn their season around.

Brady has faced criticism himself for missing practice before the Steelers game. He had gone to attend the wedding of his former boss and the New England Patriots chief, Robert Kraft. Then later, he was seen dropping F-bombs on his teammates during the loss to the Steelers.

The Buccaneers next face the Carolina Panthers in what has become a must-win game for them. They will have to win this one to keep the top spot on the NFC South table.

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