Bruce Arians on public criticism of his quarterback: “Tom [Brady] and I are fine”

[Captain Fear]

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Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians hans’t been bashful about calling out quarterback Tom Brady for a not-so-great performance on Sunday against the Saints. On Wednesday, Arians addressed the question of whether Brady has taken issue with Arians’ candor.

“Tom and I are fine,” Arians told reporters. “So I don’t really care what other people think. It’s just what he and I think. We left the stadium fine, we showed up today fine. So ain’t nothin’ to talk about.”

Brady hadn’t had to endure public criticism from his head coach in 20 prior NFL seasons. On Tuesday, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre said that Arians is “barking up the wrong tree” by calling out Brady, unless Arians and Brady had an understanding that Arians would publicly criticize Brady in order to show that the coach isn’t playing favorites. Arians said nothing about any type of express or implied agreement between himself and Brady.

Brady is scheduled to meet with reporters for the next time on Thursday afternoon. Brady surely will say something like “it’s fine” or “I’m a big boy I can take it” or “I deserve to be criticized” or something similar. Even if he’s irritated by the criticism, the last thing Brady will do is say so.