In February, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady had knee surgery. On Tuesday, he addressed the issues that he experienced while recovering from the procedure to repair a torn MCL in his left knee.
“It was sixth months today that I had knee surgery,” Brady said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via JoeBucsFan.com. “You know, it was a tough offseason in terms of the rehab. . . . But I feel like I’m really just now kind of feeling — not from a rehab standpoint but from a football standpoint — like you know my legs are feeling bouncy and ready to go. My arm’s feeling live. I think that’s the hard thing.”
The explanation is simple. Basically, use it or lose it.
“When you miss time and you don’t continue to train the way you’re capable of training, it’s tough because your body just wants to, you know, it feels like, ‘Ok, I get time off,’” Brady said. “And then when you get your body going again, it’s hard. You’re body’s like, ‘No, no, no, no. We’re not working out. We’re chilling.’ You know, and I’m trying to get it going and it just doesn’t want to do it. So I’ve had to push through different things and even the early part of training camp, just getting my legs under me and getting my football legs.”
He’s also 44, which surely is a factor.
“Again, when it’s 95 [degrees], you got pads on and the helmet and you’re reading coverages, and the mental strain and the day-after-day and the sleep, it’s just a lot of football conditioning that needs to happen,” he said. “Even for somebody that’s been doing it as long as me, it’s always a challenge. I think that’s why I love the sport. It’s a continuous mental, physical, emotional challenge. You have to bring it every day.”
In 15 days, Brady will be bringing to start his 22nd NFL season. Yes, he’s been in the league longer than plenty of players have been alive. And there’s no reason to think he’ll be done after the current campaign.
Tom Brady struggled to get back in shape after knee surgery originally appeared on Pro Football Talk