Buccaneers' Devin White: 'We're praying for' Tom Brady amid 'personal problems'

For the second time this month, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has been excused from team practices for "personal" reasons. Unlike the last time, Brady's latest absence won't be brief. 

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles confirmed on Thursday that the seven-time Super Bowl champion signal-caller will remain away from the club through its second preseason game at the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 20. Bowles then could only say he has "a pretty high level of confidence" Brady will be ready for the Week 1 contest at the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 11. 

The coach did, however, add that "this is something we talked about before training camp started" and that "it was scheduled way before training camp." Per the Joe Bucs Fan website, linebacker Devin White addressed the matter while speaking with reporters later in the day. 

"He’s a grown man," White said of the 45-year-old. "You know, growner than a lot of us in the locker room. And you know, he’s a human. At the end of the day, he’s got personal problems going on, but he’s a guy that he’s been doing this so long, he don’t need to be here." 

White added: 

"More than football, you know, we’re praying for whatever he got going on as a human being." 

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht told WDAE radio out of Florida that Brady taking a break from team activities is "the least of our concerns" and was pre-planned. That makes it seem as if the G.O.A.T. isn't going through anything that would require prayers from teammates so close to the start of the regular season.