Training Camp Buzz: Tom Brady to play in Buccaneers' preseason opener

The 2021 regular season is just around the corner, and NFL Network has you covered with wall-to-wall training camp coverage each day starting at 10 a.m. ET. Follow along here for some of the best sights, sounds and moments from "Inside Training Camp Live" and around the NFL.

• Tom Brady played the entire 2020 season with a torn MCL. An offseason dedicated to rehab and recovery from surgery won't keep him off the field in the preseason. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said his 44-year-old quarterback will appear in Saturday's opener versus the Bengals. “Could be a drive or two for Tom,” Arians told reporters, noting that everyone is slated to play. Tampa Bay's practice Monday didn't deter that plan. Arians deemed it "probably the worst offensive practice we’ve had in three years." The longtime coach quipped that he's had to figure out new methods of disciplining such performance: “Back in the day, we’d be out here running the (expletive) out of them. That don’t work anymore. You go to jail for that stuff now.”
• Chris Jones is taking his new role seriously. The Chiefs are using the Pro Bowl defensive tackle on the edge to capitalize on his pass-rushing ability. Consequently, Jones has become a pescatarian -- he admitted he still mixes in a little chicken -- and has lost about 15 pounds. “It's been amazing," Jones said on Inside Training Camp. "I look more so of it as an opportunity to move along the line and find matchups. Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) and the defensive staff made an adjustment this year to bring in Jarran Reed, which is a great addition to our D-line and which gives me the flexibility to move out, so I'm loving the transition and the opportunity to challenge other tackles.”

• A.J. Brown experienced a mini-breakout last season amid injuries. What will a healthy version look like? The budding star wideout underwent cleanup surgeries on both knees in January, an issue he said hampered him throughout a second season that still resulted in a Pro Bowl selection. “I couldn’t really get the reps I wanted in practice. I was limited,” Brown said on Inside Training Camp. “You want to get the timing down with the quarterback as much as you can. I (was) just going out there on Sunday just doing it, just visualizing.” Brown asserted that he currently feels great, and he believes the seemingly underrated Ryan Tannehill is good enough to lead the Titans to a Super Bowl. “He’s not in the top-10 talk, or whatever; to me, it’s nonsense,” Brown said. “Many games we came back, we fought back, two minutes. Derrick (Henry) doesn’t get the ball every play. Somebody’s got to throw us the ball and he’s very accurate. Anybody who’s sleeping on him is nonsense. But he doesn’t really care about that stuff and neither do we. I think his head is in a good place.”
• Zach Wilson has yet to play his first preseason game in the NFL. Some of his patterns in practice will be worth monitoring when he makes his debut Saturday versus the Giants. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that the rookie quarterback had an uneven performance Monday, including holding the ball too long during 7-on-7 repetitions that obviously don't involve a pass rush. Wilson also reportedly closed out practice with several incompletions. Jets coach Robert Saleh reasoned that it comes with the territory, even pointing to the struggles of Peyton Manning in his first year. “There’s a reason why being a rookie is hard in this league,” he said. “There was a Hall of Famer yesterday that was inducted that had a 71 quarterback rating his rookie year. It’s not easy to play quarterback in this league as a rookie, especially quarterback. But it is going to get worse before it gets better. But he’s at that point now where he’s going to be able to stack up days. We have the utmost confidence in him and his ability and his ability to figure out the mistakes and correct them and get to a better play."

• The Cowboys boasted one of the league’s best wide receiver trios in the league last year. It was just a bit predictable in terms of deployment. Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup were mainstays on the outside while CeeDee Lamb almost exclusively lined up in the slot during his rookie year. That won’t be the case in 2021, if training camp is any indication. Gallup is seeing an increased workload inside, and thus far the fourth-year wideout is taking to the move. “That’s a whole different route tree than playing outside,” Gallup told reporters. “... Everybody labels me as just a deep-ball threat, but I know I can do a whole lot more.”