Tom Brady, right, expects to be ready to participate in minicamp for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after having offseason knee surgery. Steve Luciano/Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady is recovering from offseason knee surgery and expects to be ready for June minicamp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaking at a fundraiser for Bucs Coach Bruce Arians’ foundation, the 43-year-old quarterback joked that he didn’t know “if I can go this week.” He then added he is aiming to be back on the field relatively soon for the Super Bowl champions.
“I feel pretty good and I push myself pretty hard. … We we will see how things play out,” he said. “It is a long time between now and the beginning of the season. Just be smart about all these different things we have to do and fulfill. We all take a lot of pride in being ready to go and I am sure we will be.”
ESPN first reported Brady’s comments at Sunday night’s event.
“It’s good progress,” Brady said. “It’s rehab. None of that is fun, but looking forward to getting back to real training and stuff, which is hopefully here pretty soon.
“I’m cool with it. It’s just part of what you deal with. Things come up. You deal with them the best way you can, with the best opportunity to improve. I’m definitely feeling a lot better than I did six or seven weeks ago.”
Bucs players, along with those from more than half the league’s teams, have said they will not attend voluntary offseason workouts, which could begin Monday. Minicamps are mandatory for players fit to participate.
Brady signed with Tampa Bay in free agency in March 2020 after 20 seasons with the New England Patriots.
WASHINGTON: Alex Smith retired after making an improbable comeback from a gruesome broken leg, saying he’s ready to leave the NFL but believing he’s still able to play quarterback.
Smith made the announcement on Instagram a few weeks shy of his 37th birthday, hoping to enjoy more time with his family.
“I want to say thank you for believing in me, and thank you for helping me believe in myself — and in the impossible,” Smith said. “Because even though I’ve got plenty of snaps left in me, after 16 years of giving this game everything I’ve got, I can’t wait to see what else is possible.”
Smith earned AP Comeback Player of the Year honors for getting back on the field last season, two years removed from an injury that required 17 operations. After breaking his right tibia and fibula in a game Nov. 18, 2018, against Houston, he said he wondered if he’d be able to take walks with his wife or play with his kids in the yard — let alone play in the NFL again.
• Washington waived running back Bryce Love on Monday afternoon after the talented-but-injured 23-year-old never appeared in a game for the team that took a flier on him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
SEAHAWKS: A sheriff’s office in Louisiana has issued an arrest warrant for Seattle defensive end Aldon Smith.
St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies responding to a call for medical assistance in Meraux on Saturday evening found a man who said he had been assaulted by an acquaintance outside a business in Chalmette, Sheriff James Pohlmann said Monday in a post on the agency’s Facebook page. Detectives identified the suspect as Smith, 31, and took out a warrant for second-degree battery.
The incident in Louisiana took place just two days after Smith signed a one-year contract with the Seahawks.
Smith’s off-field troubles are lengthy and include four full seasons out of the league due to suspensions. Smith was reinstated by the NFL last spring after signing a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys. He had not played in the NFL since 2015. Smith appeared in 16 games last season for Dallas and had 48 tackles and five sacks.
COLTS: Restricted free agents George Odum and Zach Pascal have signed their one-year tenders to play with the Indianapolis Colts next season, the team announced.
Both were restricted free agents.
Odum led the NFL with 20 special teams tackles last season and was rewarded with an All-Pro selection. He received a one-year, right-of-first refusal offer for $2.133 million — an offer Odum initially called “disappointing” on Twitter.
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