Buccaneers' Bowles, Brady concerned with lack of production - Tampa Bay Buccaneers Blog- ESPN

TAMPA, Fla. – On third-and-3 with 1:08 left in the third quarter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady dropped back, saw that the pocket around him was quickly collapsing and realized he had no open receivers downfield. After dodging two Green Bay Packers defenders, the 45-year-old took off running.

“I saw a lot of open green grass and no Packers," Brady said. «I could turn a 40-yard gain into 18 [yards] better than anyone in the NFL. Unfortunately, I slid, I broke my knee brace, and I had to get it on the sideline. But if I’m running it, it’s usually not a good thing, so I’ll give it to the guys who run with it.”

It would have been just the Bucs’ second third-down conversion of the game, but it was called back because of a holding call on third-string left tackle Brandon Walton, illustrating how dire things have become for one of the NFL’s most potent offenses the last two years.

Brady was without his top three receivers — Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Julio Jones — in the 14-12 loss to the Packers (2-1).

The Bucs (2-1) will get Evans, who's serving a one-game suspension, back this week. Coach Todd Bowles said after the game that Jones, who missed his second straight game with a knee injury, was well enough to play but the team decided to hold him out one more week. So he should be back as well. It's unclear when Godwin will return after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury.

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But without the trio (and the core pieces of his O-line), Brady and the offense have not looked the same.

“It’s concerning,” Bowles said when asked about