Tom Brady returns to Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp after 11-day absence

By CNN Sport staff

Updated 0818 GMT (1618 HKT) August 23, 2022

It's unclear why Tom Brady took leave from the team — but he's back.

(CNN)"Missed you guys." Tom Brady returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp on Monday following an 11-day leave of absence.

It is uncommon for players to leave during preseason training camp and head coach Todd Bowles said at the time that Brady was granted leave to «deal with personal things.» However, Bowles said Brady largely picked up right where he left off and insisted it was «probably just conditioning» that the seven-time Super Bowl champion missed out on.«He's been great,» Bowles told reporters, per Yahoo. «He's been great, same as when he left. He's been fine. We pretty much keep distractions out of our locker room. It wasn't a big deal to us because everybody knew what was going on.»He's a film junkie — I'm sure he's watched tape of everything. So him coming back in, picking up where he left off, just getting used to the mechanics again.Read More«He's very familiar with the offense, so him coming back in and us getting back to work is kind of normal. Just getting used to the heat and getting used to the guys, but he ran the offense well.»Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson suspended 11 games, fined $5 million after NFL and NFLPA reach settlementHowever, Bucs tight end Cameron Brate said «it was definitely weird» practicing without their star quarterback.«Tom is such an omnipresent being, he's like the unquestioned leader of the team,» he said. «For him to not be there for 11 days, it was kind of a good opportunity for other guys to step up and fill that void.»It was different, Tom is usually kind of cussing guys up and down the field when we're messing up, but we didn't