Tom Brady Practiced in Full at Buccaneers Minicamp amid Knee Injury Rehab

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was a full participant Tuesday in minicamp after undergoing offseason knee surgery.

"He looked fine. I had to pull him out a couple [times]," coach Bruce Arians told reporters. "That first period, I said, 'OK, you can have four [reps].' And he kept begging to go back in. But the only thing I didn't want him in was the blitz period, where some guys might get around him too quick."

Arians said Brady was at "full speed" in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 workouts as the Bucs training staff gave the 43-year-old full clearance. Brady underwent knee surgery following Tampa's Super Bowl LV win over the Kansas City Chiefs. 

While he did not miss any time for injury, Brady admitted the knee was an issue that bothered him throughout the 2020 season, telling the Hodinkee Radio podcast last month:

"I was really interested to see how it was going to go, because last year it just took a lot. Every week I was kind of tending to my knee, and I thought I would love to see a season where I can focus on some other strength stuff that I want to do, some other technique stuff where I’m not just focused on protecting my knee all the time."

Brady's performance did not suffer from the pain, as he threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. It was the greatest season for a 43-year-old quarterback in NFL history and continued his seemingly endless success.

Brady signed a contract extension this offseason that would allow him to play through his age-45 season, which would make him the oldest starting quarterback in NFL history. Maintaining his health will be paramount to that effort.