Buccaneers' Tom Brady: 'I'd Rather Lose and Play Than Not Play at All'

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have struggled in the 2022 season, limping to a 5-6 record after Sunday's 23-17 overtime loss against the Cleveland Browns.

But those struggles haven't seemed to diminish Tom Brady's passion for the game, with the veteran quarterback saying on Monday that losing was still better than not playing:

Brady continued (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk):

"I love playing. I love competing. I love trying to be a little bit better every day. I love going out there with a sense of purpose to try to get better. And ultimately, I love trying to play at a championship level for my teammates... And obviously there's challenges every year. Everybody has unique challenges, you know, on and off the field. You work as hard as you can with the circumstances that are presented before you. We're just going to keep fighting until the end and we'll be measured by, again, by what happens over the course of a long season."

Brady hasn't been happy with the play of the team's offense this season.

"Seventeen points isn't going to do it," he told reporters after Sunday's loss. "It's been the same thing all year. We're not scoring enough points. Every play is an individual win or loss, and we're losing too many. There were too many plays where we were not on the right page, and we've got to correct that."

Tampa Bay is 18th in yards per game (339.1), but it is a woeful 27th in points per contest (18.2). Brady hasn't been poor, throwing for 3,051 yards, 14 touchdowns and just two interceptions while completing 66.2 percent of his passes.

But it's hard to argue that the offense isn't the primary reason for the team's losing record. Brady, who threw 44 touchdown passes last season, is on pace to reach just 21 this year.

Luckily for the Bucs, the rest of the NFC South is even worse. The Atlanta Falcons (5-7) remain a half-game behind the Buccaneers, while the Carolina Panthers (4-8) and New Orleans Saints (4-8) aren't scaring anybody.

The Bucs, in other words, may be able to limp their way into the playoffs, where anything can happen. Brady's pedigree, highlighted by seven Super Bowl titles, is enough to make the Bucs a potentially formidable postseason opponent if they reach the dance.

The veteran quarterback hasn't missed the playoffs since 2008, the year he tore his ACL in the first game of the season. Missing the postseason this year would certainly put to test just how genuinely he believes that playing and losing is better than not playing at all.