Tom Brady Denies Rumors of Rift with Bucs HC Bruce Arians: 'Just External Noise'

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians called out his quarterback last week, but after the Buccaneers dropped their second consecutive 27-24 game Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs, Tom Brady said there were no problems between him and his new head coach.

"Just external noise," Brady said in a press conference that didn't even last three minutes, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic.

Brady was 27-of-41 for 345 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions in defeat, but the final stat line doesn't exactly paint the whole picture. The Buccaneers were down 17-0 in the first quarter and trailed 20-7 at the half. Tampa Bay didn't score a touchdown until Ronald Jones II took a swing pass 37 yards down the sideline with four minutes, 29 seconds left in the second quarter.

A week earlier, Brady recorded 216 yards on 26-of-48 passing with two scores and two picks in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Arians' critique came after that game, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times: 

"We've got guys open, we've just missed them. And there are times when coverage dictates you go to that guy. I think we can do a better job of utilizing the deep ball in our game plan more of or less of. Each and every week is a little different. But when they're there, we need to hit them. We can't have them going off our fingertips, and we can't overthrow them."

ESPN's Dan Graziano addressed the "real tension" between the pair in an appearance on Get Up! on Wednesday, noting that the Buccaneers acquired players this offseason because Brady wanted them on the team, including Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown (at the 1:55 mark):

"If you're Arians, you're looking, going, saying, 'This is what you wanted. We got you everything you asked for. Why aren't you delivering?'" Graziano said. 

Throughout his legendary career, Brady has dealt with just about everything. But public criticism from his head coach is uncharted territory, and Arians has been vocal about his quarterback's shortcomings since Week 1.