Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians dismissed the perception that legendary quarterback Tom Brady cannot throw the deep ball following his arrival from the New England Patriots.
Brady swapped the Patriots for the Buccaneers on a two-year deal in free agency following six Super Bowl titles in New England.
There is a perception that Brady – a three-time NFL MVP and 14-time Pro Bowler – is only capable of hurting opponents underneath but Arians defended the 42-year-old.
"I think the perception is just wrong," Arians said on Wednesday. "I thought his deep ball was outstanding last year. Through their play-action game, they hit a lot of deep balls.
"And our quarterback – I thought he put it as good as anybody – throw it to the guy who's open."
"He makes everyone better." pic.twitter.com/GQ6WRgIqBW
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) March 25, 2020
"He can make every throw," Arians added. "He can do everything we want to do in our offense."
Arians continued: "We do have reads that start deep and come in short, but I've had a couple quarterbacks that just keep looking deep – they won't throw the checkdown.
"[Offensive consultant] Tom Moore has the best saying in the world: 'You don't go broke putting money in the bank. Take the damn checkdown'.
"We don't have to teach Tom that. But I think the freedom of looking downfield on certain routes and in certain situations, when the matchup's perfect – take it, don't be afraid to take it – some quarterbacks are afraid to take it. I'm not looking for a 'checkdown Charlie' quarterback."
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