TAMPA — Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow won't be on the field at the same time when the Bucs host the Bengals this weekend. But both players know exactly what to expect from the other signal-caller come Sunday.
"He’s a great young player. He’s got a great arm. Runs well, very athletic," Brady said of the 26-year-old Burrow. "There were high expectations for him coming out. He’s lived up to it. A lot of credit to him. Their team’s done a great job.
Burrow said almost every NFL memory he has includes the 45-year-old Brady. So he knows why his next opponent earned the title of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
"He gets the ball out really fast. He understands what he’s looking at. I think he epitomizes toughness at the quarterback position," Burrow said. "He’s the greatest of all time for a reason. He’s the total package."
Burrow shrugged off any comparisons between the two quarterbacks at this stage of their careers.
"It is what it is. I don’t really pay attention to it. He’s Tom and I’m Joe."
The Bengals (9-4) and Buccaneers (6-7) are both in first place in their respective divisions, but the road has been a lot rockier for Tampa Bay. Brady knows his team needs to use the last four games of the regular season as a tool to get their season on track.
"That’s like all of our jobs. When it doesn’t go the way you want, it sucks. We gotta come stand up here and answer questions about why it’s not going great," Brady added. "Believe me; you wish it was going great every week. But that’s not our reality, and we gotta dig our way out of it. No one’s feeling sorry for us. No one outside our locker room can do much about it. We gotta come together and we gotta do it ourself."
Kickoff is set for Sunday at 4:25 P.M. Tampa Bay is 4-3 at home this season. Cincinnati is currently riding a five-game winning streak.
