Tom Brady Returns to Buccaneers After 11-Day Absence for 'Personal' Reasons

The Super Bowl-winning quarterback was seen Monday afternoon throwing the ball and doing footwork drills during Tampa Bay's practice

Tom Brady
Tom Brady. Photo: James Gilbert/Getty

Tom Brady is back in action!

The Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, 45, returned to the team Monday, ESPN reported, nearly two weeks after he left training camp for "personal" reasons.

By midday, Brady was already having an impact. Video posted on social media showed the iconic athlete going through footwork drills and throwing the football.

ESPN Buccaneers reporter Jenna Laine wrote on Twitter that "there's a noticeable mood shift with everybody when he takes the field."

A source close to Brady told PEOPLE earlier this month that he was not injured, and was just taking personal time.

According to Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles, Brady, and the team already discussed the absence before the start of training camp in July.

"We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and get chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp, knowing he wasn't going to play the first two games," he explained.

"He didn't want to take away reps from Blaine [Gabbert] and Kyle [Trask] as well as Griff [Ryan Griffin] as far as going into these next two games," Bowles continued. "And it's something he needs to handle."

The so-far-undisclosed reason for Brady's absence didn't stop fans and pundits from tossing around rumors, the most popular being that he was filming Fox's The Masked Singer.

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According to Si.com, the theory originated in a Reddit forum late last week, but saw the light of day when Los Angeles Rams COO Kevin Demoff mentioned it in the broadcast booth during a Rams-Houston Texans game Friday.

"Hopefully Tom Brady will still be on The Masked Singer by the time we go to Tampa in November," Demoff said, via RamsWire. "So, if that's the case, maybe we'll have a chance."

After 22 seasons in the NFL, Brady is widely lauded as the G.O.A.T., with even his teammates readily acknowledging his greatness.

Running back Leonard Fournette gifted Brady with a cake shaped like a goat to mark the quarterback's 45th birthday earlier this month.

"Happy early bday to my old head @TomBrady" Fournette wrote on Twitter, alongside a picture of the cake.

The cake was delivered to the Bucs' training facility and featured a humorous placard alongside which read "Happy 100th birthday."

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