Was Tom Brady Suppressing Information About Kyle Trask?
July 7th, 2023
“Know your place, Kyle.”
Joe has heard this take among fans, but it’s a little different when it comes from a former NFL player that was a superstar for the Buccaneers.
Some who yearn to join the cult of Kyle Trask that believe Trask was relegated to third-string quarterback duty the past two years because starting Bucs QB Tom Brady didn’t want a threat to his throne right behind him on the depth chart.
Yes, Brady has a giant ego. But Joe never bought into that take. A big reason is because Joe never saw evidence in practice that Trask was better than Brady’s actual backup, Blaine Gabbert, the guy handpicked to back up Patrick Mahomes in 2023.
Former Bucs quarterback Shaun King has said many times that if Trask was any good in practice, it would have leaked out over time that he was turning heads at One Buc Palace. Instead, King said this summer that “Trask stinks.”
Enter Gerald McCoy, the six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle for Tampa Bay.
McCoy joined The Herd on FS1 this week and was asked about Packers quarterback Jordan Love not having any sexy film for fans to get excited about, and whether it’s a red flag that Love has gotten little buzz from Packers world.
McCoy responded by asking rhetorically, “Do you think 12 was going to really let a lot get out on 10?” referring to the jersey numbers of former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love, respectfully.
“I mean let’s be honest. …You know Aaron Rodgers was not going to let a lot get out on [Love].”
Do not read into what has and hasn’t been heard about Love, McCoy said, adding that Packers fans should just temper expectations because the guy hasn’t played.
Of course, that got Joe thinking about Trask, who was buried behind Brady.
Joe sure hopes Brady was laying down the law behind the scenes to suppress information that Trask was kicking ass. That would mean Trask will wow the world in a few short weeks. Joe doesn’t buy it, but it would be a beautiful thing for the Bucs and their pending quarterback competition between Trask and Baker Mayfield.
July 7th, 2023 at 7:18 pm
I don’t buy the idea that the starting QB has power to suppress information about a backup kicking a$$. The premise for the article is preposterous, and McCoy is just spouting nonsense.
July 7th, 2023 at 7:25 pm
We can only hope that is the case. At any rate, he has a chance to compete and it’s a long season, so we will just have to wait and see what develops, if anything.
July 7th, 2023 at 8:16 pm
“Joe never saw evidence in practice that Trask was better than Brady’s actual backup, Blaine Gabbert.”
You also never saw Trask take a single snap with the starters, because Licht said recently that 2023 would be Trask’s first time with the starters.
July 7th, 2023 at 8:16 pm
This is conspiracy like stuff. You do realize you’re talking about the GOAT. This isn’t just some guy. This is completely laughable. I promise you Tom wasn’t paying any attention Trask. He was focused on helping the team win. And I don’t agree that Brady has a big ego from what most of his teammates have said other the years.
July 7th, 2023 at 8:19 pm
Joe I thought you didn’t like that 4 letter word… or in this case, 5 letter word (“hopes”)… One Joe loves the word hope and thinks it’s the essence of life and fandom. The other Joe is no fan of hope. –Joe
LOL
July 7th, 2023 at 8:20 pm
I hope Mayfield is better than what he has on NFL films. If he blossoms somehow that would be awesome. If trask is actually going to be given a shot and outplays Mayfield that would be great too. I just hope promises weren’t made during contract negotians that “give” someone playing time regardless. Unless we are tanking for draft position I guess?!?!
July 7th, 2023 at 8:31 pm
It’s laughable that Aaron or Tom would suppress information. Rodgers is a top 5 QB of all time. Think about it: Bowles would’ve had known Trask was good in practice. So what exactly would suppressing any information about Trask have to do with what’s happening in the building. If the team saw Trask was any good, they wouldn’t have brought in Mayfield. The Packers didn’t bring anyone in to compete with Love because they saw enough practice to name him the starter. The team didn’t see that with Trask. I’m not a Trask hater. I actually feel bad for him because this whole competition is a farce. Mayfield knew it and that’s why he signed with us. It’s actually pretty insulting to Bowles that anyone would think he would go along with this preposterous ruse.
Maybe when Joe returns back to training camp he could ask Bowles straight up if information about Trask was suppressed. My guess is that he wouldn’t ask the question because he knows how silly it is and Bowles might just have a heart attack from laughter. You’re a valued member of the local press. Please ask Bowles the next time he holds a press conference.
July 7th, 2023 at 8:56 pm
Bucsfan13
Excellent post! Well thought out.
July 7th, 2023 at 9:11 pm
Don’t buy it, Brady may have a big ego but suppressing information about a 3rd string QB ? That’s not who Brady is, especially at that stage of his career, even if Trask had mad talent, Brady was here to be the starting QB for as long as he wished.
July 7th, 2023 at 9:11 pm
I think he means it in a different way. I think he’s saying he did it unintentionally. Why would Tom even talk about Trask. I think he means it like. Rogers and Brady are on a level so much higher. Why would we hear anything about him or love. Bradys natural response to any questions about his back up should be ” That’s not my concern. ” ” We are trying to win a damn football game and I can only control what I do.”
July 7th, 2023 at 9:13 pm
If Traskcan was any good….The FO & Coaching Staff would have elevated him to #2 in yr2, instead of relegating him to a “healthy scratch” for 17wks before dressing him out in the 2022 season finally.
If Traskcan was any good…The FO would not have targeted an Alpha personality w/ “Leadership & Moxie” like Baker Mayfield in FA…& would have went for the “on downward slide” Mentor type BU.
If Traskcan was any good…You’d have heard about it through the grapevine more than once in the last 2+ yrs…But we haven’t…& I think that speaks volumes.
July 7th, 2023 at 9:40 pm
You lost me when you mentioned Gerald McCoy……
July 7th, 2023 at 9:51 pm
I KNOW Baker Mayfield will suck. That’s par for the course so far as he is concerned.
There is literally every chance Mayfield will begin the season as the starter. Bowles has him throwing to starting pass catchers, hile Trask is throwing to backups and camp meat.
There is zero reason to believe this is a true competition.
But…when we go 2-4 in the first 6 games…we will see if the Bucs are tanking or not. Bowles will have to be forced by GM abd owners to make the switch at that point.I
Fans will be hating on Mayfield. On Bowles. On the new OC. Fans will be hating on the offensive line at that point.
And then…Trask will get his shot. No pressure at that point. The ol will gradually start to gel.
Then? We shall see.
July 7th, 2023 at 10:13 pm
Jordan Love is better than Kyle Trask. He has an elite arm.
Rodgers can’t control the media. The only thing he could do is control the narrative with his play. Guess what? He’s still really f-ing good.
I’m not saying Trask doesn’t have potential or whatever. But Baker is actually a good QB with an elite arm who got screwed over by the Browns and Panthers. He didn’t join the Panthers until July. Trask isn’t going to beat him out in a fair competition. Sorry.
Again, we will compete for the division.
July 7th, 2023 at 10:38 pm
@Bucfan!!
Any allusion to Aaron Rogers as an all-time QB must be appended by the words: “During the regular season”
“If the team saw Trask was any good, they wouldn’t have brought in Mayfield”
So Trask would have had to back up himself?
July 7th, 2023 at 10:52 pm
Yeah, and Trask did a great job of playing along by looking like s**t every time he took the field. He’s a team player!
Okay, maybe he didn’t suck EVERY time, but did he do one thing in any of his appearances that gave us fans the slightest reason to be excited? That’d be no. (But, in all fairness, I tend to doze off in the 4th quarter of preseason games, so maybe he kit it up and I missed it?)
July 7th, 2023 at 10:53 pm
Sorry Joe, but one of your worst articles ever. First off, how in the world would Brady suppress info on Trask?! There’s at least a dozen ways for Brady to have used his influence. –Joe As if he’s the only human in the entire Bucs organization/Tampa media observing Trask’s practice habits?
And the premise that Brady didn’t want Trask as the #2 because he was afraid Trask might threaten the starting job? I think everyone understands he wanted Gabbert as the #2 so they could discuss strategies on the sidelines during games. Trask the greenhorn couldn’t offer any experienced-based advice. What exactly could Gabbert, as a No. 3 quarterback, not discuss with Brady on game days? Joe doesn’t buy the notion of Brady suppressing Trask, but let’s not go over the top. –Joe
July 7th, 2023 at 11:22 pm
“Joe has heard this take among fans,…”
Then you shouldn’t have any trouble naming, say, three…please.
It’s been written in this comment section several times. Joe’s heard it on radio from fan callers, and more –Joe
July 7th, 2023 at 11:28 pm
Jordan Love was QB2. Trask? Not so much. That’s all you need to know.
July 7th, 2023 at 11:48 pm
I can’t believe we’re more than 24-hours into Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian being a thing, and yet nothing on the ultimate Bucs site. There’s got to be an angle there…
As Licht said, he’s leaving the light on for Brady if he wants to come back. Maybe Kardashian can quickly ruin his rep so Fox Sports fires him before he starts, and she spends all his money, so he’s forced to return to the Bucs. What an amazing turnaround that would be. Can you imagine how many Bucco Brady jerseys the Bucs would sell? It would be insane.
July 8th, 2023 at 12:17 am
I’ve said from the start Trask could never get that job behind brady nomatter what he did. Brady wanted a Vet to talk to when coming to the sideline. What would a rookie have to offer brady in a clipboard role? It wasnt an inditement on Trask at all other than Trask is not a career backup. I promise you if Brady would of went down we woulda seen Trask.
July 8th, 2023 at 2:03 am
Bruh, KK has 3 commas so it would be Brady spending her money.
July 8th, 2023 at 2:12 am
McCoy is a joke. AR12 would have no way of controlling what info “gets out” about his backup. My guess is McCoy is projecting.
July 8th, 2023 at 2:44 am
Joe, Please don’t tell me Gerald has joined the former player and Shaun King look at me crowd.
Hope you are right with the conspiracy theory though.
BTW I still can’t see how anyone can sit through more than 5 minutes of Cowturd.
Go Bucs!
July 8th, 2023 at 3:41 am
ATLBuc – I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works, plus then there’s no reason that Brady would come back. I’m trying to give us some hope here, help a brother out.
July 8th, 2023 at 4:55 am
Saying why did the Bucs get Mayfield when they had Trask is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Why did K.C. sign Gabbert when they have Mahomes? You need more than one QB on a team!! Baker was the best available at the cheapest price. Why did we sign Wolford when we just signed Baker? It’s because you need three QBs for camp! No team in the NFL carries only one QB on their roster people.
July 8th, 2023 at 6:08 am
Now I wouldn’t say he held information from him but I do believe he made sure the bucs wasn’t going to know if Trask is good or not. And I don’t blame him for that Rogers done the same thing to Jordan Love. But it’s not Brady fault it’s the organization and coaches fault for not letting him practice with the starters to see what Trask is.
July 8th, 2023 at 6:20 am
Brady showed us last year why you don’t give a player that kind of power in organization. If they do the NFL will be just like the NBA I know most of yall ignore how Brady treated the team last year he showed that he really didn’t want to be here but for most of yall including Joe thinks Brady could do no worng.
July 8th, 2023 at 8:04 am
Well, this would certainly explain why the Bucs, despite all the pre-draft caterwauling on this site that the Bucs needed to and would draft Will Levis or Hendon Hooker, passed on both Levis and Hooker in the first round, passed on Hooker again in the second round, and did not draft any quarterback in any round of the draft, all while Trask was the only quarterback on the roster!
As for the idiot above who said “If the team saw Trask was any good, they wouldn’t have brought in Mayfield”, are you saying NFL teams need only one quarterback? 😛 Do the Chiefs think Mahomes is no good because they brought in Gabbert? 😛
July 8th, 2023 at 8:11 am
@Rod Munch,
Stop reading Cosmo magazine.
July 8th, 2023 at 8:36 am
Career loser has no clue what it’s like to be on a winning team
July 8th, 2023 at 9:38 am
JASON LICHT on KYLE TRASK on MARCH 1, 2023:
“We’re excited for him to get a chance to be with the STARTERS in offseason, STARTERS in training camp, STARTERS in preseason, WHICH HE’S NEVER DONE.”
Click on my name to see the article.
July 8th, 2023 at 9:42 am
I think Baker May Field the the 2023 season for the BUCS!!!
July 8th, 2023 at 9:53 am
He didn’t have to repress anything, just keep Trask from getting enough reps for a judgement to be made.
Trask had a better looking college career than Brady, and had a style that looked like one of Brady’s biggest competitors. Add in the things Brady did to keep his backups in N.E. from seeing the light of day; it looks like Tom’s ego had a weak spot.
He knew how he got his break and didn’t want that to happen to him. Maybe if he didn’t have that insecure spot Trask would have played more than 9 plays last season.
Then things would be closer to being settled.
July 8th, 2023 at 9:55 am
hogwash all around
Easy for McCoy to say that because there are zero facts involved, just his suspicions and hunches. That is unprofessional behavior from what he is now, just a talking head.
There was plenty more that Rodgers desperately didn’t want to get out over the years that still did.
You think Antonio Brown would have kept his mouth shut if Trask was better than Brady? nope.
July 8th, 2023 at 10:05 am
Given the Bucs’ futile season last year, there is no way a rational head coach gives Trask only 9 snaps with scrubs in the final regular season game. Either Bowles is completely irrational … or Brady was the de facto coach.
July 8th, 2023 at 11:09 am
I don’t believe Arians was going to let an untested QB as #2 no matter what he did in practice and preseason. The Bucs were a Super Bowl or bust team and if Brady got hurt, he was going to go to a veteran.
July 8th, 2023 at 12:18 pm
Rod. If I said anything to make you think I want Brady back, I did not express myself sufficiently. Last year, when I saw his lack of commitment in training camp and inability to compensate for our OL deficiencies I thought Trask could have been playing and gaining some valuable experience.
July 8th, 2023 at 1:38 pm
Trask outplayed Gabbert in preseason last year. Maybe he wasn’t as good in practice, but he didn’t get a fair shake at competing with Gabbert in practice because he never practiced with the starters.
Brady wanted his buddy as his backup. Plain and simple. It wasn’t as much as keeping Trask down as a threat, but being comfortable with his friends backing him up, not necessarily having the best man up.
July 8th, 2023 at 3:39 pm
IE Buc Says: “Trask outplayed Gabbert in preseason last year.”
And, despite playing with an all-scrub-offense, Trask managed a much higher quarterback RTG than both Gabbert AND Brady in the final preseason game against the Colts.
July 8th, 2023 at 4:26 pm
Joe….”Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things”…Andy
July 9th, 2023 at 1:57 am
Joe,
Here you go again. Tom B. was never threaten by Kyle Trask. Give it up sir. The truth is Trask was never given a chance to compete as qb2 as per his QB Coach. That is on record. then why are you spinning it with quoting the under achieved back up qb, King.
First, Joe is sharing this because it was an interesting concept coming from Gerald McCoy. Second, Joe doesn’t think King is lying at all. Realize that King has a very close tie to members of the Glazer family and at least one in the organization, and he’s not a fabricator. Third, Joe wrote in this piece that Joe does not buy that Brady tried to keep Trask down. Fourth, please realize that “on record” isn’t always honest talk when it comes from members of any team. –Joe