Tom Brady “went to another level” in practice this week

[Captain Fear]

Getty Images

Watch out, Panthers.

Miffed by a subpar performance against the Saints in Week One, and undoubtedly feeling challenged after being called out multiple times by his head coach in the aftermath of a two-interception showing, quarterback Tom Brady has doubled down.

James Palmer of NFL Network reports that Brady “went to another level” during practice in advance of the Week Two game against Carolina.

“He doesn’t want to lose at anything,” an unnamed player told Palmer. “Especially a football game. So we’ve seen him come out to practice just locked in and focused.”

Of course, this implies that Brady was not as locked in and focused as he needed to be before Week One, and that if he was able to take it to “another level” he wasn’t already practicing at the highest level possible. While that may not have been the intention, that’s the inescapable takeaway.

Regardless of whether and to what extent Brady was or wasn’t at the highest level or was or wasn’t locked in and focused before Week One, the Buccaneers need this one, badly. And based on Week One, the Panthers don’t look like pushovers.