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Tom Brady accuses NFL stars of 'looking for easy way out' before new season

Tom Brady has explained why he played during the preseason, with the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback admitting he never wanted to be taken off the field"

[Tom Brady at the Fanatics Flag Football Classic Press Conference & Practice held at BMO Stadium on March 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.]

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Tom Brady has offered up his thoughts on the NFL's preseason(Image: Getty Images)

Tom Brady has accused NFL stars of "looking for easy ways out" of playing during the preseason.

The new NFL season draws closer and closer, with Brady's old team, the New England Patriots, set to face the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on Sept 10 in the 2026 regular-season curtain-raiser, a rematch of Super Bowl LX. Right now, all 32 teams are gearing up for the new season, with the preseason well underway.

Never one to shy away from offering his opinion on the state of the NFL now that he is a broadcaster with FOX, Brady took to social media to say he believes the league's stars nowadays look for "easy ways out" of playing in the preseason.

The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback's admission came after a social media account shared a clip of Brady throwing a touchdown pass to Hall of Famer Randy Moss during the 2010 preseason with New England.

Traditionally, star players would usually take their snaps during the opening quarter, possibly lasting just one or two series before being pulled from the game.

However, as one user pointed out, Brady's touchdown pass to Moss came last in the third quarter, with just over five minutes left. "Does that say 3rd quarter with 5 mins left?" wrote the user.

[Tom Brady has hit out at the stars of the NFL who want to avoid playing during the preseason]

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Tom Brady has hit out at the stars of the NFL who want to avoid playing during the preseason(Image: Instagram/tombrady)

Brady then replied on his Instagram story, explaining that he "never wanted to be taken off the field" and that "practice makes perfect."

"Preseason Regular season I never wanted to be taken off the field," wrote Brady.

"Practice makes perfect Too many people looking for easy ways out these days. When you're a football player, and it's football season, your job is to play football."

Brady's comments come after the vast majority of starting quarterbacks opted not to play during the opening week of the preseason, with FOX's Greg Auman noting on X that just 12 of the presumptive 32 starters took snaps.

[New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles meet up after the Patriots won 37-20 during the NFL preseason game at Gillette Stadium on August 16, 2018 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. ]

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Brady usually played during the preseason(Image: Getty Images)

"Final numbers for first full week of NFL preseason -- only 12 of 32 starting QBs played this weekend. Those 12 averaged 14 offensive snaps," wrote Auman.

Of those 12, Deshaun Watson took the most snaps at 33 with the Cleveland Browns, with Cam Ward taking 22 snaps for the Tennessee Titans. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Jaxson Dart, and Jordan Love also took snaps for their respective teams during the preseason opener.

However, in fairness to the starters that didn't take snaps during preseason week one, some of their teams held them out, opting instead to prioritize their immediate health for the regular season.

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