Enough of that!

At the age of 44, Tom Brady is emerging as a dual-threat QB in the NFL. Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians isn’t having any part of it. After the 33-27 overtime win against the Buffalo Bills, Arians was asked by the media what he thought about Brady taking contact by running with the football and responded, “That’s enough of that sh*t.”

Brady rushed for a total of 16 yards against the Bills. Brady had 3 rushing attempts in the final drive of the first quarter. First, Brady executed a classic QB sneak to pick up a first down on 3rd and short. On the same drive: Brady scrambled for 13 yards, picking up the first down and matching his longest run of the season. He embraced the contact on the play, sliding at the last possible moment. As if he weren’t fearless enough on the first two rushing attempts on the drive, Brady ran the ball again, picking up a first down on 3rd and 2, while stepping up in the pocket, making a man miss, and taking a hit as he stretched the ball across the line to gain.

Near the end of the second quarter, Brady had another QB sneak for a touchdown extending the Bucs’ lead to 24-3 at the time. Concerned about all the contact his QB was taking, Arians walked up to Brady while he was sitting on the sideline after his rushing touchdown and told him, “That’s enough hits,” while giving him a friendly slap on the face.

It’s safe to say Arians isn’t a fan of Brady’s increased volume of rushing attempts as of late. The Bucs would like to have Brady around as long as he desires playing. Arians knows he can’t risk his quarterback sustaining an injury if they want to repeat as champions and if they want him playing a few more seasons.

The way Brady’s been passing the ball this season, why would Arians want him running the ball to pick up first downs anyways? Brady currently leads the entire NFL in passing yards with 4,134. He only needs 866 more yards to reach 5,000 passing yards for the season, a feat that’s only been accomplished 12 times by 8 different quarterbacks — he, himself, already being one of them and the second Buccaneers’ quarterback, to do so. With 4 games remaining, he only needs to average about 216 yards per game to reach the milestone. Brady is also first in the league with 36 touchdowns this season. Not surprisingly, with this level of production, Brady is currently the betting favorite to win the MVP award.

The next time you see Brady running, he will probably be sliding with ample room or running to avoid a sack.