Brady an old face in a familiar place as Bucs visit Steelers

Will Graves ASSOCIATED PRESS

PITTSBURGH – Tom Brady, by his own estimation, has faced the Pittsburgh Steelers “a lot.” interception and remains perhaps the best decision-maker with the ball in his hands in league history. last week, completing 17 of 21 passes for188 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a 29-0 win over the Detroit Lions.

Just never quite like this.

And it’s not just Brady’s jersey that’ll be different this time around when he walks onto the Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) turf for the first time on Sunday as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s the team on the other side of the line of scrimmage, too.

The Ben Roethlisberger-led version of the Steelers that Brady played so often with so much on the line during his long run in New England is long gone, replaced by a group that is hurting physically and mentally.

Dropping four straight games and being on the wrong end of the franchise’s worst loss in 33 years – as Pittsburgh was last week in Buffalo – will do that.

Jones returned to practice on a limited basis this week, but didn’t look very mobile and the Patriots will likely take a cautious approach rather than risk losing him for longer. So Zappe will probably get the call for a second week.

When Brissett was asked to be a pinch-QB for the Patriots six years ago, he came through. Veteran safety Devin McCourty’s first recollection of Brissett back then was a raw rookie, but one eager to learn.

“I just think of a hard worker,” said McCourty, in his 13th season with the Pats. “He hung onto every word. Tough and I’ve kept up with him throughout his time (in the NFL). Just to see him have some success and get another opportunity to lead a football team has been cool.

“We know we’ll have our work cut out for us.”

The Browns do, too.

“When it’s that bad across the board, it starts with me,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “We don’t need to seek comfort because there’s enough blame to go around. We need to be solution-oriented.”

That’s been difficult for Pittsburgh even in the best of times when Brady is on the opposing sideline.

Brady is 12-3 in his career against Pittsburgh, many of the victories coming in high-pressure circumstances with playoff seeding or seasons on the line. Not so much this time. The Buccaneers (3-2) are trying to find a rhythm following an uneven opening stretch while the Steelers are simply trying to find a competent brand of football.

“(The Steelers) didn’t play the way they’re capable of at Buffalo,” Brady said. “I’m sure they’ll be ready to go.”

There’s little doubt Brady will be, even at 45. Even with 321 career starts under his belt. Even with his personal life making as much news recently as his professional one. Brady currently leads the NFL in completions, has thrown seven touchdowns against one

“He’s still Mr. Brady,” Pittsburgh inside linebacker Myles Jack said. “He’s still doing his thing. There are only so many things you can show him because he’s basically seen every NFL defense since 1990.”

Jack is kidding, but only a little. Brady’s been in the league so long that Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett wasn’t quite 2 years old when New England took a flyer on Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 draft. Pickett will be making his second career start on Sunday, only 320 or so – essentially the equivalent of 20 full seasons – behind Brady.

“He’s an absolute legend,” Pickett said.

Just don’t expect Pickett to be starstruck. He showed plenty of fight during an otherwise forgettable afternoon in Buffalo, going at it with Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson for what he considered a questionable hit in the waning seconds of a blowout.

“No one can come up here and give a great speech that’s going to turn this thing around,” Pickett said. “We’ve got to go produce on Sunday. There’s nothing I’m going to tell you here that’s going to fix it. We’ve got to go do it as players, as men.”