Tom Brady Says 'I Feel Pretty Good' After Undergoing Minor Knee Surgery

Nic Antaya/Getty Images Tom Brady

Tom Brady is on the mend.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, 43, said Sunday at coach Bruce Arians' Family Foundation gala that he was recovering from a long-planned minor knee surgery, but expected that he'd be able to return to training as usual ahead of the 2021 NFL season.

"I feel pretty good, and I push myself pretty hard," Brady said, according to ESPN. "I don't know if I could go this week, but we'll see how things play out."

"It's a long time between now and the beginning of the season, and [we] just [need to] be smart about all these different things that we have to do and fulfill," he added.

"But we all take a lot of pride in being ready to go, and I'm sure we will be," Brady said.

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Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images Tom Brady

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The reigning Super Bowl champion said he was looking forward to being "ready to throw," and that he doesn't anticipate having to sit out any workouts, even non-official ones.

"We'll just take it and see how we go and see how things play out over the course of the offseason," Brady explained. "A lot of things come up and change over the course of the offseason, and we've got a lot of hardworking guys, so guys will be anxious to get together and get to work."

As for his personal progress in rehab post-op, the athlete said it was going well, though he admitted, "None of that is fun."

However, he's "looking forward to getting back to real training and stuff, which is hopefully here pretty soon."

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"I'm cool with it. It's just part of what you deal with," Brady said of the procedure, reports ESPN. "Things come up. You deal with them the best way you can, with the best opportunity to improve. I'm definitely feeling a lot better than I did six or seven weeks ago."

The former New England Patriots star will be continuing his journey with the Bucs and going for his eighth Super Bowl ring, after leading the team to a championship win during his first year.

Last month, the Florida-based NFL team announced that Brady had signed an extension past his original contract for the 2020-2021 season. Brady is now signed to play with the Bucs through at least age 45.

He confirmed the news on Instagram at the time, sharing a picture of himself signing the new contract. "In pursuit of 8 … LFG @buccaneers we're keeping the band together," he captioned the photo.