#Bruce Arians is prepared to ‘quarantine a quarterback’ to protect Buccaneers

As the logistics of an eventual return to sports continue to be ironed out by the various leagues’ brass, Bruce Arians is exploring all options to ensure his team’s health — which could involve an interesting isolation measure in order to mitigate risk.

In light of COVID-19’s rapid transmission rate, Chris Long of the Green Light podcast asked the Buccaneers head coach on Wednesday if he had considered having “a quarterback on the roster that is not at the facility around the guys.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the things I’ve been pondering the last two or three weeks as we set the protocols,” Arians replied. “From what I’m understanding is if you test positive, you get quarantined for two weeks. Now, if you have no symptoms, I don’t know what that means. Is it a false one?

“There’s so much to learn and still explore with this thing, but I’ve thought about keeping the third quarterback on the roster out of the room. We have two guys that have been in our system, really sharp. So, I might have to quarantine a quarterback just in case of a quarantine.”

Arians’ proposal would mean that Tom Brady — whom the Buccaneers lured away from the Patriots during free agency — could be spending less time than normal with backups Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin as he adapts to his new team. After a two-decade run in New England, the 42-year-old signal-caller is faced with the unfamiliar challenge of learning an entirely different system this offseason, which could prove even more daunting if the offseason is cut shorter.

Brady and his teammates have already been forced to find creative ways to train together with the coronavirus pandemic shuttering team facilities.

Griffin, the presumed third-stringer, and Gabbert — both 30 years old — are seasoned backups and are deeply familiar with the Buccaneers’ system having played with the team last year.