Tom Brady said it plainly and clearly, in a way that made every middle-aged dad nod: "I got a lot of (expletive) going on."

It was not a normal training camp, to be sure. The Buccaneers quarterback took a controversial and mysterious 11-day hiatus, as tabloids openly discussed his private family life. While Tampa Bay prepares to take the field Sunday night against the Cowboys in a highly anticipated game, here is where it all stands with Brady.

The 45-year-old is heading into what is expected to be his final season in the NFL, according to sources with knowledge of his thinking. He has never said it publicly, but multiple parties involved acknowledge that after last year's retirement then unretirement, the end is coming. That is the understanding, that this is the final year.

As for his 11-day hiatus, sources say Brady spent the bulk of it in the Bahamas at a private resort with his family, making good on a mid-retirement promise he made to his wife, Gisele, that he would vacation with them in August for the first time in two decades. During his time off, the Bucs left him alone to be with his family, fully respectful. There were no football conversations, the source said, no playbooks mailed to the Bahamas. It was his personal situation, and they allowed him to live.

He returned to go 6 of 8 for 44 yards (with one wide receiver drop) in the preseason game against the Colts.