Arians not satisfied with the Bucs’ practice

by Gary Shelton on July 29, 2019 · 0 comments

in general, NFL, Tampa Bay Bucs

Winston is 'maybe ahead' of where Arians wants him./JEFFREY S. KING

Monday, 4 a.m.

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, Bruce Arians would like his Tampa Bay Bucs to be better.

Sunday's spotty practice left Arians grumbling about his team, a failure at 5-11 last season.

The good news? The end of July is a perfect time for a rebuilding team to look up close at its flaws. That way, perhaps they can be corrected.

The bad news: The Bucs still have work to do.

And so, a question-and-answer session with Bruce Arians.

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Arians thinks his Bucs still have work to do.

So, Bruce. Was practice as good as you would have liked?

Arians: "It was more raggedy than I thought (it would be). The noise level went up and some guys messed their pants. But, we’ll grade the film. (There were) a lot of good things, but we get to do it again tomorrow. It’s a good learning experience. I liked the two-minute drills that we’ve had. (The offense) made a great play there to set up a win. We’ve got to do a better job of when we need touchdowns — we’re not winning games when we need touchdowns, but the defense is doing a heck of a job. I like the way everything went. (We’ll) judge the tape. I can’t really tell you about the line because I can’t watch them out here, but overall, it was a little more raggedy than I wanted it to be.”

But, Bruce, what about that completion from Jameis Winston to Mike Evans?

Arians: “Terrible defense — you can’t give up that ball on fourth down in a two-minute drill when the team needs a field goal. But, it was a great play by them — great throw, great catch. So, hats off to the offense, not so much to the defense.”

Were the mental mistakes because of the scheme?

Arians: “No, (they were) mental errors. We had some guys just crap their pants today in pads.”

What did you think of the offensive line?

Arians: “We popped some really good ones, especially down here in the red zone. Overall, (there were) way too many mental errors, turning guys loose. The first three plays, (we) turned somebody loose in the backfield. The noise level was too high.”

What about running back Ronald Jones?

Arians: “I’d like for him to have more opportunities. The two opportunities he had, he busted. He dropped an easy touchdown just squeezing it too hard. He’s pressing a little bit because he really wants to be good, so I like that.”

Who on the offensive line was making mental errors?

Arians: "All of them.”

What sort of mental errors were being made?

Arians: "A couple of (defensive linemen) were turned loose. We’re supposed to be double-teaming and bouncing them off (and) they weren’t touching them. (There was) just bad communication and like I said, the noise level got a little high for a couple of the young guys.”

Have you seen improvement from Jameis Winston since OTAs?

Arians: “I wouldn’t say a huge one. I think he was pretty consistent in all OTA’s and minicamp. He’s gradually getting a better understanding of when to get the ball out of his hand. We’ve got to do a better job of protecting him in some of these drills, so he can read it out. (The) offensive line, with Donovan (Smith) down today, that kind of messed it up a little bit.”

Is Winston where you want him to be at this point?

Arians: "Yeah, maybe ahead.”

How has Chris Godwin performed?

Arians: "I’d like to see him hold onto some catches. He got stripped today and I just told him, ‘You’ve got to be a grimy player. You’ve got to make all those grimy catches and you can’t have it knocked out of your hands.’ I think he’s learning that now. Chris made a couple really good ones in the slot today.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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