Lavonte David will miss some time for Bucs./TIM WIRT
Tuesday, 2 a.m.
Jameis Winston had a good day. Lavonte David is injured. Chris Godwin had a good day. The defense lacked energy. And Bruce Arians is ready for his team to play against Pittsburgh in Friday night's preseason game.
And that's how the Tampa Bay Bucs looked from the golf cart.
Arians found the offense a little more to his liking than the defense on Monday morning.
A few of his observations:
(On David's absence from practice): “Lavonte (David) had a little knee procedure. We’re going to hold him out for a while – nothing serious, just a little miniscus tear. [We] fixed it up yesterday, so he’ll be ready to go soon.”
(On Winston's performance): "That’s two really, really solid days. This might’ve been his best day. I thought Saturday night was his best, but this might’ve even been better. I thought the offense came out with a little more energy than our defense did today and made some plays. We’ll grade the film to really see what really was out there, but I thought we had a lot of big plays, which I don’t like defensively, but I do like offensively.”
(On the strength of Matt Gay's leg): “Normally, you’ve got to get to the 35, but with him it’s usually the 40 or 42. So, as long as he can consistently do that, he can be a weapon for us. That competition is pretty strong right now between he and Cairo (Santos).”
(On what he liked about Winston in the two-minute drill): "Well, everything. (He was) getting the ball out of his hands to the right guy on time and accurately. He overall had a really good day other than a few plays down in the red zone.”
(On if his team is physical enough): “We can be physical. I like where we’re at. We rolled the dice and did some tackling and that part of it – (I’ve got) no qualms about being physical.”
(On the depth of the defensive line): “I think we could use some more. There are some young guys, like Jeremiah Ledbetter – some of those guys are getting better. That’s one of the things we will look for in the preseason - both lines of scrimmage depth.”
(On Godwin's performance): "It’s exactly what I expected of him – just continuation of growth from last year, playing in the slot, playing outside and being a go-to guy down the middle.”
(On the depth of the offensive line): “I’m anxious to see them play against somebody else - protecting the quarterback, running the ball – we’ve got to develop some more younger tackles. There will be a lot of competition going forward in these preseason games.”
(On cornerback coach Kevin Ross's forte as a coach): “Toughness – just like it was when he was a player. If you’re playing for him, you better be tough, and you better be ready to roll.”
(On safety Mike Edwards): "I mean, I don’t want to crown him yet, but that’s the first time I saw him drop an interception. He made a great play out of centerfield but didn’t come up with it. He’s a very smart young man and he’s just continuing to get better and better. Again, I’d like to see him against somebody else, – not seeing the same plays over and over every day – seeing somebody else’s plays, and then we can better judge him.”
(On playing against Pittsburgh): "It’s about that time. This is about the time in training camp when everybody is tired of playing against each other. You’re seeing the same offense and defense over and over and over since the spring. We’re really looking forward to getting to Pittsburgh and seeing something else.”
(On the progress of the secondary): “They’re getting their hands on balls. This was the first day that I thought – you know we came up with one interception and a tip in the red zone, and we got one on the sidelines, but I would’ve liked to see Mike come up with that other one. I don’t want to see our quarterbacks throwing picks, but I want to see us come up with balls every day, at least three.”
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