“He’s Like Any Other Player Now”
August 29th, 2011
Lost a bit in the shuffle has been Da”Quan Bowers moving well and looking pretty good without hearing a peep about his famous knee.
With Michael Bennett locked in at left defensive end, Joe wonders whether Bowers might start getting action on the right side of the line.
Peter King, of Sports Illustrated, spent time at Bucs camp recently and learned from rockstar general manager Mark Dominik that the leash is off Bowers when it comes to his healing knee.
So far this summer, Bowers has missed one practice and complained of no pain in the knee, his left. “He’s like any other player now,” said GM Mark Dominik. “The governor is off.” The big issue for him could well be beating out the surprise of camp for the starting left end job — defensive end Michael Bennett, a waiver pickup from Seattle two years ago. They each had a sack Saturday night against Miami; Bennett added two more tackles for loss. Each will play at lot at left end, and Bennett’s strong play will let Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris ease Bowers into the games early if that’s how he chooses to play him.
The great thing about all this is the Bucs not having to force Bowers, who might still need time to get back to 100 percent. While it may seem a foreign concept around One Buc Palace for a high draft pick to play sparingly as a rookie, that might be very well be the case with Bowers. And Roy Miller could be in that same boat, as well.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:36 am
According to ABBA star, Bowers is “Free as a Bumblebee”…
August 29th, 2011 at 10:41 am
With Bennett tearing it up it’s nice to know we have some options, and maybe even a decent rotation.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:43 am
I’m perfectly fine with Bowers playing twenty snaps/game for the entire season as long as Bennett is producing.
Then let’s turn into the Giants next year, where we’ve got 7-8 good defensive lineman that can rotate and all stay fresh.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:47 am
I know it’s off topic but does anyone know about Price’s injury? How about Winslow?
By the way got tickets outside the game for $25 apiece. Good seats too
August 29th, 2011 at 10:48 am
I enjoyed watching him on Saturday. Has just a good balance of strength and athleticism
August 29th, 2011 at 10:48 am
i think we are in a comfortable situation right now, keith millard is getting the best of this kids, clayborn has show a lot of promise, bennet is playing great, bowers has tons of potential!!! and im not talking about the DTs on the tram, i mean, we can have AT LEAST 6 or 7 quality guys!!!!!!
like eric yarber (WR Coach) did last year on our guys will millard give us, coach em and give us quality options!!!!!
August 29th, 2011 at 10:53 am
1) Don’t know about Price, but Winslow just rolled his ankle. Will be a little sore for a couple days, but no big deal
2) Unfortunately, buying your tickets that way do nothing to help stave off blackouts. I understand the need to save money though.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:55 am
If both Bowers and Bennett continue to do well, we’re going to be very happy fans. Clayborn seems to be looking real good as well.
GMC looks much improved over last year…and I agree with others…Okam is a beast.
Okam is so good he might push Price and Miller into being total backups.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:00 am
whatever gets the bucs the lombardi trophy is ok w/ me.
GO BUCS!
August 29th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Don’t forget about George Johnson on the right side, this kid is making a name for himself. Going to be hard to decide who goes, who stays.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:25 am
I think Okam will end up push roy miller out of the starting position
August 29th, 2011 at 11:39 am
Price seemed to look okay, from what I saw from the Miami feed on Saturday night, one play stands out in my mind, I think it was Price. If I remember correctly, every d-lineman and maybe two LBs were on top of the Miami backfield, the whole backfield (qb, rb, and a lineman or two) the camera panned back towards the defense and there was the nose, again not sure if it was Price or not, but whoever it was had the center and left guard totally in their control, and all I could think was, this is the way it’s supposed to look.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Im not worried about our d now that talib is playing.. What i am worried about is the Oline going againt the Lions week 1!
August 29th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
the one play i saw of price, he took one step forward and then the offensive lineman pushed him onto his back and then laid on top of him to finish the block…it was ugly….they need to put dude on pup
August 29th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Buddhaboy: First, it is already too late for PUP. Second, even if it wasn’t too late, it is ridiculous to talk about putting Price on it because he had a bad play on his first game back from a very, very serious injury. I was happy with what I saw out of Price. He has a ways to go, no doubt. He needs work and conditioning, but he basically looked like an NFL player after what easily could have been a career ending injury.
You need to be more patient with Price.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
excited about bowers that guy is really a talent….
August 29th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
No way Bowers plays on the right side. Clayborn is the best RDE we’ve had since Simeon Rice. I’ve watched almost every one of his plays this preseason. He’s outstanding. And George Johnson will be his back up.
Bowers will stay on the left side rotating with Bennett, as it should be.