Faine Says WRs Must “Take Stress & Pressure Off”
November 5th, 2011
Now Joe has heard Raheem Morris say his young receivers need to step up and help their quarterback.
But Joe must say that line sounded a little odd coming from center Jeff Faine.
Asked yesterday by a sports radio caller to The Jeff Faine Show why Josh Freeman isn’t running the ball much this year, WQYK-AM 1010 host J.P. Peterson interjected an answer for Faine saying teams are spying Freeman and he doesn’t have clear running lanes. But Faine jumped in saying that’s more of a secondary reason.
“Josh is trying to make plays as a quarterback and relying on his arm and his receivers to make plays,” Faine said. “It’s up to his receivers to take the stress and pressure off him.”
Joe gets that Freeman doesn’t want to run, but as long as he can physically run successfully, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t tuck the ball in and go versus forcing the ball into unopen receivers.
Joe’s not big on blaming receivers, but if they’re not performing like they did last season, per a veteran captain and the head coach, then Joe has to wonder why this young and hungry unit has regressed?
November 5th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Nothing new here….we don’t have a single receiver on our team that has cracked the top 50 in yards in the league. Potential is not production. Blame the lockout, Freeman, Olsen, the oline….blah blah blah
November 5th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Uh, no Otas or offseason coaching, like I’ve been saying for weeks. After the first season, the NFL has a book on you.thus, the sophmore slump. You have to give them new looks and new tendencies. You do that by reviewing your last season, and modifying your game- with your position coach.
No off season- no opportunity to do so.
November 5th, 2011 at 10:35 am
I seriously wonder which young wide out has the most potential to break away and be our long term number one.. Freeman said in an interview that Mike Williams is hands down best ball skills but I haven’t seen it so much this year. Who seperates from the bunch in the second half..
A. Mike Will
B. Rejus Benn
C. Preston Parker
D. Dezmon Briscoe
November 5th, 2011 at 10:45 am
It’ll be Mike. He’s targeted the most, and for some reason we avoid getting Benn the ball like he’s the plague. Incredibly stupid that he isn’t involved in the game plan.
November 5th, 2011 at 10:58 am
It seems like Faine knows less about his team than the fans. He is the only one who says things like this.
Him and Barber are relative outsiders. At least Barber doesn’t act like he knows what’s going on around him. Barber and Faine do not “hang” much with the team, so I wish Faine would shut up and continue his usual methods of sucking at run blocking, selling “sweat shop” clothing, and rejiggering spent oil plots.
November 5th, 2011 at 11:37 am
What? The Bucs are doing everything they can to get Benn the ball. But when you can’t get open, there are only limited ways to do so. So the Bucs toss a screen to him a couple of times a game, and also an end around.
But the thing is that defenses in this league are smart, and everyone has figured out the only way the Bucs can get Benn the ball is on screens and end arounds. So they are all keying on that now.
Now Preston Parker gets open. But as the third receiver and built more for the slot, it is harder to get him on the field. But for Free’s sake, the Bucs need to figure how to get him on the field more, as he creates mismatches underneath and is quick enough to get yards after the catch.
Mike Williams just needs to grow up a bit. He looks like he is getting frustrated by the coverages, and it is showing in his hands. You can’t let stuff like that get to you, just need to stay relaxed so you can catch the ball.
Briscoe has had less looks, but this is really his first season. He has talent, he plays big, but to expect him to take over games at this point is stretching it.
At the end of the day this receiver group is the greenest in the NFL. There are going to be growing pains.
November 5th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Joe, you keep harping on Freeman running so apparently you don’t respect the man’s own words on that topic. He clearly stated last week that opposing teams are game planning him to take away all his running lanes. They also frequently keep a spy on him. He said that’s why he’s not able to run very much this year. They are forcing him to make plays with his arm and he has no choice but to take what the defense gives him.
It’s easy to bark out plays from the couch, but it’s an entirely different thing to play in a real game. Why not listen to the man, and to his offensive coordinator, and take their words at face value?
November 5th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I’m so tired of Jeff faine and his mouth does he play for the bucs or is he secretly getting checks from the NFL network…he needs to evaluate his effortless blocking and concern himself on staying healthy he must like watching from the sidelines. He hasn’t even made the pro bowl since joining the bucs…I’m starting to think he’s a center with a t.o. style mouth…
November 5th, 2011 at 6:57 pm
I don’t care how bad our passing attack is. Just win baby!