“I Didn’t Have The Explosion To Play Press”
October 31st, 2013
Finally, the truth comes out. Darrelle Revis details why Revis Island hasn’t been seen much.
Greg Schiano and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan have been battered by fans, Warren Sapp and various analysts for not using Darrelle Revis in true press coverage and for playing too much zone defense with their $1 million-per-game cornerback.
“What the hell are they doing?” is the typical rhetorical question.
Finally, during his weekly radio show tonight on the Buccaneers Radio Network on WDAE-AM 620, Revis explained in detail that his surgically repaired knee just hasn’t been healthy enough to revive the Revis Island of old. But the good news is he’s progressing well.
“I changed my game up last game. Instead of playing off, I started pressing,” Revis said. “You know, last game against Carolina against Steve Smith and it felt pretty good. Because you know my thing is, yes I can play off coverage, but at the same time, you know earlier in the year I didn’t have the explosion to play press and then the receiver would just run the [vertical] nine-route on me and I can be full-go, at full speed running. I didn’t have the stamina to do that play in and play out, especially playing press.
“I mean you get physical up there playing press coverage and then actually just running; that’s running full speed — you and the receiver. I didn’t have that yet. I’m starting to get that back, which is awesome because I like to be in receivers faces and try to put my hands on them and try to be physical with them.”
Revis detailed the changes in his training regimen that are returning his explosion.
“I feel pretty good right now. You know, the biggest thing, and you know I had a conversation with Coach Schiano a couple of weeks ago, was about strengthening my whole leg,” Revis said. “The hamstring, the quad, my calf as well, just strengthening it and getting that full explosion back is what we talked about. He presented it to [Bucs director of sport medicine] Todd [Toriscelli], and Todd has been doing a great job with me in the training room to get me back to where I have that explosion. But yeah, I’ve been feeling pretty good. I felt good the Carolina game, and I feel good this week in practice. I just got to keep on chopping at the wood. Eventually, I will get there. I do feel pretty good now, but you never know.
“The biggest thing is my knee hasn’t been swelling up. It’s been responding well. So I think that’s the big thing, the outcome, that it’s not been swelling.”
So there you have it. Mystery solved. Schiano and Sheridan are not complete buffoons.
Revis hasn’t been playing to his strength because he hasn’t had the strength.
Joe must wonder why Schiano and the Bucs didn’t just come out and spell this out publicly sooner. Either Schiano is a masochist (highly doubtful), or he just didn’t want to expose what could be competitive advantage for opposing teams.
Regardless, Joe’s glad this raging issue that has driven so much negativity toward the Bucs is put to rest — unless you want to ask why the Bucs are paying all that cash for a guy coming off major surgery.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:20 pm
This has been my suspicion all along….Revis is to noticeable not to use him properly….I just don’t think they wanted to make his situation available to the competition. And….I don’t think Revis is handing us some BS now.
Still many questions about coaching remain.
Roy Miller came out with some very positive statements about the coaching (including Schiano)….was asked point blank and he had positive reviews…..
October 31st, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Every fan on this site knew he wasn’t health, thats why we didn’t understand why we didnt sign free agent cb.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Ok, then! Where’s the 1 million per game discount? Seems fair to me. Just sayin’!
October 31st, 2013 at 8:30 pm
If this is true, then I give a pass to Schiano and Sheridan on this one. The timing is a bit suspicious, but perhaps they didn’t want anyone to know he wasn’t full strength. I don’t, however give them a pass for their overall crap job of coaching this football team in 2013.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:41 pm
“unless you want to ask why the Bucs are paying all that cash for a guy coming off major surgery.”
Ha ha ha ha Joe. The entire time I was reading the article that’s all I kept thinking about. Funny how you ended it with my thoughts. Your a creative one.
Told you people in August that maybe they should have spread that money around throughout the secondary and shored up both sides of it with 2-3 decent DB’s instead of 1 superstar. Added more depth as well. There were DB’s out there in FA. Not ones that would sell tickets like Revis though. I’m telling ya. That is the new Glazer strategy. They are not stupid people. Bring in a couple of big name players and fans will buy tickets, who cares if they win as long as they sell season tickets. Culverhouse 2.0. The majority of fans see superstars and they think winning.
Dungy taught me one thing when it comes to FB. You can have all the talent in the NFL on your team and if your coach sucks, the talent won’t matter. The coach plays a VERY big roll in a winning team.
Raheem’s 10-6 confuses the hell out of me though. I know they were close games against under 500 teams, but still 10-6 with that crap talent they had on the team. Makes me question whether or not Rah should have stayed another year. A question I never thought would cross my mind.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Schiano and Sheridan are still buffoons. This doesn’t change the fact they have been out coached every week of the year thus far.
October 31st, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Joe, Schiano threatened to give Revis MRSA if he didn’t go along with the “injury” story!! Don’t believe the BS coming from THE NEW SCHIANO ORDER!!
October 31st, 2013 at 8:53 pm
You can still play man coverage without having to press all the time, and when Revis did most than not he succeeded. Schiano and Sheridan both suck and the Revis issue is not the most pressing one, how about running the never ending Rutgers stunts?
October 31st, 2013 at 8:55 pm
So we traded 1st and 3rd round draft picks and $16 million/season for a guy who is still injured and who might never again be as good as he once was?
Rockstar!
October 31st, 2013 at 9:23 pm
No surprise to me about Revis. I still think they’re horrible play callers. I want to like Schiano but someone is to blame for the poor performance on the field. I also think he gets a lot blame for things he has no control of. He said he doses not make the play calls but can over ride them if he thinks he needs to. We are 0-7. He needs to!
October 31st, 2013 at 9:24 pm
Ya I am not buying this. If this was the case why would he have been complaining about playing too much zone after week 3? Don’t tell me that report wasn’t accurate because even Schiano admitted the sit down happened.
This is just like him back tracking on the stuff he said after the game regarding believing in the coaching. “I don’t know.” Now he is back tracking saying he was just mad about the loss.
I compare his passion after the game to being drunk. The truth comes out under the influence of emotion or alcohol…
October 31st, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Sooo, we marched out a rookie, and a 50% Revis as our starting cornerbacks?
Thats the best we could do this offseason.
And bad backups.
That bothers me worse than if it were bad coaching!!’
October 31st, 2013 at 9:32 pm
Rockstar Dom strikes again.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:33 pm
Haha like I said weeks ago. He’s not going to be the same this year. Neither is Davin so he should be cut some slack too. Next year they will be fine. Its just the typical time table for a torn knee. Adrian Peterson ruined it for any person coming off that injury. AP is the exception NOT the rule. The worst part is all the talking heads know this but none of them said anything. They just bashed him for it. As much as I dislike Schiano, I have to admit there definitely a media agenda with this guy. Its as bad as political media.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:37 pm
Bucs will never be relevant til they fire that turd Dom and his mate Dennis hickey.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:39 pm
I agree with Captain Tim. I have always thought Dominic sucked. He’s the reason why we have no tight end he’s the reason we have no depth. He’s the reason why we were stuck with a crapy at best QB for the last four years and why were picking up crapy scraps off the waiver wire.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:52 pm
Who cares if were paying revis 1mil. He’s not the reason our teams sucks. COACHING IS. Bottom line.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:56 pm
I like Revis on the team, but Dom thinks you can just pay one guy a whole bunch at each position, then have practice squad minimum salary guys back them up. Still don’t know why Talib got traded.
October 31st, 2013 at 9:59 pm
Lets go USF clap, clap, clap, clap, clap
October 31st, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Even with this revelation, they are still solidly in the buffoon category.
October 31st, 2013 at 10:10 pm
so basically blame is being shifted to dominick? because the finger pointing does not go away. it still remains pointed at someone wether they like it or not
October 31st, 2013 at 10:31 pm
that has been my suspicion all long. that still doesn’t excuse the coaching for the rest of the team though.
October 31st, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Duh. It was obvious. The media has been way too hard on Schiano.
October 31st, 2013 at 10:46 pm
I am glad to hear Schiano is not that stupid. That of course does not make that much of a difference in where the Bucs are in the last 12 games.
October 31st, 2013 at 10:58 pm
A healthy 100% Revis….something to look forward to in an otherwise awful year….
October 31st, 2013 at 11:11 pm
So you don’t think Schiano told him to say this.. Or Revis just being a “Buccaneer Man” by saying that to take heat off his coaches.. I mean I don’t think you would try more press man on a 4 day week? Screams saving coaches ass.. Not one ounce of logical reasoning there.
October 31st, 2013 at 11:26 pm
0-16 here come. I don’t like it. You don’t like it. Joe Doesn’t like it. We are Bucs fans. Suffer, suffer and just a sprinkle of more suffer on top. If this is not humbling to everyone on that team, it sure is humbling to me as a fan. It damn near hurts my brain to even think about it all now.
Sure I want wins and will root for wins, but I’m not expecting any.
In the meantime who are the Noles going to roll on this Saturday?
Oh that’s right the Canes. Time to prove that the Canes don’t belong anywhere near the top 10.
THAT’S right I said it PRBuc!
October 31st, 2013 at 11:44 pm
Dom goes to auctions and bids himself up. But…but the Bucs know knees! More unnecessary roughness for Buc Nation in unlucky ’13.
November 1st, 2013 at 2:06 am
“or he just didn’t want to expose what could be competitive advantage for opposing teams.”
Exactly what I’ve said ^^^
And regarding his knee..
GASP*
Oh no this couldn’t be the case!
Lol I won’t say I told the haters so. 😉
Not to mention Schiano also said he had said he gave Revis the freedom to do what he wanted to.
Once he’s back he’ll be well worth his 1 million per game in the long run.
It’s not like he’s an old man. He’ll be a cornerstone for years on this team.
November 1st, 2013 at 4:33 am
1987 don’t hate!
It’s all about the []_[]!!! 😀
November 1st, 2013 at 5:34 am
That was easy to figure out. Revis hasn’t been as fluid with his legs till you noticed he was playing with a lot more confidence in the Carolina game. I’m not taking the side of the coaches here, but it was bluntly obvious. I think we’re all just tired of losing and feel the need to point fingers. It comes awful easy when your team is losing the way our’s is. Draft isn’t in my sights….. I’m hoping we win out the rest of the season. Will it happen? I doubt it! But I can always hope
November 1st, 2013 at 6:06 am
Revis, Nicks, Clayborn, Bowers, Joseph
Both DEs, Both Guards, and our shut down corner.
All marched out, all keys to our success, and expected to perform.
None of them fully recovered from injury.
And no viable depth behind any of them. No one good enough to take some snaps for them.
No one at one Buc suspected this? Or made any kind of contengency plan?
It’s madness
November 1st, 2013 at 7:44 am
Sounds like a Coach willing to take the heat for his players. Thats why he hasn’t lost the locker room yet. Regardless of X’s and O’s Schiano is a good man. JMO
November 1st, 2013 at 8:11 am
Unless you are in the meeting room(s)… shut your mouth and stop speculating. These talking heads, including HOF Sapp, are no better than uninformed high school parents that stir the pot. Don’t be a sap!
November 1st, 2013 at 8:49 am
I agree Seth B, I agree. I can’t stand a lot of his coaching calls, but how do we know a lot of this isn’t necessity due to depth issues?
November 1st, 2013 at 9:23 am
Imagine that! They know more than we do…
November 1st, 2013 at 10:45 am
@ Seth
I really want to believe the same too. Most fans have said they respect Revis, so do I. I think other things will come out too that Schiano wasn’t the direct leak to the media on Freeman, that he may have found Tampa a QB upgrade, and that he’s not the tyrant that media and some disgruntled ex-players want to paint him as. Still…wins and losses are the barometer, so he gets no free pass for the team’s record (even though it has been a season where just about anything that can go wrong has).
November 1st, 2013 at 11:18 am
This dood is an arse, it was obvious he didn’t have the legs to play man but then whines because he’s playing so much zone which put a ton on heat on the DC. Trade please!
November 1st, 2013 at 11:47 am
Todd toriscelli…that’s the guy all you finger pointers should be pointing toward. Seems like revis is. Just look at that photo… It was clear that revis was out of shape and not ready to play his game. But my hats off to revis. He’s played well and has proven to be a true pro, and I don’t think it’ll be long before the real island is back.
November 2nd, 2013 at 8:45 am
this defense still doesnt get a pass……where’s the defense from the first three weeks? if revis is getting better it means he was further away from 100% week 1 then week 8
why should they get a pass for being 0-7, our defense was worse last year. what happened to the number 1 rush defense, you dont get a pass for all those stupid run stunts they run, ok so your not misusing revis but they’re still misusing geraldini if warren sapp says it then im gonna believe what our former superbowl players say and who better than sapp, brooks, simeon rice, steve white, booger mcfarland these men know all about pass rush and theirs is stupid so no you dont get a pass for one player not playing press because even though he hasnt been on revis island
REVIS HAS BEEN OUR BEST CORNERBACK ALL YEAR so it’s not like he’s a liability…..im glad they didnt use that crap for an excuse, im glad revis is the one who said it because im tired of all the excuses from schiano and sheridan