The Bucs rank in the top-10 in the NFL in punt returns and kick returns, based on average yards per return. Much of that has to do with 22-year-old return man Eric Page.

He’s talented. He’ll take sound risks. He’s got the burst. But he’s made some bonehead mistakes and he’s put the ball on the ground a couple of times this season. 

Greg Schiano expressed frustration with those errors last night while speaking on WDAE-AM 620.

“[Sunday,] we made another one in the punt return game. We fielded one on the 3 yard line. And [Page and I] had a similar [teaching] conversation on the sideline. So those teachable moments hopefully get the point across. But you can’t have too many of them, not in this league,” Schiano said. “You have too many of them you’ll be teaching somebody else. So we gotta make sure we stop doing, you know, careless things with our punt return. Because I can tell you this, he is a dangerous punt returner for the other team when he does things right. Eric Page is in the top-10 in returning and this guy’s doing a heck of a job. We just gotta make sure we don’t get careless at all. Because those are big change of possession play. You’re talking about valuable yardage when you make a mistake in that area.”

Schiano went on to emphasize that he’s very focused on teaching young players and he shared his philosophy.

“While they’re learning they keep their confidence up. So that’s really my big thing,” Schiano said. “‘Look, this is why it happened, but now that you know that you’ll be able to make that play next time’. I think that’s what young players need to do. They need to feel like, ‘Ok, I understand why something bad happened and I can keep that from happening again.'”

Joe hopes Schiano digs extra deep to show patience with Page. Again, he just turned 22, and he missed his rookie season with a torn ACL. The Bucs could have a great returner in their lap, but he’ll need a little more developing to reach that level. But that can’t happen if he’s on the bench.