Da’Quan Bowers Confirms Surgery; Says He’s Not 100 Percent
June 25th, 2014
Bowers is not happy about recent media reports
Exasperated rumbles rippled through Tampa sports bars and all the way to NFL.com after Tampa Tribune beat scribe Roy Cummings delivered word from Bucs defensive line coach Joe Cullen saying Da’Quan Bowers was out of shape early this month.
Bowers has now weighed in on the uproar. He’s not pleased with the media.
Speaking to WXBT-AM in South Carolina last week, prior to hosting a youth football camp in his hometown, Bowers confirmed what former Bucs defensive coordinators Bill Sheridan said was coming when Bowers went to injured reserve before Week 17 last year. Sheridan had claimed Bowers was “nursing” a knee issue for all of 2013 and predicted that repairing it would lead to a Bowers revival.
The NFL.com story about Bowers being out of shape included no mention of Bowers’ rehabilitation.
“First of all, I’m coming back off a surgery on my knee that I had in December,” Bowers said. “Second of all, you know, people tend to write what they want to write, which I have no control over what they’re going to write. But I prefer that they write about truthful things, not just say things that, you know. But it really doesn’t matter what they say. The coaches, the staff, the trainers, we’ve all been working together since April. So they pretty much have a feel of how far along I am and what I need to do this offseason to make sure that I come back [ready] for the season.
“I’m definitely not a 100 percent, but by the time fall camp comes I’ll be close to it,” Bowers said. “I’ve worked extensively with the training staff. And I’ve practiced every day. I haven’t missed a practice [through] minicamp or OTAs. I’ve practiced every practice. I’ve gotten better each and every day. That’s something to build on.”
It’s still unclear what was wrong with Bowers’ knee last season. Regardless, Bowers is now sixth months removed from this mysterious surgery and is not 100 percent. That likely wouldn’t be the case if it was a simple arthroscopic procedure. But at the same time, Bowers is practicing without restriction? Something is off.
Joe has to put Bowers in Luke Stocker territory after this revelation. The guy has been hurt in each of his three NFL seasons, and now he’ll enter his fourth, a contract year, with a problem, in addition to his work ethic being publicly challenged by Greg Schiano during last year’s training camp.
In the radio interview, Bowers said he’ll resume training at Clemson University this week. Joe will hope for a miracle.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:07 am
He was drafted with the league knowing of his deteriorating knee. It should be a given for off-season knee surgery EVERY off-season.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:10 am
I am pulling for a Bowers comeback. Would love to see this guy reach his potential under this new regime.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:11 am
realist- i think the surgery was on the other knee, not the one that was injured prior to the draft.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:23 am
It’s too bad. This guy would’ve been a great player had he had the ability to stay healthy and devote himself as a student of the game. I’m not going to rag on him, too many of you guys do that – but I think ‘rotation player’ is his ceiling. Whether or not Lovie and crew think he’s good enough for that is the question. Because he’s not starter material, not with his injury history.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:28 am
Bust.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:33 am
“I’m definitely not a 100 percent, but by the time fall camp comes I’ll be close to it”
Glad to know he’s not just being lazy. I just can’t see him ever being healthy and able to contribute though.
Dom knows knees?
June 25th, 2014 at 10:37 am
Dom knows knees like Dom knows talent evaluation. In other words…very little.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:41 am
Time to look to Means to step up and be that guy we all hoped Bowers would become.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:44 am
If he was nursing a knee throughout all of last year, why would they wait until week 17 to put him on IR and perform surgery? They were a 4-12 football team and started 0-6. I am quite sure they were not expecting Bowers to be the catalyst to turn their season around. Makes no sense. Instead, they don’t address the problem until December so that it lingers into this season. Well done Bucs.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:49 am
Cut him..sign Jason Babin
June 25th, 2014 at 10:51 am
I don’t think it has anything to do with his knee. I’m not saying he does not have a problem with his knee or didn’t have surgery. I think Cheeseburger Bowers just doesn’t have any desire/hunger/want-to. Unfortunately, some of these kids just don’t get it until its too late. You never know when, or if, the light switch will flip on. I hope Cheeseburger finds the light switch soon, because he is running out of time fast.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:52 am
Babin is worth a look. Agree.
Didn’t Joe write that Means was getting owned by Collins? In underwear no less? Is Means the next Quincy? Tarzan/Jane?
June 25th, 2014 at 10:53 am
Coaches will decide this one. Garafolo/Fox says Bucs looking for LDE, maybe Babin. Not giving up on Bowers yet, but just in case!
June 25th, 2014 at 10:54 am
If Bowers was an automobile, the Bucs could use the “Lemon Law” on this character.
He was damaged goods going into the draft, a lot of teams felt his knee condition was degenerative and “degenerative” means it’s not getting better, only worse with time and wear.
This doesn’t bode real well for his chances of making the 53-man roster, don’t you think?
June 25th, 2014 at 10:55 am
JBuc…
If he was nursing a knee throughout all of last year, why would they wait until week 17 to put him on IR and perform surgery?
________________________________
Desperation to win? He was supposed to replace Bennett.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:55 am
@JBuc Says:
The bucs “…don’t address the problem until December so that it lingers into this season. Well done Bucs…”
This is clearly not about the Bucs. Cheeseburger Bowers has never been in shape. He was GIFTED a starting DE job at the beginning of last season and came to camp so out of shape he couldn’t keep the job. So lets place the blame where it belongs. This is all on Cheeseburger. Unfortunately for him, and us, Bowers is simply lazy as hell.
June 25th, 2014 at 10:58 am
Roy Rogers – Happy Trails
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U0oFJehl_k
June 25th, 2014 at 11:02 am
Means is a candidate for the right side behind Johnson -speed rusher off the edge. Not big enough for the power side. LDE is Clayborn’s to lose, probably in rotation with Gholston. Bowers has to earn a spot now, at best back-up LDE.
June 25th, 2014 at 11:11 am
DallasBuc Says:
June 25th, 2014 at 10:10 am
“I am pulling for a Bowers comeback.”
Come back from what? He has never done anything in the nfl to come back from.
Bowers is already making excuses.
If he attended every practice and has been working with trainers….then why is he out of shape? If the knee is not 100%, then how did he practice and participate? If it wasn’t 100% now, it was even worse at those times.
His condition has been an issue every year, and his performance has ben invisible.
He is milking a paycheck.
June 25th, 2014 at 11:13 am
@BuccaneerBonzai Says:
“…Come back from what?…”
LOL, Exactly!
June 25th, 2014 at 11:14 am
When will the bleeding Stop (Just going off of 2013)
*Fri, Dec 27, 2013 09:05:00 AM
Bucs DC Bill Sheridan hinted DE Da’Quan Bowers (injured reserve) will undergo knee surgery.
• “He’s never been well,” Sheridan said. “You’re trying to decide all season on whether or not to make that move. ‘Is he healthy enough to play? Or are we better off just getting him to have surgery and get him cleaned up and let him rehab for an offseason and come back?'” Bowers was sent to I.R. on Thursday. His current knee issue is reportedly unrelated to the one that caused him to fall to the 51st pick in the 2011 draft. Some wonder if Bowers’ career is over.
*Thu, Nov 21, 2013 06:46:00 PM
Bucs DE Da’Quan Bowers has been diagnosed with a concussion.
• He is week to week. Failing to earn a starting job and serving as a situational pass rusher, Bowers has been a major disappointment this season. He’s notched half a sack in 163 snaps.
*Thu, Sep 5, 2013 04:57:00 PM
Bucs LE Da’Quan Bowers has fallen behind Daniel Te’o-Nesheim on the depth chart.
• It could just be a motivational ploy from frustrated coach Greg Schiano, but either way, Bowers took the hint. “Of course that will push me,’’ Bowers said. “If that’s his way of pushing me, I acknowledge that and I’m trying to do something about it.” Bowers is long on talent, but seemingly short on a lot of other things. The Bucs’ pass rush will be in trouble if he doesn’t take a step forward.
*Sat, Aug 10, 2013 06:57:00 PM
According to the Tampa Tribune, the idea of benching LE Da’Quan Bowers is “gaining steam” among the Bucs’ coaching staff.
• We already knew coach Greg Schiano was unhappy with his third-year pro. Per reporter Roy Cummings, Schiano is “not happy with Bowers’ conditioning, effort in practice or performance in last week’s preseason opener against Baltimore.” Bowers has a lot on the line in Friday’s preseason game against the Patriots. Getting to Tom Brady a time or two could get him out of the doghouse.
*Tue, Aug 6, 2013 02:32:00 PM
Bucs coach Greg Schiano gently chided LE Da’Quan Bowers’ effort level Tuesday.
• “I want to see him play hard play after play after play after play,” Schiano said. “He needs to string together some plays where he’s going at a high level. … You’ve got to play the dirty stuff down after down. He’s going to do it, I believe he will.” Bowers is making the transition from situational pass rusher to every-down player. He showed well in limited playing time last season, notching three sacks in 292 snaps.
*Wed, Jun 5, 2013 10:32:00 AM
Bucs LE Da’Quan Bowers said anything less than double-digit sacks this season is a “failure.”
• Bowers has posted a total of 4.5 sacks in his first 26 games. But now that Michael Bennett is gone and Bowers is healthy, the Bucs are counting on him in a big way. “I think the way Coach Schiano has the scheme set up, and my capabilities, and having Gerald [McCoy] draw all the attention, it could be a whole lot easier to get double-digits sacks,”
June 25th, 2014 at 11:17 am
I wonder if the ppl “pulling” for Bowers are the same ones who pull/make-endless-excuses-for for a QB that led the 27th/32nd ranked offense in the NFL?
As far as Cheeseburger Bowers goes, don’t you people see he is taking money from the Bucs that could be spent on someone who works and plays hard and isn’t warming the bench? You should be pissed at him; not “pulling” for his lazy a$$!
June 25th, 2014 at 11:36 am
Another botched draft pick by the Rock Star! Bowers will be gone before camps opens. What would be the point of rolling the dice again this year on a chronically injured player? Bowers = Greg Oden.
June 25th, 2014 at 11:36 am
Clayborn had a bum wheel last year but a big heart/motor/want to. I just can’t see him at LDE though. He’s going to rotate with Johnson at RDE and contribute this year in rotation. Bowers and Means are about as promising to me as the RG situation.
June 25th, 2014 at 11:45 am
Double digit sacks. Yeah , to the chin
June 25th, 2014 at 11:57 am
This guy is garbage. All I hear are excuses.
Please cut this guy. And then hang up a banner in the draft room and in the GM’s office that says:
“Do NOT draft DEs from Clemson. EVER.”
June 25th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
The team knows the truth, they’ll make a determination on him based on accurate facts and not speculation. Ppl on social media and Media themselves don’t know the complete facts. All you smart guys do know there’s a difference between real football and fantasy football, don’t you?
June 25th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
“I have no control over what they’re going to write.”
True. But if you work your tail off and stay in shape, its hard for anyone to write badly about you. And then perform on the field as well. Excuse after excuse. No accountability from this turd.
Resume your training in a real place. Not some cow town in the middle of no where in South Carolina.
June 25th, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Bowers has potential if some team is willing to let him rest and recuperate for years, awaiting his magnificence. That’ll never happen.
June 25th, 2014 at 12:19 pm
I’ll throw the prick a bone and think the media took a few words and ran with it. But like I said with mattress man. After so long u lose the benefit of the doubt. If he was ever, even once in football shape, the media might have let this one go. You made your own bed Bowers. Don’t get mad at others because you have to lay in it.
June 25th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Harry,
Glennon has a cannon and is the QB of the future of the Bucs. Get over it?
June 25th, 2014 at 12:32 pm
Bowers is only 24. In a couple of years Belichick will coax six sacks out of him
June 25th, 2014 at 12:53 pm
I’d rather hear more about Steven Means and Chaz Sutton.
June 25th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
We all know most of the time the media talks out of their ass.
The word “conspiratorial” comes to mind… often ahahaha.
Not one of you people knows the truth or him personally so quit with the self-righteous insults and attitudes towards the guy.
Maybe you could show him how to be the model NFL player or how to come back from a severe knee injury sustained in college. One that has clearly hampered him year in and year out since his entrance into the league.
Maybe he is injury prone, but that doesn’t mean anything about him as a person or that that gives the “fans” a reason to attack the man like you actually have a clue about who he is.
June 25th, 2014 at 1:10 pm
Stevek does the more you say it somehow make it it more believable to you?
June 25th, 2014 at 1:12 pm
Bowers was drafted in the lockout year and played some during that rookie year on one of the worst defenses ever fielded in Tampa. Would have been tough for any rookie DE to succeed in that situation. Then the next offseason he ruptures his Achilles and fights back to get on the field sparingly in the first year of the Schiano defense that put out another horrendous product the later half of that season. Then we find out last year he was playing through a knee injury (the other knee) while the coaches led us all to believe he was just out of shape. There is a lot of talk around here with very little perspective. I recall quite a bit of bust talk regarding McCoy during his injury riddled years but when he played healthy for a season he performed well. All the critisism for Bowers is baseless and lacks perspective.
June 25th, 2014 at 1:17 pm
PRBucFan,
It is the truth. Glennon has a good-above average arm, and he is tabbed as the QB of the future. Things could change, but both statements have been echoed throughout the new regime and team.
I just wanted to point out to Harry that MG8 is going to be a good player, and there is no need to bash him.
Perhaps I just like educating the Freemanites on what’s what with Buccaneer QBs.
June 25th, 2014 at 1:46 pm
I forgot about the lockout excuse.
That was the reason Rock couldn’t get any free agents for awhile.
And Free was exhibiting fabulous leadership by practicing at a playground somewhere.
Ah the memories.
June 25th, 2014 at 1:49 pm
Freeman did exhibit good leadership during the lockout. Very similar to reports that we are now hearing about the greatness that is Josh McCown!
June 25th, 2014 at 1:55 pm
No it’s not the truth, it’s what you “want” to happen.
No one, not even Lovie knows if he’s the “QB of the future”.
The only guarantee is that he will get a “chance” to be it, his success is just as certain as our last “QB of the future” was lol.
June 25th, 2014 at 2:29 pm
How in gods name did Schiano and the Rock Star decide Bowers would be a better to keep than Bennett. That is one of the most glaring mistakes that helped contribute to the demise Schiano/Dominick.
June 25th, 2014 at 3:11 pm
the Bucs were one of the last team to hold practices during the lockout! Raheem was caught and fined for making contact with players during the lockout! The Local Media made up that it was all Freeman, But I heard very differently.
June 25th, 2014 at 3:13 pm
I heard that Bower’s gospel music group is excellent. He has had plenty of time to spend making music and practicing in his band.
June 25th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Yes because playing gospel music at church requires so much physical strain on a hurt knee or achilles.
lol Petty
June 25th, 2014 at 5:10 pm
I hope he heals up and gets after it. It would be a great story.
In the interim, it is a shame that we let Trevor Scott sign with Chicago? I was pleased with what I saw from him in spot duty.
June 25th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
So when every medical advisor and analyst said he would need knee surgery and his issue would continue to bother him, mark dominik ” we know knees and the medical cleared up any worry about taking him”.
Bowers is still recovering from knee surgery? If it wasn’t major, then I don’t understand why he’s out of shape.
He is by far a huge bust when you look at how you could have drafted a speed rusher off the edge in Justin Houston at that slot. But I won’t go there bc mark dominiks talent evaluation (or lack thereof )is another topic for a new day.
June 25th, 2014 at 5:19 pm
MTM Says:
June 25th, 2014 at 2:29 pm
How in gods name did Schiano and the Rock Star decide Bowers would be a better to keep than Bennett. That is one of the most glaring mistakes that helped contribute to the demise Schiano/Dominick.
My fellow Buc fan, I think it became more visible that schiano and Dom had a lot of disagreements and rumor had it all started with josh freeman in 2012 once he got there.
June 25th, 2014 at 5:51 pm
@stevek Says:
“…Harry, Glennon has a cannon and is the QB of the future of the Bucs. Get over it?”
Steve my friend, as long as The Cannon remains “The QB of the Future”, and not of the present, the MGM can keep their heads in fantasy land.
June 25th, 2014 at 6:50 pm
Bye bye DaQuan…
We can’t afford to wait any longer, it’s Time to pull the plug on’em…he will never be 100% ever again, his knees look shot …I personally am pulling for Means to make this team…Week one I expect McCoy, McDonald, Spence, Johnson, Clayborn, Gholdston, Means, and Sutton or Cummings…either of the last 2 I just named Could beat out Bowers…
I have 0 confidence in DaQuan ever producing on a consistent basis on the field…Imo he’s kinda lazy and definitely injury-proned point blank, end of story…i personally love DLmen with “motors”, these r guys that play with heart & hustle EVeRee snap..I’ve yet to see that from DaQuan Bowers….
June 25th, 2014 at 11:37 pm
Cut Bowers after no takers for a trade. Sign the ex Jaguar DE and teach him our system. Start Gholston as LDE. Give Means a shot in Preseason, but he likely will have to be a Special Team Superstar to stick. That will develop into our best front four ever on defense. Claiborne will be first in rotation from either side.
June 26th, 2014 at 12:41 am
Can’t wait untill he’s released. Hopefully he’ll take stocker and nicks with him.
June 26th, 2014 at 7:33 am
Its ok guys….”The Bucs know knees”
June 26th, 2014 at 11:25 am
The 2013 “knee issue” is curious to be sure. That aside, why wouldn’t you root for this guy to return to form? I mean it really is do or die for him. If he doesn’t produce he’s gone. How nice would it be though, to have another beast in the rotation?
Some of you guys always make this too personal! “We should be angry with him!”? Really? Why? Because he puts food on our tables? Give me a break.