Lovie Points A Finger At Mike Jenkins
September 7th, 2014
As loyal readers know, Joe lined up his shot glasses and ordered a case of Tums shortly after the Bucs signed veteran cornerback Mike Jenkins and it became clear Lovie Smith desired Jenkins to play a major role.
Jenkins got his shot today, and gave a lousy effort, one that Lovie noted after the loss to the Stinking Panthers.
Video of the play in question is right here. It’s Kelvin Benjamin’s touchdown grab to put Carolina up 17-0. Jenkins was guilty of pass interference and Benjamin caught the ball.
But Lovie was upset for a different reason.
“Those plays, especially with Benjamin, we can’t give up that. That should of been an interception,” Lovie said.
Jenkins missed nearly all of training camp and preseason with an unidentified leg injury. And Jenkins returned healthy today but left the game injured.
Johnthan Banks also was banged up today and both of their injuries are unclear. There likely will be an update tomorrow or Thursday.
Regardless, the Bucs aren’t deep in the secondary. Maybe deep enough to handle the weaker passing games of Carolina and St. Louis, next week’s opponents, but they’ll have to be better against the high-flying Falcons in 11 days. Matt Ryan unloaded for 448 yards in the Falcons win against the Saints.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:42 pm
How about benching McCown and not pointing the finger at someone that missed all pre-season
September 7th, 2014 at 9:42 pm
All the free agents have been pretty much a bust! Thafs the plain tuth! And benjamin looks better then mike evans!
September 7th, 2014 at 9:42 pm
No one should worry. Joe has assured everyone that will listen that he “has no worries” about this defense.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:42 pm
Joe can you write an article about injuries? It seems like players on the Bucs are always dropping like flies. Who is the strength and conditioning coach? How can a player like Ronde Barber be so durable and these others guys are constantly tweaking a hamstring or some nonsense that shouldn’t be an issue for a well trained individual.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:44 pm
If we had a pass rush…
September 7th, 2014 at 9:44 pm
RealityCheck:
The Bucs just got chain-whipped by the backalley bully. No more to discuss.
September 7th, 2014 at 9:47 pm
Lovie can’t BLAME Jenkins…..he is not a stowaway…
September 7th, 2014 at 9:48 pm
And why the hell would lovie play a mediocre bust who didnt play all preseason over jonathan banks? Lovie seems pretty stubborn so far and it may cost the team
September 7th, 2014 at 10:01 pm
dungy was pretty stubborn too…acorn/tree
September 7th, 2014 at 10:08 pm
I take it Lovie didnt watch alot of Mike Jenkins film in his Chicago basement then or he would have already seen what we got to witness today.
Jenkins didnt lose this game for us on defense. We have the equivalent to dinosaurs covering the back end of the defense. Barron cant cover and Goldson dropped a potential pick six at the end that would have iced the game.
September 7th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
Carolina came ready to play, they played hard every down, they played with urgency, we were schooled by a back up QB, an aging tight end and a rookie wide receiver. Where was this vaunted-hyped pass rush? The mysterious Tedford offense? I am willing to bet last years Bucs with Schiano could have beat todays bucs.
September 7th, 2014 at 10:29 pm
Jenkins isn’t a player Lovie geez
September 7th, 2014 at 11:17 pm
Sad
September 7th, 2014 at 11:19 pm
I agree with RealityCheck and that’s something that I’ve been noticing too. Not just from today.
September 7th, 2014 at 11:52 pm
Actually, I thought Jenkins played surprisingly well. He broke up several passes, and defended perfectly one long pass to Olsen.
The pass Lovie was talking about, was a jump pass with Benjamin.
Benjamin=6’5″. Jenkins= 6’0″
Of course he got beat. Question to me was- why aren’t we throwing Jump balls to our 6’5″ guys( because our WB doesn’t have time!)
September 8th, 2014 at 12:52 am
If our backup qb, poor d-ends, bad safties and average mlb/casillias can hold the panthers to 17 points than the Bucs have nothing to worry about. the arrow is moving upward, trade some players and draft well with the 5-11 record and all is well. 5-11 is not bad and dare I say should be wanted by fans because if this scrub team gets an 8-8 record or better than our draft position will hurt the club.
September 8th, 2014 at 1:02 am
Joe
He never looked for the ball so it would have been impossible to intercept.
We just played bad and our QB was worse than bad.
September 8th, 2014 at 1:35 am
the most over rated player on this team….it wont be long before that fake is hurt
September 8th, 2014 at 2:12 am
when you don’t play in the presason..this types of stuff hapens.
September 8th, 2014 at 6:05 am
Barron is a terrible SS.
Dominik sucks!!
Go read the old threads.
I was calling for Keuchly!!
How could we have missed him!!!
He caused the first interception by making an amazing play on ASJ.
Then he made an unreal play to cause the final fumble!
Mark Barron or Luke kuechly?
Hell. Roman Harper is like 42 and he was better than barron!!
Damnit.
Barron is so slow he should be converted to a LB.
He has no career in the NFL as a SS.
He runs a 4.7!
@joe
Who did you want in that draft?
Morris claiborne? He is an even bigger bust than barron!
September 8th, 2014 at 7:19 am
The Tampa two is an outdated defense with the new rules or new enforcement of the rules. We had the best cornerback in the league and we cut him because Lovie can change his concepts on defense.
September 8th, 2014 at 7:54 am
Oh no it’s the reincarnation of Dungy ball. Atleast he was there and had a chance to make a play. EVERY RECEIVER WAS WIDE OPEN ALL GAME HE FAILED TO MENTION THAT. JAMARCUS RUSSELL WOULD HAVE CARVED UP THAT AWFUL DEFENSE, NO MENTON OF MARK BARRON NEVER MAKING A PLAY ON A BALL? I’LL TEMPER MY EXCITEMENT UNTIL LOVIE SHOES HE CAN IMPROVE COACHING… ALL THIS TALENT IN PLACE BUT ONE PASS DEFENDED THE ENTIRE GAME IS BEYOND PATHETIC.
September 8th, 2014 at 9:39 am
Just turn around and he has a pick… Preseason didn’t cause that. That is NFL Corner 101. SMH
September 8th, 2014 at 11:32 am
One game and the mutiny has started! Joe, was this the reaction to Chucky after his opening day loss? You know, the year of the Super Bowl? Not insinuating anything, just asking!
September 8th, 2014 at 12:40 pm
that’s on lovie smith, who anointed jenkins the starter despite huge stretches of missed time. that’s your hand-picked starting cover man taking on the other team’s starting WR and flunking cornerback 101 – “TURN YOUR HEAD AROUND”. alot of veterans played like rookies yesterday. it was (dare i say it ?) raheem-esque, especially in the first half