George Johnson Channels Da’Quan Bowers
October 5th, 2015
Bucs DE George Johnson thinks he may have a stamina issue.
It unnerved Joe when he heard defensive-coordinator-in-name-only Leslie Frazier say a reason the Bucs have not gotten much out of defensive end sackless George Johnson was because he is not used to taking so many snaps.
WHAT?
A guy isn’t used to taking snaps? That’s code for the guy is out of shape!
All of a sudden, Joe had visions of Da’Quan Bowers. Just weeks after the Bucs let Michael Bennett walk for no good reason and gifted Bowers a starting job, Bowers (following his New York gun hassle) was so out of it in training camp he had to take knees on the sidelines because he couldn’t keep up with the rigors of practice.
So after the game, Joe and other scribes asked Johnson why he got benched. He seems to have a flippant, shoulder-shrugging attitude.
“If your role changes, your role changes,” Johnson shrugged. “It’s all for the better of the team. We’re all trying to win. We all have the same goal in mind. It’s not personal goals, it’s all one team goal and that’s to try and get to the Super Bowl. First of all win the game, then win the division, then win the Super Bowl.”
So then Joe asked Johnson if he felt more comfortable coming off the bench rather than starting.
“It doesn’t matter where I’m going,” Johnson said. “As long as I’m helping the team, as long as we are helping each other, as long as we are trying to get better, it doesn’t matter.”
So then Joe asked Johnson if part of the reason he wasn’t starting was due to stamina. Johnson agreed.
“It’s probably a stamina issue,” Johnson said. “If they see that I’m not playing at a high level at all times, then it might be better for me to come off the bench. It’s all what the coaching plan has. It’s all up to them. If they see something wrong then we have to fix it.”
So if it is a “stamina thing,” that tells Joe Johnson isn’t in shape. What the heck was he doing in the offseason, during OTAs, training camp, preseason and now four weeks into the season?
And it is a “stamina thing?” In October?
C’mon.
October 5th, 2015 at 9:09 am
Ryan Delaire had 2 sacks yesterday on us.. on one of them you can tell he was whispering sweet nothings in Jameis Winston’s ears.. Not sure why we let him go but it hurts seeing a division rival pick him up and have him be successful against us..
October 5th, 2015 at 9:24 am
He’s a situational pass rusher who they thought could be a starter. That they gave up 65 spots in the draft to get him shows the incompetence of the current regime. And yeah Delaire looking better than any pass rusher we have besides Jaqueis Smith doesn’t help either.
October 5th, 2015 at 9:25 am
Can’t we find a Johnson that can “functon” at a high level?….it seems all of our Johnsons are “impotent”.
October 5th, 2015 at 9:35 am
this team is soft and they don’t care about winning…because of the horrible coaching from the head guy…”simple as that”…a team reflection of the head coach
October 5th, 2015 at 9:35 am
Apparently Delaire came out and said they never even game him a chance in Tampa in a interview after the game. Also didn’t we pay him money to come here being a UFA? This is ridiculous.
October 5th, 2015 at 9:39 am
Did we really expect the great George Johnson to be a capable pass rusher just because the incompetent fools in charge traded a 5th and paid him $3mil a year?
You don’t get a Saltine and expect it to taste like a Delmonico!
October 5th, 2015 at 9:50 am
It’s a heart thing. He doesn’t have much heart. In other words another of Lovie’s losers.
October 5th, 2015 at 10:13 am
Yet Ron Rivera showed us yesterday how he can take Lovies garbage and turn it into a quality contributor. Deluni or whatever his name is almost got 3 sacks yesterday. Lovie cut him and traded away a 5th rnd pick for this George Johnson.
Shoulda just kept bowers and the 5th rnd pick.
October 5th, 2015 at 10:19 am
More proof that Ron Rivera was the brains behind the Lovie smith Super Bowl defense.
Ron Rivera 3 – Lovie Smith 0
October 5th, 2015 at 10:28 am
NCbucfan Says:
October 5th, 2015 at 9:35 am
Apparently Delaire came out and said they never even game him a chance in Tampa in a interview after the game. Also didn’t we pay him money to come here being a UFA? This is ridiculous.
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Yup, we sure did. What does that tell you about the talent evaluation skills of this franchise? We keep letting better talent go to keep “Lovie’s guys”. We’re gonna be so much worse off when we fire Lovie than when we did Schiano. Schiano left us a top 3 defensive player that Lovie promptly jettisoned. Good lord.
October 5th, 2015 at 11:27 am
Our goal was to win the Super Bowl. Yeah right, you came to the wrong team. Everybody knows this is nowhere. The Brindza reference in the movers ad is funny, he’ll probably want his cut.
October 5th, 2015 at 11:47 am
Johnson is not ready because of soft coaching.. Trying to be their friend period..
Don’t push them to hard in practice or they wont play hard on game day..
But the Bucs are in a bad place no one wants to be here so they collect their check and hope to get traded.. You have young guys playing hard to get a pay day or a trade offer..
Players don’t play hard because what are the Bucs going to do trade them…
October 5th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Only the Bucs would let Ryan Delaire go and keep Johnson. This is a bad poorly coached team with some very highly overrated players who can’t seem to get out of their own way. I’m talking about you Lavante David and Gerald MCcoy.
October 5th, 2015 at 7:03 pm
Does the GM, Coach’s and player personnel directer learn the lessons from their past mistakes? DE George Johnson was a back-up player thrust into a starting role and was exposed. LT Anthony Collins was a back-up LT and was thrust into a starting role and was exposed. How can a pro football player, who are supposed to be the best conditioned athletes in the world, have an issue with stamina? The only thing worse is a player who admits he has an issue with stamina. I mean it comes down to is conditioning. George Johnson is a high paid athlete in which his job is to be in shape. That is like a truck driver saying he does not have the ability to drive more than an hour? Johnson is just another example of a player who was performing at a high level for another team and when he is signed by Tampa he becomes mediocre?