Mike Evans Needs A Timeout
December 14th, 2015
Just do your job.
Last month, Lovie Smith pulled Akeem Spence out of a game and benched him for going after someone when a play was over, a critical personal foul late in a close contest against the Giants.
If the Bucs — a terribly undisciplined team as evidenced by the clothesbasket of flags the team collects each game — are going to play like a stubborn bunch of high school kids, then it is high time they should be treated like high school kids.
Yesterday, Lovie should have taken a page from pulling and scolding Spence — and benched wide receiver Mike Evans.
He also needs to have a sitdown with Evans, and the conversation needs to be one-way. Evans must be told in no uncertain terms, “Young man, you need to grow up.”
On consecutive plays on the Bucs’ first drive of the fourth quarter, Evans got flagged. The first was for offensive interference. Dumb, yes, but it can be excused. What cannot be excused is what happened on the next play.
Evans comes off the line and goes right after Brandon Browner (see below). It appeared Evans had little interest in blocking Browner during the Charles Sims run. Instead, Evans appeared to have one goal: take off Browner’s head.
Evans was flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Shockingly, the Bucs overcame this and scored a touchdown. But Joe’s about had his fill of Evans playing with his head up his rear end. That stunt easily could have killed the drive, given how the offense was struggling yesterday.
If Evans was catching everything near him and blowing past defenses, this knucklehead move could be overlooked. But he’s not.
This stunt is just the latest episode of Evans’ problems this season. Nearly every week, Evans puts more effort into drawing flags and hollering at officials than does trying to catch the ball. That is, when he’s not dropping passes.
To his credit, Evans vowed to quit trying to bait and badger the zebras. So far, so good over the past two games. But that doesn’t mean you start making dumbass penalties to compensate for no longer barking at officials or constantly whining about being held.
Catch the damn ball. Get your head in the game. You have one job: catch the freaking ball. If you think a corner is mistreating you, too bad. Catch the damn ball. If you think a linebacker is holding you, too bad. Catch the damn ball. If you think you are an elite receiver — and you can be — well, too damn bad. Catch the ball.
Lovie needs to tell this to Evans. And if his words don’t sink in, then it’s time to pull a Spence on him.
Look, Joe likes Evans and he can be elite. He may have the best footwork in the business in the end zone and on sidelines. But Evans has to get his head in the game.
Evans isn’t Dez Bryant, who can get away with acting like a child because he gets open often and, oh yeah, he catches the damn ball.
.@JoeBucsFan pic.twitter.com/wZ7gasSUd3
— Michael Shamburger (@mshamburger1) December 13, 2015
December 14th, 2015 at 2:23 am
Well I did see Dez not catch the ball and cause an interception….. This team needs fire! And needs it badly! Even watched an argument on the sideline with GMC and our Dline coach and still no fire. I can deal with the penalties if they prove to to trying and trying to start that fire. This team needs more heart and not just from ME, DM, JW, LVD, & KA. It’s needed by the whole team
December 14th, 2015 at 2:53 am
Remind yourself he hasn’t played football high entire life..he’s a dunkaneer he thinks he’s the Lebron James of the buccaneers so if Lebron cries for fouls why can’t evans lol
December 14th, 2015 at 2:56 am
His entire life*…stupid smart phones lol
December 14th, 2015 at 4:46 am
He’s a primadona thug with a reputation for crying about everything. Should have known better when we drafted Johnny football’so room mate. He won’t grow up, neither will Manziel. The Bucs and Browns are screwed with these a$$ clowns
December 14th, 2015 at 6:05 am
Great video Joe. Pretty obvious that Evans lost his cool. Good to see that it was Jameis trying to restore some decorum to an otherwise ugly situation.
Mike Evans undisciplined play has cost us more than just the penalty yardage this season. For one, it’s gotten some great plays called back, and thus the loss of yardage associated with those plays. Same is true for all penalties though (I wish the bean-counters kept records about how much penalties really cost you in terms of lost yardage from plays being called back … Martin’s had several great runs called back for instance because of penalties that had nothing to do with the play).
For another though, penalties often kill your momentum. A 3rd-and-1 is obviously easier to get than a 3rd-and-11 if someone holds on the play and you have to re-run it.
December 14th, 2015 at 6:11 am
Thug huh…interesting.
You’re right Joe, Coach Smith (if he hasn’t already) has to check this kid and his ego directly. He’s done nothing in this league to merit the behavior he exhibits on a week to week basis. I would argue, though, that the most intense/focused ass-chewing should come from Mr. Winston himself. Yeah he’s a rookie and a work in progress himself. But I think leading a team to 6 wins and league-wide respectability gives him the right to, at the very least, call a players only team meeting to address it in an open forum. I’m sure others in the locker room feel what we feel as fans. They can’t keep calling him great when he isn’t. They can argue that his presence makes all the difference in the world, but Dropped balls don’t lie. Like Raheem used to say, it’s all about what you put on tape. Let’s see how (or if) Mike grows from this.
December 14th, 2015 at 6:58 am
Evans needs counseling
December 14th, 2015 at 7:26 am
He’s a bitch. He’s a punk. He has an attitude of people that get busted spanking things in a Target parking lot
December 14th, 2015 at 7:46 am
He hasn’t cleaned up his badgering the refs!
Every single play he’s involved in he’s screaming and flailing his arms looking for a flag.
He cries like a little girl playing with Barbie dolls.
He’s obviously not learning from a consummate pro like V-Jax.
Love should have sent this hot head to the locker room after that PF.
Siege this!
Go Sucs!
Losers!
December 14th, 2015 at 7:52 am
I guess he is a bust, lol. He has issues that have to be dealt with, those calling him a thug, please provide that evidence, he’s still very young and even though some of you may give up,on him, I hope the Bucs don’t. That being said, go get some speed, Ted Ginn drops balls that he should catch, but others benefit from his speed. It’s a locker room that needs to deal with ME and he rid of these freakin radio shows (too many), they were good when we were winning on the regular, now that just add to the frustration. Didn’t Josh Freeman, Michael Clayton, and Josh McCown have shows too, enough said
December 14th, 2015 at 8:15 am
Rob – No offense but you should go sit in the corner and think about the stupidity of what you just wrote. Thug? Do you even know what the term Thug means? No? Well let me give you your 1st clue, Thugging isn’t getting into on field with other players. Stupid, immature, sure. Thug? You, Rob, need to tone it down more than just a bit.
December 14th, 2015 at 8:54 am
He’s an unprofessional punk who’s going to be the next “should have been great” player if he doesnt get his act together and start lifting his up instead of bringing it down.
December 14th, 2015 at 8:56 am
He’s an immature unprofessional punk who’s going to be the next “should have been great” player if he doesnt get his act together and start lifting his up instead of bringing it down.
December 14th, 2015 at 9:06 am
Not sure what to make of your thug comment but truth be told the thought crossed my mind if this kind of childish behavior was commonplace at Texas A&M.
I agree with Joe that I would have liked to see Evans benched but with Vincent Jackson out you can’t expect to rely on Humphries and Dye the rest of the game.
December 14th, 2015 at 9:14 am
Been saying this for the last 3 or 4 weeks. He has become a liability. Its gotten to the point that we can expect at least 1 or 2 drops per game and an offensive pass interference call per game. That being bad enough, now hes gonna get all butt hurt and try to fight somebody because the other team is actually playing too. Not to mention the gravity of the situation… 4th quarter, down by 14 and 11 minutes on the clock with an actual shot at the playoffs on the line
SIT HIM DOWN LOVIE. HES LIKE A TODDLER, POP HIM ON THE BUTT AND TEACH HIM WHAT TIMEOUT IS AND WHY ITS BAD. DONT SET A PRESIDENT WHERE ITS OK TO REPRIMAND EVERY DAY TEAMMATES BUT NOT YOUR SUPERSTARS.
1. Catch the ball and stop being butthurt all the time.
2. Keep your hands to yourself while running routes.
3. Dont be so weak minded and stop letting guys get into your head.
December 14th, 2015 at 9:33 am
He’s not a bust, he’s just an underachiever right now who whines and complains like he’s an elite receiver. The only thing he does at an elite level right now is drop the ball, at that he’s in a class by himself. Get it together Mike, we don’t need another Clayton.
December 14th, 2015 at 10:09 am
I think every player who gets a penalty should be fined and made to run those drill Schiano used to enforce. That will get them behaving quickly.
December 14th, 2015 at 10:11 am
I actually think he’ll turn out great. People need to keep in mind that he hasn’t put in 3 years yet. He’s got some growing to do.
That said, his actions were stupid, but frankly, with so many penalties, I was happy with the entertainment. At least his penalties gave us a show.
December 14th, 2015 at 10:12 am
@Sick of Lovie
Why would Lovie follow the advice of anyone named “Sick of Lovie”?
December 14th, 2015 at 10:13 am
Rrsrq Says
“…those calling him a thug, please provide that evidence…”
I don’t think he’s a thug, but I believe those people are referring to his little nightclub mishap last year. The fight, remember?
December 14th, 2015 at 10:15 am
Rob Says
“He’s a primadona thug with a reputation for crying about everything.”
Not so. Not a thug.
And I don’t know if you’ve EVER watched football, but ALL WIDE RECEIVERS CRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING!
They do it in the hopes of getting interference calls.
December 14th, 2015 at 10:15 am
“CRY”
December 14th, 2015 at 11:23 am
Uh no, not every receiver cries for calls every time. The ones who do cry for flags almost every time usually are the ones who rarely get calls and often get calls against them, likely due to their whiner cry baby reputation amongst refs. Evans needs to stop dropping so many passes, maybe then he can complain a little more. Right now he just looks like a sad little boy whining about everything
December 14th, 2015 at 12:28 pm
That was not a fight between him and Browner. It was more like paddy-cakes. Mike, if you are going to act tough, get into a fight and hurt your team with a PF penalty, you should have punched him in the face when his helmet was off. You looked like such a sissy. Here is the actual fight re-cap..
Brandon Browner yells at Evans “I got your baby bottle right here”. Evans charges Browner and throws the “two handed Boy George slap”. Evans tries to go for the face mask but misses. Evans throws his left handed “haymaker” slap. Evans turns and walks away. Browner yells “Sally” . Evans charges Browner in a fit of rage, grabs a hold of his facemask, again and says “it’s Mike”.
December 14th, 2015 at 1:38 pm
@bonsai..yeah I remember that…he was trying to act tough and the bouncers put a good beating on mikes homeboy while mike throw a punch then ran, jumping over cars…I remember watching it and someone in the background yelling, “don’t run now” to mike as he hauled ass LOL…that being said, the talk needs to come from lovie and mr. licht…the rest of the players aren’t going to do anything because they are either too young and immature to do so or just don’t see themselves as a leader….I bet most players on the team view mike as a leader…coaches probably want mike to be a leader but he just like the team as a whole has a lot of growing up to do…GO BUCS!!!
December 15th, 2015 at 7:19 am
Bonzai Troll
Why would he listen to any of us? We, including you, are all just a bunch of hacks thinking we know whats best for a billion dollar franchise. Lol.
Me jumping on here and expressing my frustrations is as close as I can get to telling him what I really think. But, you keep the witty comments coming though. Troll much?