Receivers Coach: “Mike Is Wound Pretty Tight”
August 4th, 2016
Anxious
New Bucs offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Todd Monken let it rip during an interview yesterday.
Joe will say it again; This Dirk Koetter coaching staff is a such a breath of fresh air and a gift to Buccaneers fans. Gone is the wacky secrecy of the Lovie Smith and Greg Schiano regimes.
No more silly high school stunts while talking to media, and no treating fans like they’re morons. (Yes, Joe believes if you aren’t mostly direct with media as a coach, then you’re basically OK with BSing/disrespecting the fan base.)
Monken joined WDAE-AM 620 for a great interview yesterday (audio below). Inevitably, the subject of Mike Evans’ drops came up. Monken said Evans’ challenges are between his ears.
“To me, a lot it’s more anxiety. Mike is wound pretty tight,” Monken said. “He puts a lot of pressure on himself. He wants to be a really good player. He counts on himself to be a really good player. You watch the games, it’s amazing how one drop leads to one drop, leads to another drop and another drop. And it becomes more mental than anything with Mike.
“What we’ve got to eliminate is certain games where it’s like, ‘Wow! Look at that,’ in terms of blocking, effort, route running, catching. And then you look at another [game], and it’s, ‘Not good enough.”
“How do we flatline it? That’s when your offense becomes consistent, when every body’s consistent. And Mike has been much more consistent the first six days [of camp].”
Monken added how Evans has stayed healthy and is working hard: “He’s trying to take extra reps. He’s worked harder at catching it.”
Yes, Bucs fans have seen shades of the 2015 Evans in training camp — a guy who has no trouble getting open but doesn’t always squeeze the rock.
There’s no reason to believe Evans can’t lick his troubles, but on the flip side, nobody would be surprised if they continue. Joe believes vastly upgraded coaching (aka Monken) will help Evans improve his catch rate.
August 4th, 2016 at 9:09 am
Thank god we have VJ here showing him how to be a man and more importantly, Professional! Mike will turn out alright.
August 4th, 2016 at 9:10 am
Monken is right. It is between his ears. Get that man a sports psychologist
August 4th, 2016 at 9:11 am
Jerry Rice struggled with drops his rookie season yet like ME put up good overall numbers.
I think Evans has shown he’s already put up competent NFL numbers..in fact good numbers despite the drops.
I look for Evans to have a great NFL career. His reputation as a butterfingers however will take at least a seasons worth of effort to erase. And should he have a run of bad games anytime in the future it will revive the talk.
Anybody who saw that doc on ESPN’s 30-30 about Mike’s upbringing and the murder in his family is certainly rooting BIG TIME for ME.
I hope he can take that horror from his youth…something that obviously made him a tougher guy and use it to power through this latest challenge.
GO MIKE!
August 4th, 2016 at 9:33 am
I think it’s a matter of confidence. It is the difference right now between Brate and ASJ right now. One has it and one doesn’t.
August 4th, 2016 at 9:34 am
Glennon is either not dressed or not at camp today. Make of that what you wish…..
August 4th, 2016 at 9:43 am
Yeah, wish the best for ME13! I also hope ASJ gets back to being the #1 TE. No disrespect to Brate, but he doesn’t have the natural talent that ASJ is blessed with. Anyone who has been to practice has seen ASJ work his tail off. He has been great with the fans and I believe is trying to get better.
We can all heap sh&t on him, but he is just a kid who has cruised through on pure talent. He is now being asked to cut the crap and be a professional. He is not out of the doghouse yet, but give the guy some slack, let’s let him mature along with the rest of these kids. If you look at his tape, when healthy he can be a monster. He can get open better than any TE we have. He just needs to get his head right. Go BUCS!!!
August 4th, 2016 at 9:45 am
“Glennon is either not dressed or not at camp today. Make of that what you wish…..” – the plot thickens!
August 4th, 2016 at 9:47 am
I don’t see Evans as butterfingers, more like easily distracted. Taking your eye off the near approaching ball for a split second will result in an incompletion. Can’t take your eye off the ball. Stop hand check pushing on defenders as the ball arrives. He will have to concentrate better on the catch. He gets too frustrated by tight coverage. I look for him to clean that up and improve though.
August 4th, 2016 at 9:50 am
In regards to Glennon, If you were watching the Training Camp Live video, I believe they mentioned his wife gave birth, which is why he is not in today
August 4th, 2016 at 9:53 am
Glennon was excused today to visit a veterinarian.
August 4th, 2016 at 9:56 am
I think he is just trying to hard. Gotta have soft hands as a reciever. Feel the ball, if you try to hard to catch it, it just bounces off your hands. He will be fine. Once he has his first game back and makes a couple solud in game catches he will loosen up. Keep it up Mike hard work always pays off!!!
August 4th, 2016 at 10:02 am
Well congrats to him then. I was at the camp so no video for me. Thanks for the clarification Jolly. Looked a little sloppy today.
August 4th, 2016 at 10:14 am
lol 37.
Well everyone… I thought that was funny.
August 4th, 2016 at 10:58 am
I heard ME13 say he was gonna do yoga in the offseason but didn’t. Maybe this is a good time to start or do somethin to cleanse that ora. He can bring his mat onto the field during stretches on game day
August 4th, 2016 at 11:04 am
Maybe he has PTSD. Wouldn’t be a far stretch after all he went thru.
August 4th, 2016 at 11:05 am
We should see a lot of improvement from Mike considering this is his first NFl caliber coach.
August 4th, 2016 at 11:46 am
i hope and expect that he can fix it given his age and relative lack of football experience, but even if he doesn’t – Terrell Owens and Dez Bryant are among a handful of guys who have carved out legacies as dominant players even though they frustrate with drops a little too often
August 4th, 2016 at 11:54 am
and of course, year 3 is generally regarded as a year for big improvements for WRs, which is another reason for optimism
August 4th, 2016 at 12:08 pm
Hey Joe, maybe in the spirit of the law of attraction and Jameis preaching, how about not ripping into Evans for drops every single time you mention him??????
I do realize repeating yourself over and over is kind of your schtick though
August 4th, 2016 at 12:23 pm
To me, a lot it’s more anxiety. Mike is wound pretty tight,”
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Mike don’t wanna see the word KY, he don’t want to hear it, hell he even stopped using it. Thanks Obama!
All jokes aside much respect to the Joe that decided to discontinue using the moniker (for now if nothing else). That type of stuff can get into a persons head and F their whole game up. Everyone wants to be liked and supported even through the worst of times. Especially a young player who wants to be a great player in this league.
August 4th, 2016 at 12:28 pm
How about this novel thought: How about Evans catching the damned ball?
FYI: Koetter said Evans is motivated by reading all the articles about all of his drops.
Sorry if Joe harps on the fact that by many stat geeks, Evans was one of the worst receivers at catching the ball last year. Sort of significant element for a receiver is to catch the ball, no?
August 4th, 2016 at 2:39 pm
We get it though Joe, no need to keep harping on it. It’s a new season!