Mike Evans And OBJ
October 5th, 2016
Bucs receiver has proved playing with emotion not always good.
Joe is not a BSPN guy as regular readers know.
For eight months a year, Joe never, ever watches that outfit, except for football games, some college basketball and an occasional “30 for 30” that, given the subject matter, is some of the best work on television broadcast anywhere.
Joe couldn’t give two spits about the arguing shows nor the non-basketball association. And during baseball season, Joe gets all the info and games through MLB Extra Innings and the MLB Network. Outside of the aforementioned items, BSPN is a complete and total waste of electricity and Joe wonders when the EPA may step in.
Still, some of their shlock seeps its way into Joe’s consciousness by osmosis, no matter how many words Joe has filtered on Twitter (the list of items/names/words in filtered is longer than Joe’s arm).
Take this Odell Beckham, Jr. nonsense with the Giants. Apparently, this OBJ feels perpetually wronged and he believes if he cannot play “emotional” — read: out of control — he cannot play.
To be polite, that’s just a lazy excuse for being a belligerent if not a dirty player.
In old school terms, it’s called “getting your head into the game.” And it works. We are all witnesses to this each week.
How? The subject’s name is Mike Evans.
Sort of a football saying is, “Defense is emotion and offense is intelligence.’ It’s not far off.
Prior to this year, Evans was such a talented player but he let emotions get the best of him to the point he couldn’t make plays. Whether it was constantly hollering at referees or quitting on routes when he thought he was interfered with, or letting defenders get in his head, Evans wasn’t getting the maximum out of his superior talents.
When Bucs coach Dirk Koetter hired Todd Monken as wide receivers coach/offensive coordinator, his main task was to fix Evans.
This year, Evans is having an absolutely fantastic season, and maybe a Pro Bowl-type of season. One could argue Evans is having the best start for a receiver franchise history.
How did Monken turn Evans around? A large part of it was mental. Consider what Monken said about working with Evans last month:
“He’s very competitive, very prideful,” Monken said. “And so I think that there’s things that weigh on him. He gets frustrated very easily and he’s gotten better at that, of staying even-keeled. Frustrated with drops, frustrated when his body breaks down, frustrated with a number of things in his life. He wants it to go perfect; life’s not perfect. There’s things in your life like drops, things in your personal life – your body not feeling right. You’ve got to be able to move on. …
“When you watch last year, [the drops] came in bunches, usually that’s a sign of mental [errors], in terms of putting too much pressure on yourself, the frustration.”
So, yeah, in a way, Evans used to be like OBJ in that he tried to capitalize on is emotions when, in ,his emotions were dragging him and the team down.
Through working with Monken, Evans has learned to channel his emotions and focus. The difference in Evans’ play is obvious and you no longer see him wig out on referees virtually every time the ball is thrown his way.
This also goes to show just how good of a coach Monken is. Through four games, Monken appears to be Koetter’s best hire.
October 5th, 2016 at 7:22 am
Props to Evans too, for being mature enough to take ownership of the problem. I was reading about OBJ yesterday and thinking about Evans and his turnaround. I am sure OBJ has good coaches in his ear too, but he has to grow up a little and recognize the issue starts with him
October 5th, 2016 at 8:05 am
“Sort of a football saying is defense is emotion and offense is intelligence. It’s not far off.”
Who is this article about? That line could be about our QB. Playing with emotion doesn’t seem to be working out too well.
October 5th, 2016 at 8:07 am
@Joe … “Through four games, Monken appears to be Koetter’s best hire.” Not sure I would agree at this point Joe. Monken is also listed as our OC, although we all recognize who the ‘real OC’ is. Beyond our injuries and Jameis’ issues, something’s changed about our offensive play-calling this year vs last year, and not for the better it seems. Bucs seem to be much more predictable than they were last year for one thing. And oh ya, seem intent on beating our heads against rocks by doing the same things over and over (and getting the same results). I don’t know what effect bringing Todd Monken onboard has had on that, but something’s definitely changed.
October 5th, 2016 at 8:09 am
perhaps its time to help Jamies now. Not sure why but Jameis is too hyper at beginning of game,but he needs to calmly settle into the game.Also beginning to think Jameis’s longer throwing motion might be the reason for some of his bad throws like the one to Hump last game.It is time for Jameis to listen to coaches and put the work in to get to next level like Evans is trying to.
Don’t believe we have offensive weapons yet to use four vertical offense that
Koetter favors.Jameis does need more weapons to target and a better running
game.Until then he has to limit his mistakes.Sims seemed to struggle at running up the middle,why not convert him to wide receiver.
October 5th, 2016 at 8:09 am
Monken for QB “head” coach.
October 5th, 2016 at 8:22 am
On my goodness a positive article on Joe Bucs Fan! I must be on the wrong site.
October 5th, 2016 at 8:52 am
Joe, you crack me up. Always determined to get your pot shots in. Never would your readers doubt your feelings towards BSPN, but how does your rant tie into this story? Did you leave a sentence or two out of this post.
October 5th, 2016 at 9:33 am
Evans’ change is proof that a player’s on-field performance can be improved…and greatly. The problem for most is their off-field behavior like ASJ…..if they are not disciplined there, you see the outcome.
October 5th, 2016 at 10:23 am
Clear to Joe. May want to read it again.
October 5th, 2016 at 10:31 am
Read it twice, Joe. Every sports network is reporting on OBJ’s nonsense, hardly has the noise been exclusive to ESPN reporting.