Bruce Arians Calls Richard Sherman “Emergency Guy;” Strong Hints Of Murphy-Bunting Return
November 2nd, 2021
Cornerback Richard Sherman.
Change appears imminent in the Buccaneers’ secondary.
Bucco Bruce Arians was very clear when speaking to Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV on Monday that he has high hopes for cornerbacks Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting returning right after the by week, and maybe even receiver Scotty Miller.
Today, Arians was talking more about the bye week and the state of his cornerbacks during an episode of Bucs Total Access streamed on Buccaneers.com.
First, Arians said cornerback Pierre Desir had a strong game against the Saints except for one play. That led Joe to spit up a mouthful of Big Storm Wavemaker Amber Ale. What a smelly mess that was. Anyone recommend a cologne?
Regarding Richard Sherman, who was active against the Saints but did not play, Arians made it clear that Sherman’s hamstring isn’t ready.
“He was just an emergency guy. He wasn’t healthy enough to play many snaps,” Arians said. “Had somebody gotten hurt, we’d had to put him in. … He’s done a great job coaching. So he obviously knows what we’re doing now. … Hopefully we’re going to get Sean and Carlton both back.”
Then Joe saw the Tweet below from Murphy-Bunting, which an emoji expert might say means he knows he’ll be back next week from his dislocated elbow.
Later in the broadcast, Arians said he’s hopeful the Bucs will get at least two guys back from injured reserve after the bye. Davis and Murphy-Bunting are both there now.
Joe is confident that the Bucs doing nothing before this afternoon’s NFL trade deadline tells you all you need to know about the prospects of Murphy-Bunting and Davis returning soon.
That can’t happen soon enough.
https://twitter.com/seanbunting_/status/1455653617285935106
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:12 pm
I sure hope so! Especially CD3. Definitely have missed him so far.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:17 pm
Was there … the place is awesome to visit, loud inside and even outside at Champ Gate and Bourb St. was fantastic after the game … the Dome had water 2” deep in the bathrooms and warm beer before the end of the 1st Qtr.
We woke up Monday to fly back to a clean city and with Tom Brady playing QB.
We’ll be ight, at least we don’t live in that mud pie
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:17 pm
Everyone keeps saying Siemian tore it up or scorched us last week. He really didn’t at all. He completed ONLY 55% of his passes. Had only one TD. Should’ve had a couple INT’s (Winfield almost had 2 himself not counting the one called back because of Roughing)….which would’ve lowered that completion percentage to less than 50%. Also we did have one pick called back (Winfield Jr again). His scoring drives were all really penalty aided (our own fault). Besides one 40+ yarder to White to start 2nd half he only threw for less than 120 yards in approx 3 quarters. And even 160 is nothing.
We blitzed like 20 something times and they were getting the ball out quick. With guys off the street and cologne bottles who have only been here for a few weeks and a 4th CB in Cockrell pretty much playing all game, it wasn’t really that bad at all….or as bad as so many of y’all (Joe included) have made it out to be. We sure do know how to overreact as a society these days. We’ve got that nailed. Even if that was the line against our starters, that’s still very pedestrian stuff against us. It wouldn’t be great play, but it definitely wouldn’t be that horrible either. Remember, there’s a middle between both ends of the spectrum sometimes!
Yes Desir did give up the long ball on a great throw and played way too soft at times, but he’s been here for only a few short weeks in a complicated and diverse scheme to learn. Cockrell is just too slow plain and simple, but I get his intelligence and flexibility and being no other options. Because we DON’T have any other choices.
Most of the completions came in the middle part of the field and shallow (where our LB’s were lined up more often than not). Dean played just fine. Whitehead and Winfield Jr. played good and all 3 of them were graded out as the best, if not one of the best, players on the entire defense last week.
What killed us was very costly and way too many penalties, and turnovers in scoring position.
Siemian, although stifled most game, did beat our defense when it mattered most on that drive to take the lead at the end (again aided by penalties). So give the NFL Vet credit there and our defense didn’t do the job that drive, for many reasons. The other drive scored on us w/ him was aided by multiple 4th down conversions and 15 yard penalties.
There’s a lot that goes into it, but by no means did Siemian torch us or the secondary play horrible. That narrative needs to stop. That game hurt us all, but nits let be silly and overreact to what was or overreact to Siemian’s play.
Again, Siemian’s numbers AND play were very pedestrian and should’ve been even worse.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:22 pm
JG — that is pretty accurate. The penalties were the equivalent of playing a one man game of Russian Roulette with 6 bullets in the gun.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:34 pm
Without listening to Arians, my guess is that the two guys back from IR that he’s referring to are SMB and Scotty Miller, not SMB and Carlton Davis.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:40 pm
“Arians said cornerback Pierre Desir had a strong game against the Saints except for one play.”
——-
Yeah, that’s definitely fake news being pushed by Arians. I know why he’s doing it, but that’s quite the lie to try to push.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:40 pm
Celebrating Sean Murphy-Bunting’s return is like celebrating we just traded to get Hargreaves back.
Suck = Suck
So funny how so many, including the Joes, actually think our starting corners are any good just because of our playoff run and Super Bowl in where our Pass Rush dominated beat-up O-Lines of GB and Kansas City; making our Secondary ‘look’ 10X better than they actually are. Heinicke torched those guys in the wildcard game and were lucky to come away with a win.
SMB was playing TERRIBLE before his injury. In fact, on the very play he gets injured he was burned so badly.
Carlton Davis is NOT an elite NFL corner. He has to be one of the most overhyped Buccaneers.
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS… SMB & Davis will come back after the bye and start and the moment our Pass Rush isn’t absolutely dominating, they will get EXPOSED yet again like they have over and over and over during this early season and last season.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:41 pm
Going back and reviewing the game, if it weren’t for some of the phantom roughing the passer flags, the Saints lose at least 1 FG (e.g., Winfield pick in the endzone). The Bucs would’ve been up by 4 assuming they just kick the XP instead of going for 2 (which wouldn’t be needed). There was no way NO was going to drive for the go-ahead TD and it would’ve/should’ve been a ‘W’.
I don’t see the Saints getting as lucky when they come to Tampa, and those who’ve followed my posts know I’ve been about as pessimistic on the Bucs this year as anyone. Bucs now have game film on T.Simien, they will have their DBs back, and (I assume) at least a tad bit better prepared.
November 2nd, 2021 at 7:42 pm
JGhotier..But we still got beat with a backup QB at the helm. That should never ever happen if you are in fact a top tier team.
November 2nd, 2021 at 8:04 pm
BradyBuc,
You’re not wrong about SMB.
Davis is usually ok but our CBs aren’t super stars by any means.
Just because they played on a SB winning team doesn’t make them a great player.
That goes for overpaid, underperforming LTs too.
November 2nd, 2021 at 8:45 pm
Are you people seriously saying SMB isn’t better than Cockrell???
SMB had those three picks in the playoffs, including a pick six at the Superdome. He went down week one. How in the sam hell do you know if he has improved or not.
“Davis is ok.” Compared to who? Desir at #1 CB? He’s a very good CB and its huge to have him return. All these starters know how to communicate. The scheme will become much tighter and we’ll have the ability to put guys in the proper position instead of everyone having to keep their eye in the back field.
Sherman is a great coach. That sounds very nice for a bunch of young secondary players with potential.
November 2nd, 2021 at 8:47 pm
That led FirstTimePoster to spit up a mouthful of Joes formerly favorite “beer” Bud light. What a smelly mess that was
November 2nd, 2021 at 8:55 pm
Have to love both New Orleans for home field advantage or should we just call it the Vegas advantage! As far as the Bucs they played a little sloppy and underachieved but the game changing bad calls hurt the most.
November 2nd, 2021 at 9:15 pm
And when they get back….stop bleeping playing them on ST!!!
November 2nd, 2021 at 9:17 pm
BRADYBUC
As an ex-college CB… I strongly disagree. Carlton Davis is a fantastic CB. He has steadily gotten better every year in the league and was off to a fantastic start this year. The first couple games, he was the only one playing well, I’ll give you that.
SMB is pretty good. I did question whether or not Dean will take the starting job from him, and I still will not be surprised if that happens. Dean has been playing really well in the last few weeks.
Regardless, having them all healthy and being out there playing together will make a difference.
Desir & Cockrell Should not be playing. Delaney has done very well
November 2nd, 2021 at 9:26 pm
When we play Washington in a couple of weeks we’ll know how many starters return…That’s when our second half of the season starts…just like last year the Bucs will run the slate again all the way to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles.
November 2nd, 2021 at 9:45 pm
Mike Johnson,
That’s a little bit of a separate discussion.
We didn’t lose because of Simian’s play. THAT was the POINT I made. And how we like to overreact and many did. That again was the point of what I said.
We all know the reasons we lost and Siemian’s play was not it.
To your point:
The backup QB (who is an NFL Vet w/ starting experience in the League), on a really good NFL team, w/ a really good Coach, in a Division Rival game, on the road, in a TEAM sport did beat us. It’s the NFL and happens.
Sometimes the elite teams get upset by Wildcard Teams, rookie QB’s and backup QB’s…. for many different reasons.
Sometimes the Bears beat the Bengals this year. Sometimes the winless Jets w/ a Backup QB beats the Division leading Bengals, sometimes the awful and depleted Giants almost beat the defending AFC Champion Chiefs on MNF, sometimes the Glennon (a Backup now too like Siemian is, but who had started games before in the League) led the 2-14 Bucs and went into Pittsburg and beat the perennial contending Steelers in a 2-14 season. Speaking of Pittsburg, Charlie Batch as a backup can do wild things in games against top-tier teams etc. etc.
Sometimes the 7-5 Bucs win out the last 8 games, make the playoffs as a Wildcard team and defeat Mahomes/Chiefs, Rodgers/Packers and Brees/Saints in a row on the road to win the Super Bowl. Sometimes that same team comes closer to losing in those same Playoffs to the non-winning record Washington Football Team w/ a backup QB. Heck, I think even Brady’s Pats (one undefeated team) and that Dynasty lost to Wildcard Giants’ teams in the SuperBowl, Nick Foles can win the whole over Bowl over the same Brady and the Pats etc. etc. etc. There’s cases of these kinds of things and/or phenomenons happening all over all the time and on all kinds of teams.
Sometimes Griese gets injured for the only ever undefeated team in the Dolphins and leads them all the way to a Super Bowl win rattling off like 10 straight wins in the process and never really heard from again….excee we OT doing it for an injured Johnny Unitas too. Jeff Hostetler on the Giants over the heavy favored Bills. Sometimes it takes ages for Jim Plunklett to find the right team as a backup QB and then take the entire League by surprise. Sometimes the backup QB named Frank Reich comes in for a Bills team down 35 points to the Warren Moon led Oilers in the Playoffs (where the “top-tier” teams that give. year play their games) and comeback to win. Sometime the 90’s Bills make the dance 4 years running and never win it.
Kelly Holcomb (a backup mostly as Siemian has been) comes in for the Browns of all teams and makes Playoff noise (those same Playoffs and place where top-tier teams play games). Sometimes an aging older backup QB who bags groceries literally and comes in for Bulger and gives you the “Greatest Show on Turf….except against our Bucs”. Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins can win Super Bowls on the right teams w/ the right fits.
Chad Henne can beat the Browns as a backup QB in the Playoffs. Kramer as QB can lead the Lions into the Playoffs if they have a good enough RB and other players around that day to beat a 90’s Cowboys team. Case Keenum as a backup can lead the Vikings over the Brees led Saints to an NFC title game.
Could LITERALLY go on and on w/ examples AND there’s examples of all kinds of varying degrees for all kinds of reasons
It’s the NFL. It happens. Let’s not discount the Saints either just because Brees is gone. This is the NFL and any given Sunday can always take place for a myriad of reasons. But to already think we are automatically not capable of being an elite team team this year AND only 8 games into a season BECAUSE of ONE loss like that (in the way we did especially) is silly. That’s called a one game overreaction and you just proved one of the points I made previously. It’s also very narrow-minded thinking!
November 2nd, 2021 at 10:29 pm
Two things I am sick of hearing.
1.”Siemian beat Brady”. QBs do not play each other, so any sports media blowhard that says this crap (Shannon Sharpe) should shut up. Brady unfortunately made mistakes vs. the Saints D, and Siemian unfortunately did well enough vs. the depleted Bucs D to win.
2. The whole “Bucs couldn’t beat Siemian and Payton” noise completely misses the point. Any time a major QB change happens suddenly, the defensive game plan changes, and major adjustments have to be made AND THIS OFTEN GIVES THE ADVANTAGE TO THE TEAM WITH THE NEW QB that the D is not ready for. The D was geared for Jameis, not Siemian, who is a completely different QB than Jameis—and he’s a veteran who is borderline starting caliber. Why should anyone be surprised?
If the Bucs had time to game plan Siemian, guarantee you they would have done much better. The coaches still should have adjusted better than they did on both sides of the ball, and Brady obviously threw the game away on that one play.
November 2nd, 2021 at 10:44 pm
OK Coach Boone.
Why? Because the Bucs are supposed to be a good defense. Good defenses are and should be flexible. To get beat by a stiff like this Siemian is beyond shameful. Good defenses would have devoured this guy. What do you think Sapp/Brooks/Lynch/Barber/Rice would have done in this situation? They would have eaten the guy alive. Same with Parcells’ defenses. And the 80s Bears. And the Steelers defenses as recently as last decade.
November 2nd, 2021 at 10:48 pm
Bucs designate Scotty Miller, Sean Murphy-Bunting to return from IR Practice next week
November 2nd, 2021 at 10:56 pm
Well, Bucs defense has an atrocious record against back-up and scrub QBs. That history continued last Sunday. We have a knack for making bad QBs look good. Same thing last year in the Wild Card game. That’s not only a Todd Bowles thing. That’s been the case for more than a decade. And this team can’t seem to get that monkey off their back. So it’s honestly not a shocker to any Bucs fan that Siemian ended up playing well. Didn’t shock me at all.
This defensive unit came on strong last year and shocked the world. So far this year, they look less than mediocre. Yes there are injuries, but it’s not just the DBs that are lacking. The whole unit looks off and underperforming, and they are committing an incredible amount of penalties. They find one way after another to extend opponent drives. And they are not improving very much since week 1.
November 2nd, 2021 at 11:04 pm
What does that emoji like you guys call it mean?
November 2nd, 2021 at 11:36 pm
Racist white suburban mothers vote out Medicated Pete Governor’s
November 3rd, 2021 at 12:35 am
“Desperation is a stinky cologne” – super troopers
November 3rd, 2021 at 1:21 am
Joe says: “Good defenses would have devoured this guy. What do you think Sapp/Brooks/Lynch/Barber/Rice would have done in this situation? They would have eaten the guy alive. Same with Parcells’ defenses. And the 80s Bears. And the Steelers defenses as recently as last decade.”
Except back then you could actually touch the qb. We hit Siemian multiple times on his first drive and got roughing the passer penalties each time. We even intercepted him in the end zone yet it got called back when Gholston got his helmet ripped off by illegal hands to the face but he bumped the QB. Not sure Siemian beat us as much as the zebras. Im not one to call out bad refs so long as they call it both ways. Our receivers & linemen were getting mugged on every play yet we got 11 or so penalties and they got 2 or 3. Sapp would have been ejected in that game.
November 3rd, 2021 at 6:12 am
JGhotier … Trust me, the ‘big picture’ analytical approach doesn’t work with folks who’ve already made up their mind about who the culprit in a loss is. And yes, there is a “middle between both ends of the spectrum sometimes”… but rarely on JBF. Nor in national politics it appears.
As you noted, penalties & turnovers are what killed us. And I’d add that they especially impacted the defense. Penalties are self-inflicted wounds IMO, and are avoidable for the most part. Look at Sunday’s 11 penalties for 99 yds…
o Special teams picked up 1 penalty (block in the back) that cost us 10 yds. No real impact (except we stated at our own 13-yd line).
o Offense picked up 2 penalties that cost us 20 yds; holding on Smith had no impact (we scored a TD on that drive), but the holding on Jensen did cost us in the 4th qtr (we ended up punting).
o Defense picked up 8 penalties (69 yds) & half were ‘minor’ in terms of yardage (5 yds each for 4 def offsides/neutral zone infractions). The other 4 were MAJOR: 3 on Devin White for 42 yds total & 1 on Will Gholston for 7 yds (half the distance to the goal). 3 of the 4 penalties cost us points (2 FGs). They weren’t the difference in the game points-wise, but in combination with everything else (especially the TOs) they certainly contributed. Very undisciplined game by White. Refs will be keying on him for the rest of this season I’d suspect.
November 3rd, 2021 at 9:53 am
DR, I disagree those field goals made put the Bucs in the situation of having to score with under 2 minutes. Take those out and Bucs O is not trying to force it downfield. As I recall Jensens hold was a BS call also. After all the turmoil the Bucs did out play the Saints. To say Simean out played Brady is ludicrous the guy threw for 375 & 4 tds versus what 159 & a td?
November 3rd, 2021 at 12:22 pm
I don’t speak emoji fluently, what does that what mean?
November 3rd, 2021 at 1:50 pm
First off: Look at the Bucs record vs the Saints since 2010 (7-17). As much as I dislike the dude, Peyton knows how to coach.
Second: Even with all the turnovers & penalties, they still had a shot. Simple truth is if you are -3 in turnovers you will lose more often than not regardless of who’s QB for the other team.
Last: I think the Bucs will be just fine. I was skeptical after this year’s Ram’s loss (that seemed like a proper butt kicking to me), but now I think they’ve got a shot at a repeat. Getting guys back on defense will help, but a healthy Gronk & AB will help even more.