A. Q. Shipley Discusses Ryan Jensen Loss, Challenge For Robert Hainsey
July 29th, 2022
Ex Bucs lineman, coach shares personal insight.
So it seems as if Ryan Jensen may be out for an extended period of time. Barring Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht swinging a trade, it may be Robert Hainsey’s job to start at center.
And a guy who knows both Jensen and Hainsey very, very well believes Hainsey is capable of holding his own as the Bucs’ starting center.
That doesn’t mean this is a good situation.
Former Bucs offensive line coach and reserve offensive lineman A. Q. Shipley, who started two games at center in 2020 when the Bucs had to shuffle the offensive line after Ali Marpet missed three games with a concussion, appeared on Pat McAfee’s show yesterday to discuss Jensen and Hainsey.
First, the good news.
Shipley is very, very high on Hainsey, the Bucs’ second-year man out of Notre Dame. Not only was Shipley his coach last year, but Shipley, who did not return to the Bucs this season, was hired by Hainsey to be his personal offseason coach.
Hainsey spent four weeks working exclusively with Shipley this spring and during another four-week period this summer. And Shipley is impressed.
“This guy, I think he is awesome,” Shipley said. “Mentally, he is in Year 10. He just needs to get the reps.
“He is more than capable of stepping in and doing what he needs to do.”
Shipley noted there were several folks in the Bucs’ organization who were eager for Hainsey to get a shot to start at some point. But clearly, not under these circumstances.
Shipley did say that if Hainsey ends up replacing Jensen in the starting lineup, he is going to have all sorts of exotic looks, schemes and blitzes thrown at him each week — defenses will test him to find a weak element and then expose him.
“He will be tested,” Shipley said.
Shipley did not even try to sugarcoat Jensen’s injury. He said this is a major hit for the Bucs offense, in part because of so many things Jensen does that never ends up on a stat sheet or a scoreboard.
“Beyond what he does physically for that team, he is the tone-setter,” Shipley said. “He is absolutely the tone-setter. … He’s the guy that brings it. He will start something.”
Shipley explained that football players are humans. Not always are they keyed up perfectly for a game mentally the way you would think they would be. [Editor’s note: Joe experienced and saw this playing high school football.] You know, guys might be flat for whatever reason. It’s human nature.
Well, Shipley said Jensen would always recognize that in his teammates and he would personally spark an incident with the opposing defense that would fully get everyone’s attention. Then, it was game on!
“If it is a year-ending thing, it will be such a blow to that team,” Shipley said.
You can see Shipley’s full clip of talking about Jensen and Hainsey in the Twitter video here. If McAfee hadn’t dropped an eff-bomb in the clip, Joe would have embedded the video.
July 29th, 2022 at 4:10 am
Ugh… reminds me of wild card game against the Eagles last season when both Tristan Wirfs and Ryan Jensen got injured on the same drive. So disheartening when top guys go down to injuries. At least this is pre-pre season and not the playoffs though. Let’s all pray Jensen makes a speedy recovery. As improved as Hainsey may or may not be, everyone knows we really need Jensen 100% snapping the ball.
July 29th, 2022 at 4:18 am
This interview with Shipley is a must-see/listen. Lots of interesting points, good and bad.
Most interesting is that he personally trained Hainsey and knows where he is. Even if the optimism is justified, and Hainsey is legit, he is still going to be severely tested with opposing teams’ most wicked schemes, and it is a lot to ask someone that new to hold up under that kind of pressure, and make the line calls, and block.
I just don’t see how they will get away with not signing Tretter very soon. Tretter is basically the only sound option available. Matt Paradis is recovering from his own knee injury. Alex Mack would have to be begged out of retirement. BJ Finney, same. Billy Price and Trey Hopkins are both former Bengals, and Bengals’ pass pro was awful with them on the roster. Then you’re down to the likes of Leverett, pratice squadders, and Donell Stanley, who knows the system but these are just bodies to be eaten by Aaron Donald.
July 29th, 2022 at 6:44 am
We’re F’ed.
July 29th, 2022 at 7:14 am
When will we know about Jensen’s injury?
July 29th, 2022 at 7:31 am
Screwed. Way to run your first practice Todd.
July 29th, 2022 at 7:50 am
This is amazing it’s a bucs life. Doesn’t matter who we sign we can never get of our own way. Last year we were fielding store clerks and old men that should have been retired see Richard Sherman with all the damn injuries. This season not getting off to a good start.
July 29th, 2022 at 8:06 am
Private Hudson : That’s it, man. Game over, man. Game over! What the f’ are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?
What I hear when I read some of these posts. I get it. It sucks, but come on. Next man up. LFG
July 29th, 2022 at 8:09 am
After reading more about this it sure seems as if Todd has no clue how it happened. That’s the kind of awareness you want from a head coach. (banging head on desk)
July 29th, 2022 at 8:12 am
Sh!t, the injury bug is still buzzing around 1 Buc!
July 29th, 2022 at 8:13 am
Yeah, it’s a hit. Licht hasn’t drafted a bad O-lineman yet (that I can think of anyway). You can doubt his picks at TE, and DB, but O-line they always seems solid. Will he struggle early? Yup. This is what we got folks. I’m not really in favor of bringing in a broken retread just to fill a whole. Anyone we bring in will need to learn to Offense. Hainsy has a year under his belt in our Offense. We will just have to wait and see I guess
July 29th, 2022 at 8:54 am
First off Hainsey hires QA knowing full well Jensen is the undisputed starting center. That says a lot about the kid don’t you think? He was preparing to be the best back up center in the league. Now his hard work, and dedication for such a young player might help save the Bucs season. Kudos to Bob. If he does become the starter he will see his share of exoctic defenses, but he’ll have the GOAT as his QB who’s seen it all. Jensen wasn’t a high round pick with tons of talent. Jensen made himself into a pro bowl center. This kid seems to have the smarts, desire, and maybe more long term talent than Jensen to do the same. I’m less worried today than yesterday after hearing about this kids drive to be great.
July 29th, 2022 at 9:04 am
Hey Goat effer….What an ignorant take. How in the world is a coach supposed to prevent that injury? Tell us all how that can be done and every coach in every league will be knocking on your door!
July 29th, 2022 at 9:34 am
Hodad…Jensen resigned a couple hours before Brady returned. And stepping in a rookie or second year starter at IOL, especially center, is not an easy task. Thank god he does have a year under his belt with Brady and the Bucs and I suppose Day two might have been the best time for Jensen to take a serious injury and get Hainsey most starter reps in OTA and preseason to see if he can come through.
July 29th, 2022 at 9:42 am
@Joe not sure if the NFL is like the NHL where if he misses the season we can use his cap hit to bring in a player?
July 29th, 2022 at 9:50 am
Think Hainsey will play well. Losing Ryan on the field definitely a big bummer but at least he’ll still be in the building and on the sidelines. I can still see Jensen’s impact being felt in the Oline room as he’ll be all over those guys making sure they keep the fire lit.
Silver lining is Hainsey gets his shot and the Bucs future at Oline gets clearer, while Jensen becomes that player/coach roll that could be valuable.
July 29th, 2022 at 9:51 am
Notice that many of the doom and gloom guys are new to the board… trying to rile and upset real Bucs fans who know that this team will be fine. It will be tougher if Jenson is out, most definitely. But I suggest the crybaby Saints, Panthers, and Falcons fans in drag save their breath. We Bucs fans know exactly where we are.
July 29th, 2022 at 10:35 am
@Hodad and SOE,
Good points by both, and I agree. It speaks volumes to me about this young man’s character and motivation to personally hire a vet to teach him in the offseason.
If Hainsey DOES end up being our starting center, at least he already has a full year to learn and he’s familiar with our system and our guys. Plus, we have some excellent mentors/tutors around to guide him, like the coaches, like Jensen himself, like Brady.
This means A LOT more work will go into the center position these next few weeks, at the very least, probably a few months or even the entire season.
July 29th, 2022 at 11:20 am
Barring a trade, we’ll have to see how Hainsey does. As for the exotic looks and tricks, luckily he has a master of deciphering those looks standing right behind him in TB12 who never has a problem directing the line. Jensen’s fire and heart can’t be replaced and his stats in pass protection are off the charts. I just hope Hainsey is a quick learner and can bring the beef at 75% of what Jensen brings. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery for Jensen, at least by post season time
July 29th, 2022 at 11:26 am
Watch Hainsey outplay Jensen and draw less flags.
July 29th, 2022 at 11:38 am
What’s wrong with an F Bomb being on this site? Is it censored Joe?
July 29th, 2022 at 11:56 am
Considering that the Bucs won the Supet Bowl in 2021, were top-shelf contenders a few months ago and again this season…..
there serms to be a large number of whiney bee-oches posting on this site! lol
I feel like they have a GM who’s great at patching holes without trading away high draft picks.
July 29th, 2022 at 1:00 pm
I couldn’t agree more with the token Canadian fan here. Some goat farming types are simply trolls waiting under the bridge for a disaster so they can fan the flames of outrage and worry. Are these trolls even Bucs fans? Are they even football fans??
July 29th, 2022 at 1:20 pm
I was taught there are no bad words. There are only dumb words spoken by uneducated people that can’t describe things properly. Oh well. I wish Jensen a speedy recovery and loved BigPoppa’s post.
July 29th, 2022 at 4:28 pm
There’s a great free agent option still available in JC Tretter. While Hainsey could probably get the job done, why take a chance when this could be Brady’s final year? Sign the veteran!
July 29th, 2022 at 7:48 pm
Hainsey does not have to worry about setting protections. Brady sets the protections and has his entire career. Moreover, he’s the best pre-snap QB ever after Manning. Hainsey will need to be abe to effectively relay information from Brady quickly and communicate that to the entire offensive line. He also needs to be aware of incidents that might happen where the protection set and the D comes out with something the line wasn’t prepared for, such as a delayed blitzed.
Besides Mason, I don’t trust the interior of our line. I think the assumption that Stinnie will be fine because of a small sample size is totally misguided. Stinnie got worked on some of those plays during the SB run. Also, it was he who got beat so badly by rookie that he tried to save face and ended up costing Jensen his season. Egos by both Logan Hall and Aaron Stinnie are largely responsible for why we are now trying to salvage a once promising season.
July 29th, 2022 at 9:14 pm
Crickett… go through basic training and listen to your drill/ training instructor. Were it not for what many would call bad words, there would hardly be any words at all.
August 1st, 2022 at 3:29 pm
Helll-o compadres, i.e., fellow Bucs fans, the crappy (countless injuries) of last Season were not apparitions & Jensen BIG TIME injuring his knee last week (July 2022) during camp really did occur, unfortunately… No one should be judging anyone else at this time, for strongly believing in bringing in a (proven) Veteran center, to protect the #1 asset on the Team > tha GOAT #TomBrady. Hainsey appears to be a viable backup center. If he was so good & ready to start in the NFL, the Bucs wouldn’t hv resigned Ryan Jensen to a (well deserved) 3 yr. deal. Jason Licht (and Staff) blew it in several ways last Seasons I’m sorry to say, cuz he’s a decent GM. There were plenty of opportunities to do a helluva lot better job, especially in replenishing the secondary (before & at free-agency), but Licht dropped the ball, (pun intended) over n’ over; we can’t hv that happen again! There’s an opportunity right now, front & CENTER; bring in HIGHLY SKILLED VETERAN!! PROTECT YOUR FRANCHISE QB AT ALL COSTS!!
August 1st, 2022 at 11:14 pm
Mark–no feces!