Todd Bowles Gives His Quarterbacks A Break On (Some) Picks Today
August 8th, 2023
Don’t blame the QBs?
So is your glass half-full or glass is half-empty?
How you perceive this story will determine your answer.
The Bucs defense forced five interceptions today. For Bowles, he seemed happy for his defense. He also believes his quarterbacks maybe should be allowed a pass.
“It was good for them, creating the turnovers, obviously getting some – we hadn’t gotten many in a couple days,” Bowles said of the five picks. “They’re coming together as a group. They’re talking more.”
And surprisingly, Bowles seemed to give Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask a bit of a pass. Bowles thought some of the interceptions came partly as a result of Bucs coaches ordering the quarterbacks to throw when maybe they should not have.
“You had to put it in the air at some point,” Bowles said.
Take away the interceptions,and Mayfield may have had his best practice since he became a Bucs quarterback. The problem is, one of Mayfield’s picks was absolutely garish; throwing short to Mike Evans in the corner of the end zone is just unforgivable.
Hopefully, for Mayfield, that was one of the passes he was forced to throw. Otherwise, it was a really dumb decision to throw short to Evans. This allowed Zyon McCollum a chance to recover and get inside leverage on Evans.
Poof! The ball was intercepted.
August 8th, 2023 at 4:11 pm
That does put a bit of a different spin on it when the coaches tell them to throw , probably good for both the offense and defense , for the offense it lets the quarterbacks know what their limits are in trying to complete passes and for the defense , teaches them when they can get aggressive and close on the ball.
August 8th, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Joe, you said earlier that the were practicing “last throw of the game” situations as if there were only a few seconds remaining in the game. I think that is smart coaching to get our quarterbacks some experience in those situations. The defense was probably trying to avoid last second touchdown pass
And were in prevent defense
August 8th, 2023 at 4:44 pm
I live 780 miles north of the great city of Tampa. So yea, I wasn’t at practice. With regards to the Joe’s rhetorical question, “glass half full or glass half empty”..neither. More like meh. Same dudes running the same routes against the same other dudes for what – almost three weeks now? I’ll be worried if the picks become a thing in the VERY meaningful preseason games.
August 8th, 2023 at 4:53 pm
Does the offense need to run a play, the defense hasn’t memorized?
Can the QB throw out of bounds, or, does he have to throw the Int?
August 8th, 2023 at 5:05 pm
I’m glad we’re throwing picks hopefully our defense is ready to ball out this season
August 8th, 2023 at 5:16 pm
String yesterday’s and today’s practice notes together.
Yesterday …
Trask lit the secondary up in the Red Zone. 4 TDs, 0 INTs.
Result Today …
1. DBs watched tape, discussed assignments, and they went out defended.
2. Baker got competitive and went out and performed.
Iron sharpens iron. Keep growing!
August 8th, 2023 at 5:29 pm
Yeah the end of practice was last play simulation so both Baker and Kyle had no choice but to throw. Ball placement aside it clarifies the decision making and risk-reward ratio.
Can’t wait for live reps Friday!!
August 8th, 2023 at 5:52 pm
Our defense looks great against Baker Mayfield’s sorry as
August 8th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
Jack Clark… you have a wonderful economy with words. Btw, not a compliment.
August 8th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
In football, and in life, we all have to put it up in the air. Sometimes. The key is knowing when that’s appropriate.
August 8th, 2023 at 6:11 pm
It’s always helpful to add context…
Obviously if they are working on a “last play of the game” scenario then of course there are going to be more picks thrown. It’s the last play of the game so you are inclined to make more riskier throws.
I can’t wait til Friday night.
August 8th, 2023 at 6:17 pm
Isn’t practice the place to figure out how to throw that pass to Evans? Does anybody go to the driving range and hit 300 balls and then go to the course and hit 50 drivers or irons in a round?
Practice is to get better. It’s where chances get taken to understand the limits. If anyone thinks practice equals regular season games, you are buttoned up too tight.
August 8th, 2023 at 6:22 pm
WyomingJoe Says:
August 8th, 2023 at 6:01 pm
Jack Clark… you have a wonderful economy with words. Btw, not a compliment.
I don’t need a wealth of words to describe Baker Mayfield’s sorry as
August 8th, 2023 at 6:28 pm
Jack Clark: We know how you feel about Mayfield, you don’t have to say the same thing over and over.
August 8th, 2023 at 6:37 pm
WyomingJoe Says:
“Jack Clark… you have a wonderful economy with words. Btw, not a compliment.”
.
.
But impressively diplomatic.
August 8th, 2023 at 6:41 pm
D-Rok Says:
“In football, and in life, we all have to put it up in the air. Sometimes. The key is knowing when that’s appropriate.”
.
.
Cops told me that the parking garage next to the club was not appropriate.
August 8th, 2023 at 7:46 pm
Joe says the same thing about Tom Brady over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again to make more money pipsqueak
August 8th, 2023 at 9:22 pm
To me, nothing matters but 11 on 11 and I’m definitely skeptical of anything that happens at the end of practice in those red zone or two-minute drills where QBs get into a situation where they are told that they have to throw a TD or lose the game on a play. Anyone in those situations is going to throw more INTs than normal.
August 8th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
I guess LDK will be going off on the Ira Podcast about this. Mentioning it in 3 articles in one day obviously isn’t enough.
It’s just one pass FFS!
August 8th, 2023 at 11:23 pm
Looks more like a how to lose a game quickly practice.
August 9th, 2023 at 12:55 am
If it truly was an end of game simulation the defence won. That’s not all bad.
August 9th, 2023 at 2:02 am
It’s funny how many can’t wait until Friday. What else are you gonna do?
I am pantingly awaiting a very important-to-watch, probably meaningful and revealing preseason game!
August 9th, 2023 at 3:58 am
Jack Clark: Nice comeback, well, if you’re 9 years old, anyway.
August 9th, 2023 at 8:28 am
My understanding is they were working on last play red zone. As in TD or lose the game scenario. So yes Trask forced some throws. I would not make much of it for that reason. Not sure about Mayfield’s pick. Trask’s other pick was a miss on communication. Likely an option route.
Go Bucs!
August 9th, 2023 at 8:46 am
I hope we get to see a lot of Trask n Mayfield before making any qb trade to SanFran
August 9th, 2023 at 11:32 am
Maybe the defenders are hitting the JUG machine more often so they’re actually getting picks. If Cotton doesn’t start catching the ball, we can switch him to OLB and replace JTS.