“We’ve Got To Get Some Guys Healthy”
December 10th, 2024
Injuries may doom Bucs.
When Joe hears Bucco Bruce Arians talk about health, it’s not a good thing. Health was a reason he first retired from the Cardinals. Health may have been a reason why he retired a second time — as Bucs coach.
But Arians isn’t worried about his health, it’s the health of his former team with which he is still sort of employed.
Arians appeared on the Scoop City podcast hosted by Diana Russini of The Athletic and former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel. And he was s asked about the chase for the NFC South title and the Bucs. What worries Arians most is he believes health may Pearl Harbor the team.
Daniel asked Arians what concerned him most about Tampa Bay.
“The health,” Arians said as he let out an audible sigh. “Right now the secondary — we’ve got to get some guys healthy to play defense.
“Todd is so hamstrung on what he can do, defensively. He loves pressure. He loves man-to-man but he doesn’t play man anymore because he doesn’t have any corners.
“Now with Antoine [Winfield] hurt, hopefully we get him back.”
Now look, Joe is a monster fan of Arians. Loved everything about him. May have been the best coach the Bucs have ever had. However, earlier in the podcast, he said how his daily retirement routine at his The Villages for Retired Football Coaches in Georgia includes morning golf, a cocktail or two and more golf.
So Joe wonders if Arians sat down for this interview right before his second tee time of the day.
Corners are the problem with the Bucs? So Bowles wants to play man defense but can’t because of the corners?
Joe thought the Bucs were very high on Zyon McCollum and he’s a guy Bowles developed. Joe even thought McCollum has played good ball in his first year as a starter.
Was Arians indirectly suggesting Bowles has lost faith in Jamel Dean? He’s only on the second year of a new contract.
Or was Arians referring to the period when Dean was out? When Dean got hurt against New Orleans and went on injured reserve, the Bucs began their four-game losing streak that included two giant choke jobs by the Bucs defense.
These just seemed like wild comments to Joe.
Arians added offense is not an issue.
“They are scoring points. You don’t have to worry about — Baker [Mayfield], he is going to get his points. Liam [Coen] had done a great job with this offense in putting those guys [in position to make plays].
“Especially with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin out, they are still scoring 28 points. They don’t have to worry about that.”
Arians then reiterated that if the defense can get healthy, the Bucs can be a dangerous team protect leads.
Later, Arians was asked what he misses about the game, he said the camaraderie and the fun of creating gameplans. But what he does not miss is how injuries can ruin a good club.
Sadly, we may be seeing that very thing happen to the 2024 Bucs.
December 10th, 2024 at 10:18 am
he means depth, b/c corners need breaks when they’re man to man more often than when they’re in zone
December 10th, 2024 at 10:18 am
but i agree, bowles could still play it more
December 10th, 2024 at 10:20 am
Dean can’t play man
December 10th, 2024 at 10:23 am
That’s why they need to hang onto all of their draft picks or if anything trade down as much as possible & build the team as much as possible, too! If they’re not gonna go out in FA or trade for anybody the only other way is the draft.
December 10th, 2024 at 10:24 am
This team is definitely hamstrung this year. Go BUCS!
December 10th, 2024 at 10:27 am
Dean plays 10 yards off the WR and couldnt tackle his dinner!
December 10th, 2024 at 10:31 am
Joe has to over analyze everything to make it hard
Injuries have been unreal
December 10th, 2024 at 10:37 am
Dean sucks
December 10th, 2024 at 10:38 am
The only way I’d consider trading away any draft picks is if you know for sure you definitely have a chance to get somebody who’s developed into a reliable starter at their position & at a position they need. I wouldn’t go out & trade for a Jeff Okudah or Eli Apple or anybody like that because they’re nothing really special.
December 10th, 2024 at 10:53 am
It’s bad when they are signing Deon Jones to the PS. Not a good sign for Britt, Russell or the tape on Vi Jones.
December 10th, 2024 at 10:54 am
BA got healthier once TB12 showed up in town…
jameis prolly had BA’s blood pressure going through the roof…
jameis equals fun……but not that much fun ! 🙂
December 10th, 2024 at 10:55 am
#HealthyWealthyAndWise
December 10th, 2024 at 11:04 am
Football is a business. If Coen stays and we are currently scoring points without Godwin, would Godwin’s salary be better allocated to our defense in 2025? Just a thought.
December 10th, 2024 at 11:14 am
We need way more depth on defense. The front office knows it as well.
December 10th, 2024 at 11:15 am
Arians will always have his buddies backs…..this is the same dude that swore Leftwich was a legit OC. I don’t take anything Arians says seriously, he’s like Winston, loves to hear himself talk. Arians was a great coach but his coaching tree has been mediocre.
December 10th, 2024 at 11:17 am
I sure miss BA. The Bucs would be a much better team if Todd stuck to defense only.
December 10th, 2024 at 11:29 am
Injuries derailed the 2021 Bucs. That and the AB meltdown. That team was overall better than the 2020 Super Bowl team, but they couldn’t stay healthy.
December 10th, 2024 at 11:31 am
WE may have a slew of DB’s out but they aren’t the problem. The biggest problem is Licht loaded up this team with a bunch of stiffs as pass rushers. The QB’s feel like they are at a vacation resort when they drop back to pass.
December 10th, 2024 at 11:36 am
Jamel Dean
SOLO
40
Tied-110th
FF
1
Tied-51st
INT
0
150+
PD
4
Tied-142nd
December 10th, 2024 at 11:44 am
Dean frustrates me as well as many others here and he is supposed to be the star anchor of the Bucs pass coverage. It seems McCollum has passed him in actual production and McCollum is a genuine hitter while Dean just tries to survive…and that’s when Dean actually suits up!
I’m not going all hyperbolic and say Dean sucks but I do think he’s grossly overpaid for what he produces.
Where’s D.R. when you need him or any other stat guy. I would love to know the starting Defense Bowles had lined up and how many times he got to field even the same defense from week to week.
Yeah but over the hill Belichik who NEVER won without Brady is going to come in and fix everything right? Or for that matter name your coach.
Coaches can only get the most out of what they have to work with. It’s hard to make chicken salad out of chicken sht!
December 10th, 2024 at 12:08 pm
I think he might have meant safties
December 10th, 2024 at 12:10 pm
One of my favorite quotes from Arians in
“ we have won a lot of games with Dean at corner”
Think ur putting words in Arians mouth
Think Bruce is saying generally that we’ve been banged up in back end all year
December 10th, 2024 at 12:46 pm
Thank you so much for the Scoop City link. I forwarded it ahead to Arian’s portion and it was excellent. Covered so much.
December 10th, 2024 at 1:08 pm
Bring up Marcus banks the safety from Mississippi State who is a stinging hitter at Safety-we need just that.
December 10th, 2024 at 1:24 pm
Merriweather did fine being physical.
What we are missing is coverage.
And simply a lack of communication because these guys haven’t played.
David is gonna have to continue to ball out and we need Mike Edwards back ASAP.
At least Tykee Smith is playing.
December 10th, 2024 at 1:35 pm
How many times does Dean actually prevent a pass from being completed. Not often. He mainly runs backwards 5 yards ahead of the receiver and comes back to attempt the tackle after the ball has been caught. Exactly like SMB used to do.
He drives me more crazy than any other buc player (Britt is close). We need much more talent on the defense. With players like Dean, we need a fearce pass rush to cover up that blemish.
December 10th, 2024 at 1:56 pm
I kept seeing # 36 missing tackles…..and wondered Who the F is that? Then I realized it was Jamel Dean.
Not good….
December 10th, 2024 at 1:56 pm
Sorry….#35
December 10th, 2024 at 2:03 pm
What pryda30 said
December 10th, 2024 at 2:06 pm
What I heard was “The GM Jason did a horrible job getting backups that can plan. Time to fire JL!”.
December 10th, 2024 at 3:34 pm
Dean definitely missed atleast one tackle Sun
But over 5 yrs he is a solid tackler especially open field tackling on right side
Don’t u idiots understand that when he plays 10 Yards off it is because of the def play call , he ain’t free lancing,
No not his greatest year stat wise fir sure
Regarding man coverage , don’t know what you’ll see watching but Dean can plaster dudes in man coverage , period
Go Bucs
December 10th, 2024 at 3:50 pm
“ we have won a lot of games with Dean at corner”
A true statement but that was then and this is NOW! His play has clearly been in decline for a few years and he’s never been durable. That was the wrap on him out of college where he had to transfer to Auburn because OSU ran out of patience with his physical frailty.
As Cindy Lauper sang, “Money changes everything”. Dean has been battling a chronic inability to stay healthy along with the weight of 21 MILLION bucs in his pocket from just his last contract.
December 10th, 2024 at 4:56 pm
The injuries on the defensive side are obvious, so not a whole lot of insight there.
And of all of Arian’s comments, those about Coen are what need to be front of mind for all of us Buc fans, because if Coen has a desire to be a head coach, then he’s absolutely one and done as the Bucs OC.
In GM Licht I trust, but I sure hope he and the owner’s don’t think they can do it 3-years in a row and find an OC even better then the one that’s leaving like they were able to do this year. And even if they could, why put the enitre offensive roster through that type of transition again? The NFL’s pendulum has been swinging in favor of offenses and protecting QBs for years now.
And when the Bucs defensive coach head decides that the injured defense that he manages directly himself can stop arguably the best QB in the league on his own home field in OT when they couldn’t stop him the whole game, then his pride as a defensive minded coach told him got in the way of making the best choice as the head coach….Mayfield and the HC’s offense had just scored a touchdown and had all of the momentum, the Chiefs defense was tired and winded, and Mahomes could do nothing but cross his fingers on the sideline that the Bucs wouldn’t go for 2 to win!
They could have won, they could have lost. However, the choice he made says so much more than the game’s result. All of the momentum was to go for the win, and even if they would of lost, I believe he would have solidified himself as an NFL HC.
As a Bucs’ fan since their birth, I’ve been straddling the fence about Bowles as the HC for years now, but that decision showed me he’s still a defensive coach and always will be it’s time for him to go. After all, Arian’s himself as his mentor said, “No risk-it no biscuit”, apparentlly Bowles dstill had more to learn from his mentor.
December 10th, 2024 at 5:48 pm
I’m not one of these hopin, wishin, and prayin Buc fans because…I’m already knowin what the deal is. And the deal is we have a good offense which has to outscore every single opponent because..We have a very bad defense guys. Our Defense is in the botton 8 or so. So we cannot depend on help from them. For us to win, Baker has to be on point every single Sunday. And every QB has an off day. But their Defense helps. Ours does not.
December 10th, 2024 at 6:34 pm
Well, no sh*t sherlock, and thank you, BA. The Defense has been the walking wounded since like what, week 3, 4? And then the cheap shot by the Ravens knocking CG14 out for the rest of the season?? Bucs are still in the playoff hunt. Yeah, so what if the NFCSo. still isn’t strong. A lot of so-called “experts” are saying most of the teams (like in the AFC) are jokes. The Dallas Cowjerks are a good example of the NFC jokes. Bucs will show up Sunday.
December 10th, 2024 at 7:15 pm
“Bucs need to get a lot of guys healthy” I’m all for it !! One thing is for sure….. every team has a lot of guys injured this time of year!! When we travel 2100 miles to Los Angeles which team has the most drive and desire to win ?
I’m betting on our Bucs !!
Go Bucs !! Beat the Chargers !!
December 10th, 2024 at 10:57 pm
Jamel Dean is not a good cornerback, we all watched him completely wiff on a tackle
December 10th, 2024 at 11:06 pm
The Buc defense that gave Detroit their only loss has been gone since then week 3.
They will go as far as the offense can take them… maybe like last year, a playoff win and then go home? Maybe 2 playoff wins?
But to go deep you better have more than a very injured Swiss cheese defense.
BTW, will an injured Winfield ever be the same? Time will time
This Beat up walking Red Badge of Courage defense will not win championship in Feb 2025.
Might as well ENJOY the wins that happen, but a Lombardi trophy will not happen in Feb 2025 for this group.
December 11th, 2024 at 12:35 am
I think he meant depth, and probably all the DBs, not just corners. We lost Hall for the year and Dean for 4 games. Zyon had an injury at one point. And then all our safeties have missed time… 3 of our 4 top ILBs… yeah, that defense is a mess.
December 11th, 2024 at 12:43 am
Bruce is not going to say anything negative about his hand picked successor.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:35 am
Season was good until some linebacker hip dragged and broke CG ankle Without that Bucs would have overcome all the other injuries