Lovie Says “Don’t Overreact”
August 9th, 2014
Bucs fans are supposed to be out-of-their-mind excited about their beloved football team that is striving to be “relevant,” the buzz word of new head coach Lovie Smith.
But fans are, you know, fans, which is short for fanatics. Heck, the Bucs even had their in-house reporter chronicle Lovie’s activities for his first 100 days and share 30,000 or so words about the experience.
That’s how intense the Bucs want their fans to be. That’s a good thing.
However, Lovie told media this afternoon at One Buc Palace, “Don’t overreact” to the horrific first-team offensive line play witnessed last night in the preseason opener at Jacksonville.
Keep calm.
“Let it play out a little bit,” Lovie advised twice.
Frankly, Joe’s not sure that’s possible. Ugly is ugly. Fans are fans. And Lovie can’t have it both ways.
Joe’s not blasting the head coach, but Joe is saying the first-team offensive line play was worthy of a giant reaction. There is real reason for concern. Just ask Josh McCown. It was that bad.
The fixes may be on the Bucs roster. They might be somewhere else. They could be a year away. Fans will find out.
But when you love your team, when you live A Bucs Life, overreacting — to positive and negative — comes with the territory.
August 9th, 2014 at 3:45 pm
Everybody freak out all at once like a bunch of twelve year olds in a haunted house! Lovie has obviously not controlled the room temperature well enough!
August 9th, 2014 at 3:49 pm
When Lovie was hired, I was pleased with the selection. I am now having concerns – already. The offense MUST be held accountable. Does not seem like Lovie is a bit concerned. Unless the defense scores 14 points a game, look for 6 wins at best.
August 9th, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Per: Bill Williamson |
BSPN San Francisco 49ers reporter
Multiple teams are preparing to approach the San Francisco 49ers about their interest in trading for holdout guard Alex Boone, according to a league source.
Among the teams that could use a guard are Tampa Bay and the New York Giants. Boone can also play tackle.
August 9th, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Trade for Alex Boone and sign Incognito. Instant, massive improvement. And yes it’s been reported the 49ers are listening to offers.
August 9th, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Lovie feels okay about the guard situation.
New Orleans felt okay about their levee situation.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:03 pm
This town has always overreacted. Is it concerning yes but did anyone expect us to look like a well oiled machine with the vast amount of changes. As long as we see improvement and yes the O-line needs lots of that but I haven’t heard anyone expecting a Super Bowl this year. That’s the biggest problem with the NFL. It includes high draft picks and new coaches, everyone expects too much too soon. Give it time and if it’s not improving the media will have plenty of time to lambast the coaches and players, but not after the first pre season game. Lovie has stated all along that he doesn’t know what kind of team he has yet. To properly analyze the team and where improvements are needed be that with more coaching or new personal, it takes live games to truly know. I even heard a media member insinuate thar maybe Lovie had been out of football too long… Lol..
August 9th, 2014 at 4:05 pm
trade clayborn and a running back for guard Alex Boone.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:05 pm
I agree with Lovie..let’s not overreact, but one thing is for sure…Oniel Cousins has to go.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:07 pm
If the coaches are in “win now” mode, then they have no choice but to pick up 2 starting guards ASAP. Cousins should not make the roster much less be depth. The rest of the guards are not ready and not starting quality. While everyone is clamorning for Boone, sign Incognito. What do have to lose? Then hope some other capable guard get released. It’s already all over espn that the Bucs have no Oline. Bucs need to do something NOW to get the Oline to gel.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:14 pm
Sadly the game was unwatchable, and is a bad sign just like schianos preseason start
August 9th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
One issue, in my view, with trading for Boone is that you’d have to give him a new contract. This would instantly undermine everyone who’s been on the team and playing hard, and raise the bar as far as available contracts for good players we already have.
I think (hope?) we already have been guards on our bench, and this first game was just allowing the veterans the opportunity to stake their claim. They sucked, time to move on to the youngsters.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:21 pm
Agree with you Joe! There is bad line play and then there is what I witnessed last night. It just wasn’t bad O-Line play. It was down right Comical. That’s what worries me. It was beyond bad, pathetic,
August 9th, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Cant run or pass-when your getting unrestrained pressure through the A gap.
With proper conditioning & time to hone his craft. I’m sure Kadeem Edwards will be one of the best guards we’ve every had. But let’s not kid ourselves, this is the NFL not Tennessee St.
WE NEED SERVICEABLE VETERAN GUARD PLAY!!!!
August 9th, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Totally agree with Joe’s last line. Over-reacting is part of the deal. It’s what us fans do. And it’s not just the Bucs. Last year people were buying Schaub’s jersey at the game, just so they could burn it in the parking lot.
Look at this Giants fan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-6Tn0Ie-AQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=14
Soccer hooligans get down right medieval. People have f*cking died at some of those matches.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:25 pm
We all knew the Guards were bad, but I went uh-oh when I saw Collins give up 2 sacks. I also thought McCown played like a rookie where the pressure was just too much for him to handle. Glennon did a much better job dealing with the adversity, but he had all last year to practice behind a shit OL.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:31 pm
I dont think anyone expected the Bucs to be firing on all cylinders but I dont think anyone was prepared to see a line that looked like they were Matadors at a bull fight. Last night’s line was down right Scary and then McCown turning the ball over only added to the horror.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:36 pm
Let’s take a look back-we all knew this was gonna happen
“I’m Turning The TV Off “
(May 16th, 2014)
https://www.joebucsfan.com/?p=113238
August 9th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
I understand this is the first preseason game. I am not completely freaking out. But for the organization (or any in the NFL for that matter) to treat this game the way they do and ask for fans not to read too much into it is ludicrous.
Your fans are paying FULL f’n price for a ticket to read into it as much as they want. If you don’t like over reactions, don’t charge the fans for them.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:43 pm
If L & L go into the season with our current group of guards and we end up having a losing season because of it, I say FIRE THEIR A$$E$!!! LOL. And that is definitely not an over reaction. It’s a principle-based approach
August 9th, 2014 at 4:43 pm
Week 1 – “relax it’s only week 1”
Week 4 – “no worries lovie will get this fixed after the bye”
Week 7 – “they just need more time to gel”
Week 15 – “bring back schiano”
Yo Joe! Love the picture that play had me laughing for hours. The headlock chocking block. Like I said last week Tedford is revolutionizing the game.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:44 pm
Joe
I know the OL first team stunk last night, but Lovie also said don’t put too much into the player rankings with the first list that was published and the players played there.
Now if they are that bad against Jacksonville, how bad must they have been against us? You can’t tell me that GMC and crew was not in the backfield every practice and nobody noticed. So something is going on, what I don’t know, but all of our coaches and scribes can’t be this stupid and not know what is going on.
I just wish I knew, but I won’t be surprised if a RB and possibly a receiver of some kind is traded for guards or some of the DL that is not going to make the defense isn’t changed or both.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
@Deputy Buc
Amen
August 9th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
PRESEASON relax my dudes. I 110% support lovie he knows what he is doing.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
@ Deputy
Here here! That why the only game they sell out is Green Bay. GB had 67k fans at practice yes practice and they paid $10 to get in.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:48 pm
@John23
Luv Lovie, but poor offense line play has always been his achilles heel.
August 9th, 2014 at 4:51 pm
I’m not going to overreact, it was an ugly display, but if NFL history has proven absolutely anything, it takes 4-6 regular season weeks for an offense to start clicking with a new offensive coordinator. This is step one, in 7-9 weeks hopefully it will be a lot better.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
No question that the OL played terrible, but I’m starting to wonder if the coaches kept it totally vanilla so they could see who really man’s up on the OL. Didn’t see any designed roll-outs by Josh (like we saw a lot of from Bortles), and can’t even remember any shotguns. No quick release passes or anything like that. It kinda looked like one of those ‘Let’s see what we’ve really got in the trenches’ nights.
Obviously now everyone knows.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
I’m not freaking out but lovie had been a coach to long and offensive line has always been his issue. Is he going to be like dungy and ignore the line? Teams protect players like Bree’s, Brady and Manning because of who they are but I would argue that when you have below average quarterbacks like us they need even better protection
August 9th, 2014 at 5:08 pm
It is worthy of a giant reaction because 1) EVERYONE saw the potential disaster it might be, 2) If fans saw it, and sports writers saw it, why did Lovie, as the head expert not see it?, and 3) this was always his achilles heal in CHI – he said he took a year off to figure out how to get better -this is NOT a testament to that
I love the direction Lovie is going with about everything else. But this was such a glaring mistake. I hope I am proven wrong.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:08 pm
If you so admire, Green Bay then move there. There’s nothing else to do in Green Bay.
And Joe, if you really believe what you say and aren’t just trying to boost advertizing sales, then you’re not nearly as smart as I thought. This is like a writer having to publish the first draft of his essay. It’s shitty. It needs work. He’s revealed just how much work it needs. Now is where the discipline and work ethic comes into play.
For a guy named “Buddha,” you’ve got quite an attitude there. LOL. Joe loves the folks who claims Joe write a story to boost “advertising sales.” It just doesn’t work that way. Regardless, Joe writes what he thinks and sees. That’s not going to change. –Joe
August 9th, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Everybody stay calm, its not time to panic……..BS
We got our butts kicked by jacksonvilles defensive line.
IF we got man handled by seattle I would say not to worry about it.
Get Incognito pay him what he is worth. Because if we don’t the Pats will.
Get Boon.
Or go on being the same old bucs year after year.
These two players alone will win us games.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
Amen, Deputy Buc, especially, and Joe. Don’t ask me for full price for a preseason game, don’t ask me to have pewter and red in my veins and not overreact to a win or a loss, or a horror show like was on display last night.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
While the final result of a pre season game does not matter what you see on the field can be a sign of things to come. Our o-line was trash and McCown had two turn overs,one of which had us down by 7 despite a dominant defensive effort. Tedford has ALOT of adjustments to make and lets hope he gets something sustainable real soon. Because your offense getting pushed around by the Jacksonville Jaguars is a bad sign.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
Over reactions are what feeds this web site but come on guys, this was fifteen minutes of our so called “first team” in the first pre season game! With the exception of the OhOh-Line there was a lot to like, Rainey, Simms, Murphy, ASJ (other than his blocking), Herron all made some good plays on offense. And anyone willing to crucify McCown and put Glennon in as starter on the basis of a handful of plays behind that O-Line is a rabid MGM’r. The one thing that bothers me more that anything is George Warhop. How can anyone in his position see anything about Cousins that would have pursuaded him to sign him, let alone put him in the first team!!! I can see Dotson, EDS and maybe even Meredith improving over the next three games but I see no hope at all for Cousins. If Warhop can’t see that then I have major concerns about his ability to coach our front four. Other than that let’s unwind and at least go through the next two pre season games before we write the season off.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:30 pm
Let me be the first to say, I’m not in panic mode. But that statement struck a cord with me as a season ticket holder.
That being said, I still have immense respect for what L & L are trying to do overall. Anyone that though this team was going to be turned around in one season are delusional. We had soooo many holes to fill. I really think just about everything except kick returner and the OL have been addressed.
I don’t put a ton of stock into what this team was doing last night or the past few weeks that I’ve attended training camp. I don’t think they are as content as they are leading on with that lineup. But lovie is not one to publicly admonish his guys, which is why he has always commanded such great respect from his players.
I personally think that if we do not add a guard in the next couple of weeks, Omameh and Edwards are better options at guard. We know what the ceiling is on the guards we have with the exception of these two. That being said; Omameh needs more technique work. Edwards probably needs a little more strength and a TON of technique work.
If you are gonna roll with subpar play at guard, at least do so with the bodies that have some upside.
Maybe Edwards playing against scrubs was the coaching staffs way of building him up slowly against better talent since he came from such a small school.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Have to admit: the Bucs looked very “Raheem-y.”
And before you say, “It’s just preseason,” they looked EXACTLY LIKE THIS IN PRESEASON for the past 5 YEARS and there’s 3 7+-game losing streaks in that MESS.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:43 pm
I woke at 4AM so that I could watch the game out here on the left coast. Turned to this website first and read all about the train wreck before turning on the TV. Glad I did.
I do understand it is the first PRESEASON game of a new coach(s) and direction. I do understand that things need to get better. But I haven’t seen that bad of line play since the days of McKay! Holy crap, if that doesn’t get fixed ASAFP, we are going to end up with dead QB’s. That was beyond pitiful. Ever hear of a screen to slow down the pass rush?
Interested to see who they trot out next week and what kind of adjustments they make. It had better be dramatic or the OC’s new double secret probation offense is going to go up in flames.
August 9th, 2014 at 5:48 pm
There wasn’t a gameplan the OLine scared me other then that everything else looked great
August 9th, 2014 at 5:57 pm
Bucs should trade away Clayborn and Doug Martin since both were 1st rounders and both should not have been 1st rounders and Bucs would get compensatory picks (maybe). Imagine another free 4th rounder or sth. + whaterver you get through a trade!
Good RB´s can be found pretty easy and Clayborns talent is expandable.
>>> trade em
August 9th, 2014 at 6:03 pm
It is NOT the offense needing to gel (that has multiple components). It is NOT just that it is preseason. The Oline is only ONE component of our offense. It was our Oline starters vs JAX Dline starters. The Oline has been a big concern all offseason. They performed worse than anticipated. That is a concern.
August 9th, 2014 at 6:16 pm
Sign a veteran guard and all the other guards can fight for the other vacant position. If we are a win now team, we need a win now line. Yes the D-fence is good. We knew that. Its early….but that Oline play was a for sure sign. Don’t panic. That game was a waste. I don’t believe in preseason games. Show the fans this on the 1st real season game and I hope radio stations don’t buy billboard spaces for Lovie.
August 9th, 2014 at 6:24 pm
First Preseason game. Stay Calm, we finally have some people in house at One Buc Place that have a real plan, and it’s gonna take a bit longer than one preseason game to see the difference. O-line looked terrible, but it’ll get better……..I hope.
August 9th, 2014 at 6:29 pm
I imagine that Jay Gruden is saying the same thing. Don’t over react, calm down, stop the over exuberance. There’s plenty of tickets available for everyone. Plenty of Redskin’s gear for everyone.
Gruden was my 1st choice as the Buc’s coach but nnnnooooooooo!
Tampa’s a defensive 1st team.
Well, now we have a Head Coach who was mainly concerned that the defense that was pitching a shut out at the half had not scored. L&L wasted all their draft picks on offensive players and can not protect the A gap.
L&L must mean Looney and Ludicrous.
We’ll soon see how willing they are to adjust on the fly. They should sign two guards by Monday or it will be a long, long season and a shot at Famous Jameis as the #1 overall pick next spring.
Oh Boy!!
August 9th, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Panic?
Panic is a reaction that comes from the unexpected happening – like you didn’t see the train until it was too late…this was more like 8 or 9 weeks of KNOWING the train was coming…only to receive confirmation from the opening bell.
I’m SURE we didn’t see very much of Teford’s offense, and from the looks of it, if we begin the season with the current ‘talent’ – we aren’t going to see Tedfords’s foir a long time! McCown’s best play was a broken, fumble he picked up and dashed for a first down…no time to set up even in 3 step drops the defense was on top of him.
I’ll even concede the fact that the entire line needs some time to come together/gel – but every concern about Cousins was confirmed, while new ones were raised by the early play of Anthony Collins…
…but panic? Nah, saw this one coming, and I’m pretty sure it’s not going to get better – which is why we brought in a more mobile QB and TALL WR’s…maybe when the full compliment of receivers runs “trips” right/left – peeling-off at 3 & 5 yard intervals, and Sefarian-Jenkins fans 3 yards out into the flat…
…hey wait…that’s what Gruden was running when we ran his arse out of here…
Yep, like I said, you can waste 5 to 10 years if you want, but the more thinggs change, the more they stay the same…
August 9th, 2014 at 7:02 pm
I agree with “don’t panic”. According to NFL.com stats, there have been 31 total sacks so far in preseason week 1 with 4 games still to be played. The D-lines are well ahead of O-lines at this point. O-line players are learning how to manage D-line stunts in live action now, not just against their own defensive players. This is where they come together or not, is in preseason games. If we can’t get an answer by preseason week 3, then yes, we may have a problem. But right now, every team in the NFL would dump half their starting O-line based on those results (31 sacks).
August 9th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
The look on Lovies face during the game looked like he was not happy to see what he was seeing. You expect the fans to react differently. When you stink, you just flat out reek. Patience wears thin.
August 9th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
Joe, you are absolutely right to raise concern about O- line play. Agree with others that it was unwatchable but I couldn’t help watching last night and again this morning on NFL Network. No running room…no time for our QB’s. It may not be time to panic but it is clearly time to look at other team rosters for upgrades. At least the ugly play of the line made me stop thinking about the BUCS EXTREMELY UGLY UNIFORMS. Felt like I was watching Arena Football for both reasons
August 9th, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Concern to light of a word. I am petrified by that abysmal performance.
This may be the worse 1st team o-line I have seen since 1998.
August 9th, 2014 at 9:14 pm
Penn and Joseph would be better than what we have now as starters. Better be big time improvement next week on O-line or it won’t matter who’s at QB,RB,or, WR
August 9th, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Meanwhile, Johnny Football is looking like the real deal against Detroit, running and throwing. Carry on…
August 9th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
Trading Doug Martin is a dumb idea. Trade a 1st round pick stud because of demps who can’t break a tackle, Rainey who was picked up after being cut and mike James a 6th rounder. Like Glennon, Rainey came in with backups, build a winning team by trading away top talent before they even reach full potential….. Brilliant
August 9th, 2014 at 10:18 pm
Football regular season hasn’t started yet and fans already ruining it. Can we atleast enjoy this until there is no playoff hope, then we can talk all we want. Right now I am just happy football is back and we get to watch the Bucs AND they still have a playoff hope!! Look around the league, almost every team did scored about the same amount, oh and take away Jags pick 6 for a TD and we win…. yep, it’s overreaction.
August 9th, 2014 at 11:40 pm
You know, I was thinking. The depth chart for the game was setup to allow the younger players more playing time. Some of those guys may well become oline starters.
Being younger, they obviously need to develop. A whole new oline won’t gel very quickly.
I wish Daven and Zuttah had stayed one more year, but Lovie and Licht made their choice. What’s done is done.
It will just take another off season to fix the line, assuming some current players do not improve.
As to Love, he doesn’t exactly have a good history when it comes to putting together an oline, and Tedford is straight out of college, so he isn’t familiar with pro quality either.
August 9th, 2014 at 11:47 pm
Ima fan I have to overreact lol j/k I will freak out more in the regular season
August 10th, 2014 at 12:24 am
I’m sorry but if you seriously get worked up about a pre-season game you haven’t got a clue.
August 10th, 2014 at 1:18 am
Bobby Wagner-“Remember we Dominated Denver in the Preseason & Regular Season”. No matter the starters are in the game or the back ups. If your good, your good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNHjtmsBWuQ
August 10th, 2014 at 2:03 am
Dont over react this had better be a plan to be the worse team in the nfl to get jamiemwinston.. other wise start over reacting if not now then when?
August 10th, 2014 at 3:54 am
Not overreacting or anything, but does someone have Paul Gruber’s phone#? I know he was a tackle but hell his leg has probably healed by now.
All jokes aside. Let us give this season and O-line a chance to mature. Adjustments are bound to be on the way. The defence looked much better! Still more to come from that side of the ball! Go Bucs!
August 10th, 2014 at 5:05 am
Excellent (Monty Burns voice). It’s all falling into plan.
August 10th, 2014 at 6:05 am
Kansas City figured how to rebuild in 1 year. What do we gave to lose by brining in incognito for 1 yr can’t get any worse. Should have resigned sutras @ least, they could really use him. I think tampa has a voodo curse on the OL.
August 10th, 2014 at 7:00 am
First team defense looked like they could shut out Jacksomville for 2 weeks straight… Not even Mike Evans started this game. We played a couple of sub par veteran guards. The second team guards fared better and so did Glennon as a result. Not panicking here. The better guards wil move up to first team when we plan to play first teamers longer (week 2 or 3). I wouldn’t mind picking up Boone or Maybe Incognito with a behavior clause but that is only because we likely will have 0 depth. They would start and give the young guards longer to develop.
August 10th, 2014 at 7:30 am
In this case, total panic is not an overreaction. If we have to bring in Incognito because we almost completely ignored the guard position during the offseason this staff is going to lose a ton of cred with me.
August 10th, 2014 at 7:31 am
The second team guards and Glennon faired better because they were going against the second/third team defense of the Jags. Hardly reason to celebrate in the streets.
August 10th, 2014 at 7:48 am
Second team guards also do decently against McCoy and co. Especially Omameh from what I have read. Have heard many good things about Edwards too. Just not sure he is 100 percent ready yet. My primary concert is, again, DEPTH. If those guys are starting, who is backing them up? I doubt Cousins makes the team.
August 10th, 2014 at 9:17 am
Boone is a RG.
Meredith sucks.
Trade a second, which we would use next year anyway on a guard.
Sign him to a 4-5 year deal.
Sign Icognito to a veteran minimum.
Boom.
the two deals combiner, plus Nicks dead money, would equal the price of 2 good guards, and we would have 2 pro-bowlers!!!
August 10th, 2014 at 11:58 am
It was more then the guards are left tackle was terrible also!