ASJ “Rusty,” Will Play More
December 9th, 2015
All smiles with return of ASJ.
It reached the point that Joe quit trying to guess Bucs coach Lovie Smith’s shenanigans with Austin Seferian-Jenkins and the injury report.
First he was out, then he was practicing, then he wasn’t practicing, then he returned to practice, but uh, oh, the medical staff won’t clear him for contact.
Week after week after week it was like the hot chick paying rapt attention to you at the bar, only to drain your wallet for free cranberry and vodkas.
After a while, you just give up. So too did Joe on ASJ. Whatever high school gamesmanship Lovie was trying to pull, Joe wanted no part of it. Just tell Joe when ASJ takes the field. And that was last Sunday against the Dixie Chicks.
ASJ finally did take the field, the first time since the win at New Orleans in Week Two. So Joe started to pay attention.
Today, Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter noted ASJ still isn’t quite up to speed.
“No one wants to play more than Austin,” Koetter said. “I know from my own conversations with him he missed playing. He wanted to play . .. Austin was a little bit rusty. He looked like a guy who hadn’t played in nine weeks. Practice is practice and game-speed in the NFL is game-speed.
“He played 20-something plays and I am sure that number will continue to grow.”
So in other words, ASJ will get more and more of a workload. This, of course, is a good thing, as the Bucs could go to more two-tight-end formations, as Cameron Brate has proven very reliable if not a weapon himself.
December 9th, 2015 at 2:51 pm
the offense should take off now in the stretch run….the dunkaneers in place!…defense is the worry….
December 9th, 2015 at 3:16 pm
X-FACTOR Returns!!!!!
I will take the trade off with him and Kwon at this point… Wish I didn’t have to but its a factor to consider…
Perhaps ASJ can give us a few more first downs and help us control the ball and give the opponents less time to make us miss Kwon…
Also, Glad to see so many of you have become Fans of Inspiration and have taken on the proper mindsets for an effective 12th man!!!
December 9th, 2015 at 3:37 pm
ASJ has probaby dropped 2-passes in every game he had been targeted, why is he let off, but Mike Evans isn’t??
December 9th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
well now that he’s back..i hope he shows us what we’ve been missing…GO BUCS!!!
December 9th, 2015 at 5:30 pm
ASJ isn’t rusty…he never got started.
But…hopefully he will now.
December 9th, 2015 at 5:41 pm
It’s all starting to come together offensively. We’re finally getting to see what the Buc offense we all hoped for finally hits the field.
@ JOE
I know Koetter can be a bit taciturn but did you guys get any sense if he took any extra satisfaction in sweeping his former employers? I suspect those are cards he’ll hold close to the vest and not admit how pumped he got to beat his former team TWICE!!!
December 9th, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Excellent point StPeteBucsFan. There is no better feeling than what Koetter must have felt after we handed the broom to the dirty birds. I have heard nothing from Koetter. Would not expect to either from a class act. I wanted to execute ASJ after the dropped TD pass. He will get it together.
December 9th, 2015 at 11:59 pm
“He looked like a guy who hadn’t played in nine weeks.”
Lol, he sure did. He looked like an overweight tin-man out there.
Slow and steady improvement is my hope. For a player with his obvious physical advantages, and considering that this administration (new scouting process) saw fit to invest a second-round draft pick to acquire him, this doesn’t seem like a difficult projection.
Am I setting the bar too low? Maybe, but to this point in his NFL career, he hasn’t given us many reasons to raise the bar of expectation. Like others on this roster, he’s learning how to be a pro. If and when he does indeed learn how to be a professional, well, the sky is the limit for him.
December 10th, 2015 at 12:07 am
He bragged about it.