Ayers Denies Hassle With Kwon
November 13th, 2017
Claims no sideline issue.
Something happened late in the game between defensive end Robert Ayers, middle linebacker Kwon Alexander and defensive tackle Swaggy Baker.
What that was, Joe isn’t sure.
Last night Joe watched the incident on NFL Game Pass. CBS cameras caught Alexander standing over Ayers as Ayers sat on the bench. At one point, Kwon ripped off his helmet and really tore into Ayers as Ayers was yelling back. At that point, Clinton McDonald said something to Swaggy and McDonald walked out of the frame with Swaggy.
Alexander eventually sat to Ayers’ left a few feet away on the bench and the barking continued. Bucs assistant coaches Mark Duffner and Jay Hayes initially tried to calm the two down and Gerald McCoy and DeSean Jackson then stood between the two with Jackson talking to Alexander. Lavonte David stood in front of Ayers and patted him on the left shoulder.
Kevin O’Donnell of WTVT-TV Channel 13 Twittered that Alexander was outraged because Swaggy was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty — it was a reach of a flag in Joe’s eyes — that allowed the Jets to keep their final drive alive which ended in a touchdown with 28 seconds left.
Per O’Donnell, Alexander confronted Swaggy and that Ayers — though broadcast video does not show it — came in to either diffuse the situation or defend Swaggy.
Last night on Twitter, Ayers called out O’Donnell for what Ayers claimed was O’Donnell fabricating a story. However, Ayers would not clarify what was wrong O’Donnell’s information or detail what exactly happened.
(Viewing background: When Joe is at Bucs games at the Den of Depression, the TV situation isn’t great. First, Joe is watching what is going on on the field. Because one has to do extreme yoga to see a TV screen from Joe’s perch, Joe relies on the JumboTron for replays. And no, the Bucs’ in-house production crew is not going to broadcast a hollering and woofing match between a handful of Bucs on the JumboTron.)
Joe will just write this. After days of hearing on and off the record that way too many players were allegedly tuning coaches out and freelancing, not caring about winning, etc., this situation borders on heartwarming. If Bucs defensive players are getting this PO’ed over a meaningless late touchdown that they might want to swing on a teammate, Joe isn’t upset by that at all.
To Joe, it’s shows the Bucs have a spark still in them. That wins and losses still matter. That the pilot light is still on.
November 13th, 2017 at 5:57 am
@Joe … “After days of hearing on and off the record that way too many players were allegedly tuning coaches out and freelancing, not caring about winning, etc., this situation borders on heartwarming.” That’s my big takeaway from this article Joe, and I’m surprised by it. Can think of 1 or 2 who might’ve ‘tuned coached out, freelanced, not cared about winning’ but ‘way too many’ is very concerning. In effect, that’s mutiny IMO and it means that coaches AND team leaders have lost the locker room. We might’ve beaten the Jets yesterday, but that doesn’t mean much if the root problems are still bubbling beneath the surface.
Any word on VHIII yet? Read that he went out yesterday with what looked like a bad pulled hamstring but haven’t found any updates confirming that.
November 13th, 2017 at 6:40 am
I think anyone who can read lips would beg to differ that there was no shouting match with Kwon dropping some choice expletives….just an indication of what may or may not be happening in that locker room…..don’t let an unimpressive win over a lousy team fool you into thinking otherwise…!!
November 13th, 2017 at 6:43 am
I sit on the front row right behind the D-line’s bench and saw all of this.
I couldn’t hear everything they shouted, but here’s how it happened:
Ayers tears into Baker … Baker acts defensive .. shouting, etc . Teammates separate them..
Ayers sits down on one end, Baker the other, then Kwon comes over and shouts at Ayers.
My read was that Kwon was upset at Ayers for overstepping, that it was a mistake of aggression on Baker’s part, etc.. or something to that effect.
November 13th, 2017 at 7:07 am
LOL, The Den Of Depression was just that, for Jets Fans yesterday!
November 13th, 2017 at 7:08 am
Maybe it’s Kown who cared about the meaningless TD and the freelancers did’nt
November 13th, 2017 at 7:22 am
Ayers is tired of lazy playing
Ayers is tired of waiting in the Defense Leader to step up and call the player out
GMC is tired from carrying all that money hahah
November 13th, 2017 at 7:29 am
“If Bucs defensive players are getting this PO’ed over a meaningless late touchdown…”
I wouldn’t call it a meaningless late touchdown at all. If the Jets recover an onside kick and get lucky on a hail mary, then they win the game.
November 13th, 2017 at 8:09 am
same feeling joe when i saw the confrontation unfolding i was so happy with what i was seeing. more than anything it showed they cared. it wasn’t too confrontational nothing you wouldn’t see happening on the sidelines on occasions . it shows that they really care about winning and how much they have each other’s back , also shows how much they expect from each other. i don’t believe another 2nd half turnaround is bound to happen i think the defense could turn things around but offensively especially without jameis i’m just not seeing it from that group. dirk koetter seems to be coaching scared at times i understand he has fitz at qb but 8 straight first down running plays is very predictable .
November 13th, 2017 at 8:10 am
I’m ok with it, calling each other or holding your teammate accountable is how you get them to play better. A little locker room Deanna like this wouldn’t hurt anymore than the sorry lifeless drama the media reported during the losing streak. I like it besides Ayers will be gone next year
November 13th, 2017 at 8:10 am
Thanks Mord
Your read makes perfect sense. We have had defensive meltdowns in the past
and Ayers probably wasn’t happy about it. Baker got over it ,hopefully the rest of the players do.
November 13th, 2017 at 8:13 am
That’s how alphas talk to each other. Heartwarming indeed.
And did baker outplay the ice cream man again? Why yes, yes I believe he did.
November 13th, 2017 at 8:33 am
Glad to see some fire out there….at least someone cares about perfection….GO BUCS!!!!
November 13th, 2017 at 8:37 am
Thanks Mord for the first-hand view, and I agree with Bob … it makes perfect sense that it happened that way. After it was all over, I remember seeing Baker (with a big smile on his face) come up to Ayers & give him a hug. Things must’ve been OK after that because Ayers didn’t clock him. And like NotThereYet said, no problem with holding each other accountable. Disagree though that Ayers will be gone next year. Even if we draft a couple of rookie DEs, this team needs experienced leaders to teach them on the field. Ayers & Gholston don’t seem to have the speed necessary to get to the QB quickly, but they both add a needed ingredient to our DLine. Same thing with GMC & McDonald … we need their experience to build on. Starting all over from scratch rarely works (especially with our FA track record).
November 13th, 2017 at 9:18 am
@Tom Edrington I doubt anyone here thinks they turned a corner LOL
November 13th, 2017 at 9:20 am
DBAG55 if iron sharpens iron what does ice cream shapen? LOL
November 13th, 2017 at 9:45 am
Thanks for the inside reporting Mord. Very interesting.
November 13th, 2017 at 10:02 am
Wasn’t a good flag joe!?!? Omg. It was such an obvious flag it scares me you think otherwise
November 13th, 2017 at 10:31 am
I said all week that the team had not quit. Of course, the haters disagreed. That’s okay, they are entitled to be wrong 90% of the time.
The way I look at it is this…Ayers was angry at Baker, not just for the penalty, but because he laughed it off when he came off the field…or did no one else see that???
Kwon is a fiery dude too…and the true leader of the defense. He probably didn’t know that Baker had laughed about the penalty.
Regardless, these are growing pains. The team has to get angry before it takes the next step forward…not angry at the coaches, but angry over the production their fellow players are turning out.
That’s what we see happening.
Yesterday was the win that broke the losing streak. Pretty or not, we needed it.
November 13th, 2017 at 12:05 pm
For those of you dogging #93, who is obviously playing with a bad knee for past few weeks unless your blind.
Sometimes the stats don’t lie. Who had the better game, Atrain?
Baker – GMC v Jets>>
Baker> 3 Solo tackles; 1 QB hit
GMC> 3 solo tackles; 3 QB hits; 1 sack and 1 TFL
November 13th, 2017 at 12:30 pm
It was obvious that we missed the first part of the interaction, Kwon was aggrravated with Swaggy, Ayers had Swaggy’s back, the play caused Jets to get a touchdown. Kwon did the right thing by coming down on Swaggy who needs to use his brain once in while.
November 13th, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Bucs won’t give any updates (if at all) until Koetter speaks later this afternoon.
November 13th, 2017 at 1:47 pm
I would add to my sideline-accounting of the whole thing that after Baker and Ayers argued, were split-up and sat apart … and after Kwon and Ayers subsequently got into it, Baker kinda shook his head, stood up, and immediately walked back, stopping to shake hands with ALL of his teammates on the line, clearly saying “my bad” at each one, and finally reaching Ayers to do the same, but a bit more in-depth …
I thought it was pretty cool that Baker didn’t let this fester; he immediately took stock and turned the responsibility back on himself at a moment when his teammates were still hot about it and turning on each other over it.
He and Ayers hugged it out a few times after that. Good stuff. I love my seats.
November 13th, 2017 at 5:02 pm
Thanks, Mord.
The TV showed us none of the before, and even less of the after. No TV watcher diagnosed the situation anywhere close to how you saw it. After your comments, I feel much better about the whole thing.
November 13th, 2017 at 7:18 pm
Glad to see Kwon pissed about something and letting his teammate know
and everyone who was watching! Love his passion