Learning To Take A Hit
February 6th, 2018
Cris Collinsworth and an ESPN guru talk Bucs.
One thing we learned last season is that if the Bucs want a prayer of playing in a meaningful game next January, then America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, has to stay upright and healthy.
There is strong innuendo and scuttlebutt flowing around how Jameis was first injured at Minnesota in the second game of last season, and the hit he took at Arizona that eventually sent him to the bench, just inflamed the initial injury.
Last week in Minneapolis, Joe spoke with all sorts of folks about the Bucs and one interview was with Kevin Seifert of ESPN. Seifert brought up a fantastic point that Joe had never really considered.
In short, Seifert said, Jameis has to learn how to take hits.
“There is a skill in avoiding injuries,” Seifert told Joe. “There is a guy playing [in the Super Bowl] named Tom Brady who not only has done a great job in building his body up but knows how to brace himself from hits and avoid a direct hit.
“There is absolutely a skill in that. And Jameis, I am sure the people around him are trying to teach him some of the skills [on] how not to take a direct hit to your shoulder, how to make sure your arm doesn’t get hit.
“It is not just your genetics, it is not just your body makeup not just your toughness but do you have skill to avoid some of the injuries that you can get?”
This totally fascinated Joe. Now that’s not to say Jameis doesn’t know how to take a hit. After all, this is the first time Jameis couldn’t answer the ball since, well, since when, high school maybe?
The next day Joe was talking to NBC Sports “Sunday Night Football” analyst Cris Collinsworth about this subject and Collinsworth began to have flashbacks to when he quarterbacked Astronaut High School in Titusville.
“I learned it pretty well when I played quarterback, I know that the way they were jacking me up,” Collinsworth said of learning how to absorb a hit. “Do I think there is a certain bit of [an art in] that? Yeah. Because if you don’t hang onto the football you lose games — the whole two hands thing on the ball and all of that bit.
“But when a 300-pounder lands on you, and you land on your shoulder, stuff happens, right? That’s just the way it is.
“Do I think there is a way to [completely] avoid [injuries]? I don’t although I do think, obviously, it is important to keep quarterbacks healthy.”
Collinsworth added one way to do that is for the quarterback to avoid unnecessary hits. In other words, don’t be a hero; throw the ball away or hit the dirt before you get lit up.
Again, Joe never thought of this until Seifert brought it up. It made the world of sense to Joe last week and still does.
Joe will have more in the coming days from Seifert and many others Joe spoke to in Minneapolis.
February 6th, 2018 at 8:58 am
But Jameis avoided injuries his first couple years…and he was hit a lot.
February 6th, 2018 at 8:58 am
Jameis needs to work on his fastball and change up so he has a chance to escape the crapshow that is the bucanner organization. No hope of winning in Tampa ever so run jameis run you deserve a chance to win and be great which will never happen with this Mickey mouse franchise
February 6th, 2018 at 9:30 am
tmaxcon – what a loser mentality you have. Time for you to go and “support” a different franchise. What a tool.
February 6th, 2018 at 9:31 am
What I could not help but think was all of these Jameis haters must have blamed Brady for the loss in the Super Bowl because he turned the ball over the one time he was hit and remember stats don’t matter just wins and losses and that fumble cost them the game. So I guess Brady just isn’t a winner right guys? Same rules must apply, just ignore that his defense couldn’t stop anyone, ignore that his kicker missed a fg and extra point this loss is all on Brady due to that fumble. Cause I can guarantee if that was the Bucs and Jameis on Sunday all of the Jameis haters would be saying see he’s a Turnover Machine can’t win with him, stats are for losers. Right guys, be consistent now.
February 6th, 2018 at 9:33 am
The Eagles just released CB David Amerson. Thoughts Joe?
February 6th, 2018 at 9:35 am
Never mind. I just read his stats.
February 6th, 2018 at 9:41 am
tmaxcon, so now, instead of just ranting on McCoy, you have focused on the entire team.
You, sir, are clearly a troll. I really wish there was a way to block your comments from my screen.
February 6th, 2018 at 9:56 am
16 years not a single meaningful win….
note to delusional optimists: It’s not negativity when its reality….
based on history for more than a decade glazers have proven there is no hope
February 6th, 2018 at 9:58 am
For those who remember Warrick Dunn, he totally mastered knowing how to avoid devastating blows as a RB. Only 5’9″ & 180 lbs, he was about as tough as anyone in the NFL. Played in 181 games in his 12-year career (15 games/season average) PLUS playoff games. Almost 11,000 yds rushing plus over 4,000 more receiving … tough dude. Can remember several interviews with him saying how it’s all about knowing how to take a hit. Obviously knew what he was talking about.
February 6th, 2018 at 10:08 am
Walter Payton was the best ever at avoiding hits.
February 6th, 2018 at 10:08 am
SB
he played for the raiders last year….we should bring him in….at least be proactive and “try” to get better….has great length…great size….talented kid….not much worse than what we have now….at the worse he can be good depth….
regarding Winston, he just needs to learn that you cant win the game in the first quarter but you can lose a game in the first quarter with TO’s…..sometimes the only play to be made is a sack or throw away….instead Winston fights and forces things that result in a TO that would put us in a hole….then dirk panics, abandons the run and gets pass happy which puts more pressure on Winston which sometimes causes another TO…..
now we’re down 14-0 with 2minutes let in the first quarter and the game already seems over only to have the team fight back and lose by 4points…..
with that said regarding production, Winston is the least of my worries….im more worried about his health….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!
February 6th, 2018 at 10:13 am
@tmax
If this franchise frustrates you to the point of taking low blows through a 3rd party website comment section ( which I personally find very shallow of you) why do you even bother staying up to date with the happenings of this team? Find some joy in your life.
February 6th, 2018 at 10:16 am
Defense, so true about Dunn; tough and he almost never got lit-up!
How about helping J-miss with (in addition to an upgrade O-line) more 3-step drops and quicker throws? More play-action too.
February 6th, 2018 at 10:24 am
There isn’t no art to being hit, that’s foolish. Let me guess a veteran like Aaron Rogers needs to learn how to take a hit too? You know why tom Brady doesn’t get hurt, because he rarely gets hit! It’s caled a good offensive line
February 6th, 2018 at 10:26 am
The Bucs have done no favors to Jamies in giving him the worst defense in the NFL, which causes the Bucs to have to throw a lot on offense. Combine that with a collection of the worst running backs and a an average to below average offensive line and you can see a problem.
February 6th, 2018 at 10:42 am
Best way to avoid hits is to hit your receivers on check downs when your reads tell you that pressure is coming.
JW is also super accurate on boot legs and designed roll outs. You can play call to his strengths a little more.
The best way IMHO would be to get a Full Back that chin checks anyone who dare touch JW…. Along with a strong Running Back who blast fools on Play Action.
All that said, your QB is gonna take big hits if he has the courage to hang in there. Which JW does and that is NOT something you want to coach out of him.
Go Big or Go Home.
Which is why @TMax is welcomed here…. SHE is a BIG TIME LOSER…. With a mouth made for fun….
February 6th, 2018 at 11:16 am
How bout taking baby steps and getting JW to learn how to not fumble the football?
Then he can work on not getting hit
February 6th, 2018 at 11:21 am
Tmax , I am tired of most of your bullspit ! Didn’t you agree or say you would never show your pimple ass face on here again around post draft time last year ? Joe’s , don’t you have some kid of dirt on the poster where you can Barr him for life from this site ? But I’m sure he’ll just come back under a different alias…tmaxipad maybe ???
February 6th, 2018 at 11:30 am
It helps that Brady has typically had great o-lines and runs a quick passing offense and usually has a strong supporting running game. Not exactly an apples to apples comparison. 32 more hits to Winston the last 2 years for example – and that’s not in the golden era of Brady offensive lines.
Brady also gets a lot of help from refs – in terms of heavily penalizing anything close to a late hit; and still had a season on IR regardless of his protect-the-body style of play.
February 6th, 2018 at 12:01 pm
Tom Brady was taking direct hits all night on Sunday.
February 6th, 2018 at 12:08 pm
@Wausa … “The Bucs have done no favors to Jamies in giving him the worst defense in the NFL, which causes the Bucs to have to throw a lot on offense.” Don’t disagree Wausa, but could also say the same thing about Jameis’ renowned slow starts for the 1st half to 3-quarters of the game, putting us behind the 8-ball also from a points perspective. Could also say the same thing about his fumbling issue, resulting in turnovers, screwing up the TOP (more time defense is on the field), killing drives & costing us points. Could also say the same thing about settling for FGs instead of going for TDs, potentially costing us 4-points at a whack & putting us behind points-wise. Fun game, want to continue? (I think they call it ‘Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda’)
February 6th, 2018 at 12:10 pm
Lord C
Totes hear you bra. Help from the refs. Brady threw about two or three very obvious intentional grounding plays on SB Sunday and didn’t get called for sh!t. Soft ass Tom is allowed to throw the ball anywhere so he doesn’t get a boo-boo. Probably a Roger Goodell rule.
February 6th, 2018 at 12:37 pm
Yes, Jameis got hit tons of times because of turnstyle Smith as his LT his first two years as a Buc without any injuries, but last year with lots of hits again he was injured. The Bucs should have asked themselves what changed the third year to avoid the same result in future years. The lousy Offensive Line didn’t change! The only thing that changed was that Jameis intentionaly and publicly lost weight. That caused two things: he no longer ran QB sneaks like he did his first two years; thus making it obvious the Bucs always passed on short yardage third downs which then made it easier to defend and resulted in more killed drives;and secondly, it made him more prone to and did result in an injury that resulted in a wasted season. A smart coaching staff should have ordered Jameis to maintain his playing weight and a smart GM should have gotten us at least a competent LT and built a strong OL like Phillys so no injury would have occurred!
February 6th, 2018 at 12:46 pm
I learned using a roach clip helped with taking a hit.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:42 pm
How about an offensive line?
February 6th, 2018 at 1:49 pm
You loose with a crappy defense. Why did the Patriots loose the Super Bowl, even though Brady may have played the best game of his Hall of Fame Career?
No pass rush and poor coverage caused the Patriots to loose a game where Brady passed for 505 yards.
Of course Brady and his fumbling problems ended it for the Patriots.
February 6th, 2018 at 1:57 pm
To guys who are getting upset at TMAX. He is as one poster pointed out…a tool..as another pointed out a troll. Trolls on the internet are not the ugly little guys under the bridge…they are sad people trolling for attention…trying to get a rise out of us. Why give them what they want.
I read virtually every poster here…except for TMAX. His major sin for me at this point is he’s become incredibly boring. The same old stuff post after post. He brings no insight so why read him?
February 6th, 2018 at 2:15 pm
Tom Brady hurt his hand in a “minor” collision in PRACTICE. Saw him get blasted multiple times in the SB. One where he looked like he was pulling a cry-baby Cam when he was on the ground and one where he fumbled the ball with two minutes left to give the Eagles the win. God these guys S Brady’s D off.
February 6th, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Owlykat, do you really think losing weight would make him more injury prone? Joints and bones don’t benefit from belly fat I don’t think… not a knock on your opinion whatsoever just a counter argument, I don’t think him losing weight was a bad thing
February 6th, 2018 at 2:26 pm
And SPBF I try my best not to feed the troll lol I also try not to read his posts as well so I’m not tempted to respond
February 6th, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Jameis has lots mote punishment comin his way folks. Unless he changes his style and he will not. He’s got a lot more problems to worry about other than this though. For starters, Improve your accuracy. Stop thinking every ball is a home run ball, and stop..fumbling.
February 6th, 2018 at 4:05 pm
Don’t care what Bucs and some others say, Donovan Smith is not a good left OT which is the most important position for a right handed QB when he’s in the pocket. Jameis is not bad at scrambling when he sees he’s in trouble but when you get blasted in the back by a DE you can’t stop yourself from landing on the same shoulder.
February 6th, 2018 at 5:05 pm
All the more reason to draft Nelson and hopefully sign Tolbert in FA.
Protect Winston.
No hard LUCK stories like you see in Indy.
February 6th, 2018 at 10:18 pm
Watch how all 6 teams that made the playoffs were dumping the ball off quickly to RB’s and Slot Receivers. Hmmmmmmm Ya think?
February 6th, 2018 at 10:21 pm
btw so happy to see the new england cheaters take a back seat…..if it wasn’t for the shoddy officiating I bet maybe they win 1 super bowl back in the 80’s, lol
February 6th, 2018 at 10:23 pm
new england is a bunch of cheaters. not in my opinion. just the facts
February 6th, 2018 at 10:29 pm
Is this fool serious? Did he see how many sacks Fameis avoided his first 3 seasons? I’m talking about the in your face soon as he turns around sacks. Brady doesn’t get sacked alot because he has a great line that can block not the turnstile Fameis has to deal with. Our linemen get beat by fake head jukes. It’s surprising it took him this long to get injured!