No Fear For Koetter
October 31st, 2018
Fearless with quarterbacks. (video)
Just moments after Dirk Koetter announced he was lowering the flag on America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, and starting instead journeyman backup Ryan Fitzpatrick on Sunday, Koetter remarked he didn’t like switching quarterbacks.
The same day after he made that announcement, Koetter had his weekly sitdown with Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV Channel 8. There, Koetter said he’s not afraid to make a call to the bullpen.
“One reason teams don’t change quarterbacks is they are afraid of what their second quarterback might do,” Koetter said. “And we are not afraid of that.”
Naturally, Lucas asked Koetter the money question, if Jameis’ days in Tampa Bay were toast. Finished. Kaput. Koetter seemed to indicate Jameis may get back on the field this year for the Bucs but not until he takes care of the ball.
“I don’t think this move is forever,” Koetter said. “I think all quarterbacks’ day comes when they are back out there again and there is plenty of proof around the league of that.
“I still believe that Jameis is a top-flight quarterback in this league. But for right now, he is just going through a little spell here where he is turning it over too much and we have to take care of the ball better.”
And while Jameis may have had his worst day as an NFL quarterback in Cincinnati, where he threw four picks including a pick-six, Koetter said Jameis made some “beautiful” plays against the Bengals.
Jameis’ turnovers, Koetter said, is the lone obstacle holding him back from being one of the better quarterbacks in the game.
“Sometimes, the defense wins some plays and we just have to cut our losses and move on to the next play,” Koetter said. “That’s a hard lesson to learn. Once Jameis gets that part down, the sky is the limit for him.”
If he ever gets that down.
You can watch the full video of Lucas interviewing Koetter below. Video courtesy of WFLA-TV Channel 8.
October 31st, 2018 at 5:16 am
Same thing happens on death row, most eventually become resigned to their fate’s and show no fear. Dirk “Not a head coach” Koetter knows the reaper is coming.
October 31st, 2018 at 5:18 am
Ian Rapaport is a piece of crap.
He always drops negative stories on ganedat!
What do you think the D-Jax story did to an rnotional guy like Jameis?
D-Jax is a diva for breaking Jameis’s heart.
That story totally messed with Jameis’s head.
Shame on Desean!
October 31st, 2018 at 5:31 am
If Winston is that much of crumbling emotional wreck then he can’t be a QB at this level. Even the Bucs level. Good for DJax exposing another flaw in the not elected captain, bench warmer, “face” of the franchise, failed first round pick . Oh did I mention HE GOT BENCHED!
October 31st, 2018 at 5:33 am
The one thing Jameis loves the most is playing……when you take that away from him it rocks his world……hopefully, watching the game from the bench Sunday, he will think long and hard about his decision making on the field moving forward.
If Jameis doesn’t start again, it will only be because we are winning and that is unlikely away at Carolina….
The only possible problem is that this may neuter Jameis to the point that he plays too cautious…..we will see.
Koetter had to make this decision and it was the right one. He will have Fitz on a short leash because I know he would like to go back to Jameis as the starter.
October 31st, 2018 at 5:56 am
TBBF
Why would he want to go back to Jameis right now? I mean, lay out the details for us. So the Panthers can run away with the game?
And why don’t we have a chance to win against Carolina? Because Jameis isn’t playing? These message boards have turned asanine.
October 31st, 2018 at 5:58 am
Losing is so ingrained in this fan base that they just keep lining for more losing. Any fool can see that Jameis ain’t it right now.
What can he do that Fitz cannot do? Fitz can throw four picks. Any QB can. But can he hit receivers in stride?
October 31st, 2018 at 6:04 am
this is one crazy season…it’s more of a soap opera than a football season…let’s hope it gets really fuggin’ crazy because we already know we aren’t winning the superbowl…i’m starting to hope this season goes completely haywire with no holds barred and anything that can happen, will happen…
***also joe…what was the fight about in the locker room on sunday, when they kept people out and there was cursing and yelling…you, as a bucs “man in the know” need to report what went down…before jenna does***
October 31st, 2018 at 6:07 am
It’s because the panthers are playing good tough, team football and because we are like the clown show where you see how many clowns can get out of a small car
October 31st, 2018 at 6:08 am
there was crazy static in the bucs locker room after the game in cincy…let’s hear about it…we’d like to know…
how y’all gonna act like it didn’t happen when it was clearly background noise on the bucs radio network
#Please DoTell
October 31st, 2018 at 6:09 am
The joes are company men- no real reporting out of them-
Light will take their privileges
October 31st, 2018 at 6:11 am
well then jenna will beat them to the scoop
#BlondesHaveMoreScoop
October 31st, 2018 at 6:13 am
Wish the Joes had no fear
October 31st, 2018 at 6:33 am
There has been a bad trend since his last year at FSU of costly turnovers. It
will take more than a one game benching to fix this. There is little evidence
that he has been working to correct this. This is and always should have been his primary focus in both the regular and off season. Throwing the ball to replacement players hasn’t helped him. Jameis has lost confidence in part
because of Fitz better control of the game . Sitting on the bench for a game will not fix his turnovers. I think he needs to reinvent himself with a different off season program ,coach and a sports psychologist.
October 31st, 2018 at 6:50 am
Sorry but I have a tough time with a coach and GM that gave this young qb ZERO running game and a terrible defense for his entire career. They are worried that he turns it over, Yet they draft Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Oj Howard, Humpries, sign Desean Jackson, sign back Brate and make him throw it 40+ times a game smdh
October 31st, 2018 at 6:55 am
I think the offense will keep humming this weekend. It will still be up to the defense and kicking game to tighten up. Otherwise we lose another close one.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:00 am
Lol. What happened to Jameis’ strong will and championship mindset?
If he was emotionally rattled/pressure by anything it was his own inability to connect with our best offensive weapon.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:19 am
Koetter carrying that big mf stick. Now he’s gotta bounce the kicker.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:39 am
Player
Fitzpatrick Winston
Comp: 98 96
Att: 144 148
Pct: 68.1 64.4
Att/G: 28.1 37.1
Yds: 1550 1181
Avg: 10.8 8.0
Yds/G: 310.8 252.2
TD: 13 6
Int: 5 10
1st: 66 65
1st%: 45.8 43.9
Lng: 75TD 60TD
20+: 23 11
40+: 8 2
Sck: 8 13
QBR: 119.3 74.7
TDs, Interceptions and Sacks are the difference between these 2 QBs and your chances to win get much better with more touchdowns and less turnovers.
Simple choice for the coach.
13
74.7
October 31st, 2018 at 7:50 am
Fitz might not even make it to second quarter before his ass gets torn up by the panthers lol Jameis isn’t going no where bet he learned his lesson
October 31st, 2018 at 7:55 am
Have supported Winston but you just can’t win in the NFL with turnovers no matter how good you are. 48 Games played 54 interceptions, 35 fumbles, 16 fumbles lost. That’s 70 turnovers in 48 games almost a 1.5 turnover average per game. The chance of winning against even the worst NFL teams goes down to about 33% given these stats.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:57 am
Learned his lesson? He’s been turning the ball over since his final year in college! The turnover in the end zone to begin the game last week really set the tone for us to lose that game.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:58 am
The Bucs has a “Mickey Mouse” operation
Everyone keep talking about their passing yards
But no one is talking about the 19 turnovers in 6 games
7 turnovers in 10 quarters before Jameis returned
They need a veteran CB
They promoted ( practice squad player) Javien Elliot ) to the active roster
They need a Safety, but refuse to trade for one
Their Pk continue to miss crucial kicks
Their defense is still one of the worst in the NFl
This despite firing the DC
After they came back from 18 to tie the game
The Bengals get the ball with 58 seconds left
Andy Dalton leads them downfield for 46 yards in 4 plays
Now they have pinned all of their playoff hopes
On a 36 year old journeyman QB
Who is on his 7th team
A QB, who has been in the league for 14 seasons
And have NEVER played in a PLAYOFF game
October 31st, 2018 at 8:01 am
Winston has lost this locker room forever! Not sure the whole story behind it but it’s not just Jackson! The entire team nearly did a back flip when Fitz came into the game and you’re blind if you couldn’t see it. These guys want to win for the fans and for their careers and he gives them the best chance. You don’t have to believe the fans but you better believe the players on this team!
October 31st, 2018 at 8:03 am
We still have no idea what we have in Ryan Griffin!
October 31st, 2018 at 8:04 am
Bob- you should mention in your analysis that Jameis was 26-1 in college even with all of his turnovers. His 1 loss to Mariota in the semi-final Rose Bowl game. To remind you of the game, it was Oregon 18-13 at HT, Jameis had zero turnovers in the first half. Oregon scored to open the half then Jameis led FSU down and scored 25-20 Oregon. Dalvin Cook fumbled and Oregon scored , 32-20, Dalvin Cook fumbled again. Oregon scored on another long pass, 39-20, Jameis then had the infamous falling fumble where the ball slipped out of his hand and give them another TD. Jameis int hit Travis Rudolph in the hands and went right to a DB. Watch the highlights, hardly Winston costing his team the game. He was always able to overcome his turnovers because he had a defense that would make a stop when needed, a running back that set the world on fire and the best kicker in the NCAA. This is a team sport. Don’t forget Fitzy brought us all the way back and the D just needed one stop to take us to OT and like they did so many times in the last 2 years, they crumbled.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:08 am
Starting to wonder if DJax’s signing did more harm than good. That team was solidly 100 percent behind Jameis until last year. DJax seems to be a bit of a clubhouse lawyer.
A year later, he’s begging to be traded. And there is no question the locker room is split and maybe has turned on Jameis.
No excuses for Jameis. He cannot throw picks if he hopes to be a starter. But that locker room changed when DJax started throwing his weight around last year.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:09 am
Bucnjim- D Jax is an Icon in this league, young guys will look up to him and will be impressionable to his thoughts. If he isn’t getting the ball, he is gonna do something to try to change that no matter who is in his way. He is a Diva- Keyshawn 2.0 who also poisoned our locker room and had to be sent packing. I was all for the D Jax trade until I saw the ball drop at his feet a couple time on bombs because he made no effort to fight back for the ball. JMO of course but yes one man can poison a locker room and Dirk fed right into it trying to save his own skin. As Deion said, Fitz is the best reliever in the game, but that is all he is at this point in his career.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:30 am
The bench is going to “teach” JW a lesson, what are you guys talking!!!!
You saying that JW does what he does because he is trying to prove something and ‘the punishment’=benching him for a week or two is going to fix the problem???!!!
No, he is a below average NFL QB, this is what a NOT good QB does.
When we got him some of us knew, some of us didn’t,some of us hoped he is the ONE. After 4 years most of us know he is NOT the ONE, period.
There is no “bench” that can fix this.
Is not coaching, is biologic, is his mental control, his character, his type.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:39 am
America’s 3rd string Quarterback former Pro Bowl alternate after all the Bucs fans online voting… is a buuuummmm
October 31st, 2018 at 8:40 am
Bring out the bubble wrap. Bye bye Jameis no 21 million for u
October 31st, 2018 at 8:42 am
JJ/Joe these are grown men not college students! Are they looking out for themselves? Yes of course! Are they blindly following Jackson because he feel’s a certain way? No WAY!!! This ENTIRE team supports the move and like I said not sure what else has happened but it is more than just his play on the field. My thoughts have always been he could have settled the off the field stuff last year and chose to extend it to the first three games this year. To me that might play a part in the animosity.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:45 am
It may be hush hush now but the truth will come out and hopefully the Joe’s figure out what is up. When an entire team cheers for a change there is underlying issues.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:54 am
This town is being duped because misinformed people keep bringing up stats like the bucs being a historical offense and I just don’t see it. Yards per game don’t make you a historical offense especially when your 4th in your division and Atlanta without major pieces all over the team still is better than the bucs
They throw the ball more than anyone else, the defense gets scored on easily, they have the weapons to be a top defense. I just don’t see it’s, people are holding on to the first 2 games of the season thinking that’s who we are and that’s who Fitz is. With the weapons we have I expect us to hit a few deep shots a game. Classic that people in this town think the bucs are better than they are
October 31st, 2018 at 9:02 am
In other words, Koetter trusts Fitz far more than he trusts Jay-Miss.
When the Dirk Koetter confidence poll comes out I’m either voting Very Confident or Totally Confident. I gotta hand it to him, he’s doing everything he can to try and win football games. That’s all I can ask for.
On a semi-related note, Jay-Miss is not the best QB in franchise history. It’s Brad Johnson. At this point if there was a must-win game and you had the choice between those two QBs who are you going to take?
October 31st, 2018 at 9:03 am
I think that Jameis, instead of deciding who is going to get the ball as he comes to the line (unless he is completely covered), is trying to learn to go through progressions like Fitz, and unfortunately, is not very good at it.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:07 am
@joe, I heard the eagles leaked the “djax trade request” because they wanted him….when that failed, they grabbed golden tate….any truth to that?…..
but I do agree, things changed when djax got there but it wasn’t just him…..we saw the looker room change when baker and ward were there as well…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
October 31st, 2018 at 9:28 am
Koetter is right about the turnovers.
And after Browns game, Koetter complained about Jameis taking sacks.
If Jameis threw picks because he was too worried about taking sacks, then that’s a poise/coaching issue-
I hope Jameis doesn’t have any more personal distractions going on…
October 31st, 2018 at 9:39 am
I still say changes need to start at the very top & that begins with Glazers selling the team to someone who cares about winning. The only thing the Glazers care about is lining there pockets with the almighty $. Fans should start boycotting the games & maybe the Glazers will realize the best move would be to sell the team. On another note the Glazers & Licht are so much in love with Winston that he’s not going anywhere soon.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:39 am
Mike Says:
“The joes are company men- no real reporting out of them-
Light will take their privileges”
@Mike, when you are blasting someone, it is much more effective to spell the name in question, correctly. —– It is LICHT.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:48 am
Not getting my hopes up. Doesn’t matter who is at QB until they fix the right side of the offensive line. Fitz looked great in the first two games until Steelers decided to make turnstiles our the Benonach and Dotson or whomever played there. Bears did the same thing the next week in the first half and Winston came in.
October 31st, 2018 at 10:39 am
I get the Jameis lovers who are upset at the piling on based on “stats”…number of turnover etc. But that’s usually the way it goes.
But for me it’s not the stats.
There are ints and there are ints. Sometimes a very talented QB like Favre and “good” Jameis try to squeeze a ball through too tight a window…they simply believe they can do anything with their golden arms. That can be managed and at least you’re going down fighting.
Then there is the other team…they can make good plays as well and some ints are simply that…not a bad throw or decision but a GREAT play by a defender.
Then there is simple luck…doesn’t always go your way.
There should have been SIX ints Sunday….that is to say Jameis hit six different Bengals right in the numbers…smack in the breadbasket and the Bungles dropped two of them.
NONE of those six picks er four picks were the result of bad luck…great defensive plays…or a gambling QB who just went for too much
All six…er four…were thrown right to the Bengals.
Jameis does not see the field when he gets excited and he is a very excitable guy.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:38 am
I agree Stpetebucfan. We flew to that game and it was pretty obvious with the dancing feet. My Bungle friend told me before the game that their DB’s were famous for dropping interceptions that hit them right in the gut and it turned out to be mostly true.
I don’t know if it showed on TV but did anyone see the way the offense greeted Fitz when he came on the field? Everyone got a lift.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:52 am
@csidedave
Yes, definitely did see the way the offense greeted Fitz when he came on the field. They did greet Jameis the same way when he came back. It has a lot to do with the fact that both Ryan & Jameis have been so professional and team oriented about this whole thing. I think the guys appreciate that and always welcome them back with open arms.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:59 am
@Tampa Bay Demon: Good point, the team has been very professional about the situation, both ways.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:37 pm
““I still believe that Jameis is a top-flight quarterback in this league. But for right now, he is just going through a little spell here where he is turning it over too much and we have to take care of the ball better.”
This “little spell” has been going on since college, and is now in it’s fourth year in the pro’s.
Will nobody admit that this guy is the exact definition of a BUST
October 31st, 2018 at 12:43 pm
“The one thing Jameis loves the most is playing……when you take that away from him it rocks his world……hopefully, watching the game from the bench Sunday, he will think long and hard about his decision making on the field moving forward.
Seriously?
The first three games were taken away from him, that didn’t seem to improve his decision making…may actually be worse.
I cannot for the life of me see why people still defend this guy. Any other QB anywhere that plays like he has and does would be bounced, no questions asked.
I’d take Tyrod Taylor over this guy in a minute…
October 31st, 2018 at 12:52 pm
^^ no offense, jmarkbuc, but that is a scary thought. With Tyrod Taylor, we would be averaging about 9 points a game.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:05 pm
TBD
And only one turnover (if that)
October 31st, 2018 at 1:27 pm
jmarkbuc
haha, fair enough man… fair enough
October 31st, 2018 at 5:39 pm
Let’s hear it for Winstoooooooooooooooon!
October 31st, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Jmark
Wow bro. You know I love your stuff but that was a ballsy post.
Calling Jameis a bust on this blog? LMAO
Even I can’t…quite…go…that far. But I take your point.
I believe in a world of possibilities. Fitz might be the next Rich Gannon…he won ten games one year for the Jets…but I’m not holding my breath. LOL
Jameis may work out…but I again I’m not holding my breath.
Jameis is starting to remind me of Jeff George. He may have a long career in the NFL but it won’t be with one team.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:54 pm
Jeff George was a BUST
Well unless throwing for a lot of yards, winning very little and being a head case is called something else.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:55 pm
SPBF
Your posts over the last couple of days would indicate that you’re pretty much ready to go that far….
Have some conviction..He is what we thought he was.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:01 pm
Andrew is right on point no running game since he has been here this coach praises 80 yard efforts and its sad
October 31st, 2018 at 11:10 pm
The last 3 years have been amateur hour almost every move have been wrong and the ownership went the easy way out when they needed to pony up and make a splash and bring the right leadership ,and the pattern of we almost and if this and that would of happened , players do not respond to these coaches they can smell the weakness , and now the Bucs have wasted 3 years and now we start over yet again .
November 1st, 2018 at 12:23 pm
You can bet your bottom dollar the panthers are going to blitz early and often.Try to shake Fitz into a four int game.
My first play from scrimmage would be a screen pass ,and draw plays to get them on their heels.max pass protect all day.