Bruce Arians Doesn’t Want To Hear About Mental Fatigue
August 1st, 2021
Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians
It’s easy to get fatigued physically when a player is busting his tail in the brutal Florida sun day after day. That sun saps the life out of people.
But could mental fatigue be why Bucs players are not practicing smart enough for Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians’ liking? Arians said today that suggestion is flat nonsense.
“There is no such thing,” Arians said before chuckling a little to emphasize that’s psychobabble rubbish in his mind. “There is no such thing.”
But there is such a thing as physical fatigue. And Arians paraphrased the old Vince Lombardi/Jimmy Johnson line of “fatigue makes cowards of us all.”
“Fatigue makes a coward out of you,” Arian said. “We’ve got a few [players dealing with fatigue], it’s whipping their ass.”
Arians doesn’t have much use for fatigued players. He believes players, especially guys who’ve been around the block in the NFL, should be physically ready to rock and roll once training camp begins.
Of course, if Arians senses a pattern of most players being fatigued, he will adjust practices. This is why he hatched a “halftime” at practice for the players to march into the air-conditioned Glazer Shed for seven minutes to mimic a halftime period on gamedays.
Last week, when asked about players not being in proper shape to handle football practice in Florida in July, Arians grumbled, “That’s their own damn fault.”
So the message Arians sent was clear: Players better use a sharp and focused mind right away, even if they are so drained they can’t lift a finger.
August 1st, 2021 at 5:40 pm
Lived in florida and played sports in Florida my whole life.
Out working in yard for a few hours yesterday and about passed out
Got that dehydration headache later. It was bad
Florida sun can turn anyone soft if not ready for it.
I need to get one of those spray down cool zones for my house when working outside. 😂
August 1st, 2021 at 6:35 pm
These athletes are paid millions of dollars. The money isn’t just for 60 minutes of work for 17-20 *Sundays. They are professional athletes who are, and should be held to the highest standards. Being ready for preseason is such a standard.
August 1st, 2021 at 6:52 pm
Tbtb12: “These athletes are paid millions of dollars. The money isn’t just for 60 minutes of work for 17-20 *Sundays. They are professional athletes who are, and should be held to the highest standards. Being ready for preseason is such a standard.”
Well said. Well said. Enough with the coddling. If you have NFL talent and come to camp out of shape and ill-prepared, then you deserve to find a regular line of work.
August 1st, 2021 at 6:56 pm
I think some of the posters prove BA wrong….mental fatigue exists.
August 1st, 2021 at 7:52 pm
It’s a long season. No need for guys to be in peak condition right now. I want them peaking in December or January. They just need to push through.
August 1st, 2021 at 8:34 pm
It’s been unusually cool this year. That’s all relative of course, it’s still hot, but we’re not getting those days where you talk outside and it feels like your face is sitting over a boiling pot of water and you’re soaked in less than 5 minutes. Also, that’s not just my opinion, the NWS map shows Florida has had below average temps this summer.
Again, it’s still been hot, just not as hot as I’d expect — and we haven’t been getting the afternoon thundershowers like we normally do either. Some years are just like this, normally means next year will be a killer as that below average summer gets averaged out with an above average summer.
August 1st, 2021 at 9:24 pm
How can players have mental fatigue, after barely a week of practice ?
August 1st, 2021 at 10:17 pm
Joe! Are you the one who asked BA about mental fatigue?
August 2nd, 2021 at 12:06 am
Must be easy for bottom dwelling Caecilian blog boiz to critique athletes from air conditioned geek rooms🙄
August 2nd, 2021 at 2:36 am
The Bucs are damn good in Madden 22, they have the 2nd best offense (behind KC) and the best defense.
But for some reason, they still really hate Donovan Smith, you’d swear whoever does his rating every year is a poster on this site.
Even when the Bucs won their first SB, while the defense was awesome in the next year’s Madden, the offense was still mediocre at best in the game. Anyways I hope they have some legendary teams available, it would be a fun match-up, the 2002 Bucs vs the 2020 Bucs. I’d have all my money on the 2002 team since there is no way Brady would have any time to throw the ball and that’s where Brady really didn’t look good last year. The only real question is how the 2002 offense would move the ball – and would Gruden just keep having Pittman run up his offensive lineman’s back while he kept Alstott sitting on the bench. But I think you’d have at least 3 turnovers on the 2020 offense, perhaps all in FG range, and the game would end 9-6. That’s my prediction, and no one can disprove that it would happen that way.
August 2nd, 2021 at 9:34 am
To be fair Rod, no one can disprove that vampires are real….