Injured Or Old?
December 6th, 2021
Joe can see that savior linebacker Devin White is not himself on the field with a questionable quad and a hip issue.
But what about Lavonte David?
David sprained his ankle eight weeks ago and Joe is not seeing the same player. Yesterday and in Indianapolis eight days ago, Joe saw a guy that doesn’t resemble the fierce tackler and overall player Bucs fans have seen since 2012.
Yes, David was clear when he returned from the bad ankle that he was not 100 percent and there was a plan in place for his improvement. So today Joe is wondering if we’re watching David gut through an injury or if he’s just starting to age out at 31 years old.
With White banged up and not going to take time off to heal, the need for David to get back to his old self for January is magnified.
It also magnifies just how incredibly valuable it would be for the Bucs to score the No. 1 seed and the January week off that comes with it.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:39 am
Why not both?
December 6th, 2021 at 8:42 am
I’m thinking Shaq and Suh are the only defensive players who haven’t missed time with injuries
December 6th, 2021 at 8:43 am
Brady, as usual, was onto something with his disdain for the 17th game. The Bucs drew the Colts at Indy of course and somehow won when Wentz et al snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. But the wear and tear adds up…especially when anything short of a repeat is deemed a “failure”. Only one benefiting from the extra game may have been Vea’s dentist 🦷.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:44 am
Yeah, the older they get, the longer it takes to heal.David is still playing at a high level, but the years are catching up no doubt.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:49 am
Both LVD54 and DW45 looked very slow yesterday.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:51 am
I was at the game in Atlanta. I have never been to that stadium before. Is there a better stadium in the NFL than what the have in Atlanta? Perhaps SoFi and Allegiant stadium is better. I don’t know. All I know is if I were to design a stadium it might look something like that on the inside. I was stunned at how cheap concessions were as well. TVs everywhere and that mid field ring with the screens is perfect.
The only thing that surprised me a little was that there were a lot of empty seats. A must-win division game for both teams and they had to pipe in crowd noise? Pretty sad.
Great win for the Bucs!
December 6th, 2021 at 8:52 am
As for David I think I heard he only had 6 tackles. I was surprised at that number.
December 6th, 2021 at 8:57 am
D-Rome,
How cheap were the concessions?
Beer?
December 6th, 2021 at 9:01 am
Yah. You could see white not even chase a guy on one play. He was jogging knowing he could not make play
December 6th, 2021 at 9:06 am
Seems like just yesterday I read a story on JBF about how LD was like having a “shutdown corner” on the field.
December 6th, 2021 at 9:11 am
Bucs defense gave up 10 points and a bunch of garbage yards late in the game. I am not going to complain about them
December 6th, 2021 at 9:19 am
Bucs D gave up a long, easy TD drive on the first ATL possession, then just a FG the rest of the way. But didn’t it feel worse than that? It seemed that the Falcons were always driving, until a sack or the one fumble. 380 yards of total offense…certainly not a beatdown.
December 6th, 2021 at 9:25 am
THE ankle injury is likely to be a high ankle sprain. If you come back too soon
you just prolong the injury.
December 6th, 2021 at 9:27 am
DoooshLaRue,
I paid $6 for domestic draft beer and $2 for a pretzel. I could get fried chicken strips and fries for $6. I don’t think I could get that at McDonalds for $6.
December 6th, 2021 at 9:49 am
I was at the game…great stadium…lots of Bucs Fans! Run fits were not good again, early in the game. Got much, much better in the second half. In the first half it was clear both our LBs are not fully healthy by the way they were available to the linemen to get to. BL: got better in the second half. Will get better as we get healthier. Go Bucs!
December 6th, 2021 at 9:51 am
D-Rome
Are you sure it was chicken?…..It could have been dead falcon.
December 6th, 2021 at 9:52 am
I believe Arther Blank is having trouble selling or maintaining season ticket holders, which is understandable given the dismal results on the field following Super Bowl LI. That might explain the cheap concession pricing.
December 6th, 2021 at 9:54 am
Pacing himself hopefully. I feel winning a bye this year is huge for bucs not because of homefield but to recharge some of the older players. Last season regular season bye was later in the season
December 6th, 2021 at 10:02 am
Arthur Blank (Falcons’ main man) has always been civic minded compared to a lot of other team owners. He stated he would keep the prices down, and it appears that he’s kept his word. Appreciate the report, D-Rome. Problem is the Chicks have yet to win a SB. They’re going through a down cycle and Matty Ice won’t be playing much longer. So, the empty seats.
December 6th, 2021 at 10:03 am
I hope LVD will rest himself but that’s not in his DNA. He’ll retire a Buc.
December 6th, 2021 at 10:23 am
David is a buc for life he deserves to retire a buc !!!
December 6th, 2021 at 10:24 am
David is slowed mostly by injury. He can still play ball. Don’t send him off into the sunset just yet.
December 6th, 2021 at 10:47 am
Favorite Buc all time. He was given the two year contract instead of a four+ for this reason. We love you for life LVD.
December 6th, 2021 at 11:23 am
PassingThru Says:
December 6th, 2021 at 9:52 am
I believe Arther Blank is having trouble selling or maintaining season ticket holders, which is understandable given the dismal results on the field following Super Bowl LI. That might explain the cheap concession pricing
___________
If that were the case then the Glazer Boys should’ve had free all you can eat buffets and kegs of beer on every landing of Raymond James from 2010-2019!
Crab legs from 2015-2019.
December 6th, 2021 at 11:40 am
This is NFL football; it’s a war of attrition.
December 6th, 2021 at 11:41 am
@Dooosh
SSSSSHHHHHHHH….. the mere mention is crab legs is sure to wake up the Jameis Winston Fan Club.
December 6th, 2021 at 12:09 pm
I think a lot of what we’re seeing is scheme. The Bucs are playing a ton of zone lately, and as everyone here should know, it takes a long time to get good at playing zone. The handoffs between him and White in the zone haven’t been great, and they’re not doing a lot with either LB other than have them stand around. While it’s frustrating, it’s also true that the defense overall has played a lot better as of late and the zone is covering up the truly horrific corner play to some degree.
Overall the plan is working. Even if the defense is really hard to watch, they did limit the Falcons, who have been scoring points, to just 10 points. I don’t think this will work against the Bills, but we shall see. But with so many injuries all year, you do what you have to do.
December 6th, 2021 at 12:49 pm
The same LVD that covered the Colts TE like a blanket and deflected a pass o save the Colts game last week?? I think he’s ok
December 6th, 2021 at 12:55 pm
You mean The Nuthugger Brigade?
😀
December 6th, 2021 at 1:02 pm
Winny Testaverde Says
“Brady, as usual, was onto something with his disdain for the 17th game.”
I would love a 20 game season personally.
You cannot claim the 17th game is affecting the team because we are not even near that 17th game yet.
The wear and tear is not new to this team…we just got lucky with injuries and players returning from them last year.
So far as the number of games…Hockey players have many, many more games, and I would suggest their games are much more violent.
Go to a 20 game season and only the first couple years would be rough…then the players and coaches would adapt…just like the adapted to the 16 game season.
December 6th, 2021 at 3:01 pm
Scheme. The defensive scheme puts so much pressure on the LBs. They are the weakness in the zones and s required to cover a ton of space. All the yards against the Bucs are from zone beaters in the middle of the field. Secondary gets too much criticism. It’s how the defense is schemed. And it works. See the superbowl trophy for proof
December 6th, 2021 at 3:14 pm
bonzai you ever play football?? dont think so…..
December 6th, 2021 at 4:24 pm
Bonsai needs to stick to writing fantasies about fairies and his award winning elf erotica. Of course he wants 20 games…he’s never played a sport in his life…and comic con in the park with plastic swords against other softies doesn’t count.
December 6th, 2021 at 5:06 pm
Is there anyone on the team who isn’t playing through an injury? Now, they’re even losing teeth. I go back and forth between, how much should we worry about this defense and maybe we’ll be ok when healthy because look at the rotation in the secondary. But we aren’t getting and staying healthy. We are, however, 9 – 3 with this secondary that has guys seeing significant time that weren’t even on the roster at the start of the season. We’re seeing a lot of bad tackling, but still we’re getting takeaways. I don’t know what is happening. What is happening? Am I me? Are you me? Are I us? Is there be a Jesus?
December 7th, 2021 at 12:14 am
Father time wins every race. Fame is always fleeting , enjoy
While you can.
December 7th, 2021 at 10:12 am
He’s looked ok … Not very good in coverage but one of the main reasons they stop the run so well… They’ll get it together and shake it off come playoff time!!
December 7th, 2021 at 5:16 pm
Brady has a way of crushing teams. Eastern conference was a waste land. Falcons never recovered. Seahawks dynasty ended after one year. And my favorite, the Colts, authors of the Scam, lost their star QB, we’re humiliated by the Patriots in the AFC title game, engineered the most laughable play in NFL history against the Pats (check it out on YouTube), and became irrelevant. Lesson to Roger Rabbit: Don’t lie, cheat and defame the GOAT.