Ryan Jensen Thinks Bucs Were A Little Softer
February 10th, 2023
Ryan Jensen
Was attitude a problem on the Buccaneers’ offensive line this season?
Even with mighty Tom Brady at quarterback?
Two big-name Bucs think it was a factor.
Bucco Bruce Arians was a busy guy at the Super Bowl radio row this week and mentioned the loss of Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen as a huge factor in Tampa Bay’s decline this season. Jensen blew his knee out in training camp and missed the entire regular season.
Arians said the loss of Jensen was very much about absent leadership, and Jensen bringing energy and raising the games of others, in addition to his play.
And then there was Jensen himself visiting WDAE radio this week.
The veteran beast was asked about how he plays through the whistle, will defend teammates and performs with a fire that gets him a “nasty” label among offensive linemen.
Jensen said that’s how he plays the game and he thinks the Bucs missed that necessary element this season. Per Jensen, it’s critical to have someone out there setting the tone physically and trash talking.
“I think it’s important that, you know, you have a guy that’s willing to go to battle and do all those things for his teammates,” Jensen said. “That’s just what I do. That’s what I’ve kind of been trained to do. I think it’s something that we were missing a little this year.”
Joe had hoped someone on the Bucs’ offensive line would step up to replace the infectious Jensen fire and attitude. It didn’t happen.
Joe’s not blaming Tristan Wirfs of Robert Hainsey (or anyone else), only noting that Jensen’s football DNA is special and irreplaceable among the current roster.
Thankfully, Jensen is healthy and ready for next season. Tonight, Joe will sleep well imaging a healthy Jensen and a competent Bucs playcaller. What an improvement they should be.
February 10th, 2023 at 6:51 pm
Ira “the mailman” delivers again. Another HOF inductee delivered. Congrats Ronde again. And Ryan…you were sorely missed.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:17 pm
I believe the team fell apart with the absence of Suh, JPP, Whitehead, and Jensen. Even RoJo ran hard. We lost our toughness.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:22 pm
Jensen was being diplomatic here. The season seemed doomed from the start…beginning with Jensen’s snake bit injury…the most “impact” Hall created all season.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:25 pm
I think everyone was hoping it was going to be Luke “Eats Glass” Goedke…
but it never happened. Dude had 1 good game, got cocky, and then got exposed. Over and over and over…
I’d like to see him at tackle instead of guard, TBH.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:31 pm
Love the big nasty.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:32 pm
I’m still shocked that the ultimate warrior, Durable Dependable Donnie didn’t step up with the nasty.
The man is a true beast and always plays hard.
#baffled
February 10th, 2023 at 7:37 pm
It was and still is the most bizarre chapter in Buc history. They played like crap except for the Germany game and maybe another. Everything else was very very bad football especially considering the talent. Sure they had injuries and starters lost for the season but the talent that did play never clicked and rhythm was inconsistent to non existent.
Coaching was zombified , how Todd Bowles is still the head coach is a depressing cloud hanging over everything Buccaneers
February 10th, 2023 at 7:38 pm
If O’cyrus Torrence is there that should be the pick in rd 1, Torrence with Jensen and Wirfs will make a bad ass trio on one side of the line
February 10th, 2023 at 7:39 pm
Bowles Certa Game schemes. Pillowtop.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:56 pm
Why is it so hard for some to understand:
A team is the reflection of their coach!
That’s why Bowels will NEVER be successful in the NFL.. So soft, to docile!
February 10th, 2023 at 7:56 pm
Softer mentally and physically. Niners physically dominated us. It’s not just about having tough guys who standup for teammates, it’s about playing physical football most games were not the most physical team on the field last season.
February 10th, 2023 at 7:58 pm
There needs to be some changes to the OL room make-up to get another dawg or 2 in the ranks.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:12 pm
Again…remember Jensen did not blossom until his 4th Season with the Ravens!
They tried him at three different spots before settling on Center where he became a star and cashed in with the Bucs.
Goedeke has played ONE season!!! Jensen played ONE game his rookie year…only 7 in his 3rd year. Goedeke comes from Central Michigan not exactly an NFL breeding grounds. Goedeke may yet force some here to eat their words.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:13 pm
No Jensen and the oline turned into soft charmin tissue wipe masquerading as matador’s olé!
One lineman was heard to quote; ‘my hands hurt to much to hold anymore’! Good grief mañg.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:17 pm
Go look at 2002 bucs or 2020 bucs. They should play that every game day like the 49ers. So much physicality and playing the ball… constant interceptions, forced fumbles and just pass break ups.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:21 pm
Testing 123
February 10th, 2023 at 8:22 pm
Well, guess I get to find a new place to read about the Bucs – see ya
February 10th, 2023 at 8:29 pm
Jensen will lead the league in penalties after the whistle this upcoming season.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
C’mon Joe, you’re going to sleep imagining about Jensen or some coach wth a clipboard and headset?! Cynthia Frelund will be upset to hear about this.
February 10th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Goedeke will grow into a nasty sumb!tch and a leader on the line.
February 10th, 2023 at 9:22 pm
Clean house… I believe the team fell apart with Bowles at the helm. He is not fit to be a team leader. He’s too passive. Period.
February 10th, 2023 at 9:55 pm
^ Guess what. Bowles is the head coach for 2023. Give it a chance and quit the pointless b!tching and moaning.
February 10th, 2023 at 9:57 pm
Clean house… Team fell apart because Bowles is not a leader or a head coach. Too passive. Jettison Dean, Bunting, David, Gholston. Nassib, Roches. They are not good, old, or can’t stay healthy. Jettison Smith, Leverett, Jensen, Jones, Mason (pats put one over on us), Miller, Perriman, Brate, Wells, Molchen. They are not good, have been hurt, or with Jensen maybe we can get a draft pick for him, and he can go and compete at 32 yrs old. Why would he want to stay here? BUCS win 5-7 tops, and that is if Trask steps up. This team is in total rebuild mode. Anyone thinking they can plug a couple of holes and move forward, is delusional. There are Too many holes, and too many bad draft picks that didn’t turn into viable stay healthy starters, to win consistently. Dean…Bunting…let em bail, unless franchise and Dean and trade him for a draft pick. It’s rebuild time, folks. Get started now, or waste 3 years with free agents and bandaids and still only win 7 games. We had a good run. We have a young nucleus to win again in a few years if done right. If done wrong… Another 10 years of losing and stupidity.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:00 pm
Sasquatch…guess what? Bowles will be fired by seasons end. Bet me.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:04 pm
Patrick Says:
February 10th, 2023 at 9:57 pm
Wow. You’re clearly retarded. We only gave up a 5th round pick for a starting guard who did a good job for us, and who still has some good years in him.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:07 pm
Patrick Says:
February 10th, 2023 at 10:00 pm
Wow, you also have the ability to see the future! That’s amazing!
I just don’t see the point of this kind of b!tching and negative prognosticating. Just to be right? Just to be bitter and to express frustration? Perhaps an open mind and an ounce of self awareness could soothe you.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:11 pm
He’s “not blaming” Hainsey but he is. And he is right.
You don’t just replace the heart, soul, spine and force of a team so easily. But that is what they tried to do. Insisting that the job was soft “technical” Hainsey’s to lose, even after Jensen recovered.
That was the season.
Soft, mentally off. Poorly coached, poorly led.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:11 pm
Poor Jensen, he is going to be stuck with Trask or Gabbert next year. The Bucs are going to take a $35M hit with Brady retiring putting them at $60M over the Cap. No way is this team getting a decent veteran QB. At least Bowles will be gone after next season….
February 10th, 2023 at 10:20 pm
Sasquatch. Yes. I can see the future. Through the past. Bowles on a rebuild in New York: 5-11, 5-11, 4-12, FIRED. The Glazer’s are faithful, but not stupid. I have the right to beach and moan. I’m a season ticket holder. At least I was. Bowles bring retained saves me 2300 this year. People in my section, are also not going to renew. Money talks with the Glazer’s. Ask John Gruden. Or Tony Dungy. Lol you win, you put butts in the seats. You lose, you can’t give those tickets away, so I will be watching from home this year. Bowles will be lucky…. I’m thinking Vegas will put the win total at 6 this year. If he’s lucky. He sucks. Lol
February 10th, 2023 at 10:31 pm
Jensen = Bill Lamebeer = The Hanson Brothers
February 10th, 2023 at 10:39 pm
Jensen would consider Godzilla to be “too soft”. Also, if the Hanson Brothers are available – bring them in as linebackers.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:39 pm
Sasquatch…Mason was hurt half the season, and he wasn’t very good when he played. Yes…we got taken. Good one, Pats.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:42 pm
Started every game. 5th round pick.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:53 pm
Stop it. Brady is not soft. Jensen specifically mentioned the OL, which is absolutely true. There’s a reason why Brady waxed poetic about Belichick on his podcast. He absolutely missed the structure and physical and mental toughness of the Patriots. Brady specifically called out the last effort of his team. This was a definitely a red flag because Brady never does this publicly. Bowles found no issue with the Bucs effort.
February 10th, 2023 at 10:53 pm
I thought he missed a couple of games. Guess I was being gracious, considering we were LAST in the NFL in rushing, and LAST in the NFL in yards per carry, and we ran most of our plays inside. He suuuuucks. A 5th was way too much. Lol
February 10th, 2023 at 10:57 pm
Sasquatch…Mason needs to be jettisoned immediately. He’s stinking up the locker room, taking up space that a new healthy 23 yr old lineman could be squatted at. Lol Mason has no talent. Cappa was better than him, and he wasn’t very good. Lmao
February 10th, 2023 at 10:57 pm
Hainsey was so soft! Absolute charmin. There was no real alpha on the line. I will continue to say that the biggest lost to this team was Marpet. Marpet covered up a lot of Donovan’s mistake and he was nasty. Mason is a good player, but Cappa was nasty. Leverette had some nasty and always had his teammates back. He’s the first one to congratulate his teammates. He immediately helped Brady up and protected him
February 10th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
Sasquatch…I got that right, correct? We WERE …last in the NFL in rushing, and LAST in the NFL in yards per carry, and we ran mostly inside right? Where Mason plays? I digress.
February 10th, 2023 at 11:03 pm
Bucsfan…I think Hainsey might actually eventually be pretty good. He got better as the year went on. I think he could legit be our starting center.
February 10th, 2023 at 11:06 pm
Jason Licht record WITHOUT Brady
34-62
THIRTY FOUR WINS AND SIXTY FREAKING TWO LOSSES
Jason Licht is straight up a loser.
I’ll go out on a limb and he has his 7th losing season in ten seasons
OVERRATED
February 10th, 2023 at 11:06 pm
Bucsfan..Cappa was nasty, but Cappa also drew alot of penalties and when he didn’t, we got crushed, RB or QB. Didn’t hurt my feelings him heading out, but Marpet retiring was tough. He was pretty damn good. Lol
February 10th, 2023 at 11:09 pm
Yes, Jensen was a beast in the playoffs with his 29 grade in the playoff game. Keep drinking the Kool Aid.
February 11th, 2023 at 3:04 am
Soft, flaccid coich = soft flaccid player performance.
Give the Bowelster some ED medication. Maybe that will help.
February 11th, 2023 at 6:14 am
Marpet retiring hurt bad! Jensen getting rolled up by Logan Hall was the killer. Man, Logan Hall is a bust imho, what has he done so far except take out a team leader and helped the team circle the drain. Licht had a lot of options late 1st and eraly 2nd round and he took a guy who did squat except shelve the Bucs’ Pro Bowl caliber center for the whole year, disrupting an OL that was already missing Marpet.
February 11th, 2023 at 6:50 am
The best of many excellent centers the Bucs have had over their history!
February 11th, 2023 at 7:03 am
the absence of Suh, JPP, Whitehead, and Jensen. Even RoJo ran hard. We lost our toughness.-
You can add Gronk and Howard’s blocking to that list
February 11th, 2023 at 7:19 am
Patrick … ‘I believe the team fell apart with Bowles at the helm. He is not fit to be a team leader. He’s too passive. Period.’
ASSUMING that your comments reflect your true beliefs about what makes a quality leader (as opposed to simply babbling on after a few too many Big Storm vodkas or Bromosas?), then I’d say you need to re-evaluate your perspectives on leadership. I seriously doubt you’ll do that, but hey, there’s always HOPE.
I’ve worked for & with a large number of incredibly effective leaders in life, as well as quite a few who were anything but effective. Some … in BOTH groups … were very ‘demonstrative’ (fiery, in-your-face types), while others were the exact opposite (very ‘measured’ & ‘methodical’ and ‘passive’ in your words). Effective leaders come in many shapes, sizes, demeanors and there is no ‘cookie cutter’ formula for any of them. But there are certain qualities which shine through over & over. Study history for awhile & you’ll see that clearly. The most valuable yardstick for measurement of effectiveness that I’ve found? RESULTS over time.
I can already see your mind working Patrick, ready to jump at Todd Bowles’ HC record with the Jets & his 1st year here with the Bucs. That’s a boring road to travel because so many have used it over & over as ‘proof of his incompetence’ under the assumption that history does in fact methodically repeat itself. It doesn’t, at least in the way that most assume that it repeats. Situations change & many influencing factors come into play (not to mention that people ‘grow’ & leaders evolve & mature).
With Todd Bowles’ running the defense, BA’s tenure as Bucs’ HC (and as Cardinals’ HC) probably would’ve been dramatically less impressive. Look at the 2013 Cardinals: 10-6 with #7-ranked defense but #16-ranked offense. Or the 2014 Cardinals: 11-5 with the #5-ranked defense but #24-ranked offense. Which was more responsible for the Cards’ success, offense or defense?
Or look at our 2019 Bucs: 7-9 with #3-ranked offense but #29-ranked defense (with tons of new pieces & a major defense rebuilding going on). No ‘balance’ between the 2 sides. But then look at what that year of ‘growth’ produced in the 2020 Bucs: 11-5 with the #3-ranked offense AND #8-ranked defense (MUCH better ‘balance’ led to a SB victory). Or the 2021 Bucs: 13-4 with the #2-ranked offense AND #5-ranked defense. Throughout all those years (4 very successful) Todd Bowles’ highly effective defense had BA’s back, big-time.
Bowles anointing as the Bucs’ HC for 2022 was poorly executed. For one, the late notification (31 Mar) pretty much dictated that he had to keep BA’s staff (not an ideal situation for any new HC, especially when he ‘inherited’ an OC who needed BA’s oversight big-time but didn’t get it in 2022). For another, our salary CAP situation was BAD, and necessitated losing several key leaders. Along those same lines, Tom Brady’s personal situation & losing Ryan Jensen were 2 huge contributing factors on the offensive side of the ball. Put it all together, and the RESULT was quite predictable: an 8-9 season (that could’ve been 9-8 BTW had Bowles chosen to play to win that Atlanta game in the 2nd half).
Still, ‘you are where you are’ and right now we’re in deep doo-doo IMO. Bucs desperately NEED to hire a strong OC who can operate relatively autonomously so Bowles can focus on rebuilding this defense this year (we’ll end up with a lot of new parts). Not an ideal situation, but I’d rather see Bowles be the one to rebuild this defense (like he did in 2019) than any other DC we’ve had except for Monte. Be patient & let this thing play out. You might be surprised at the RESULT … or not. Only time will tell.
February 11th, 2023 at 9:07 am
DR……… the Socrates of JBF.
Very nice.
February 11th, 2023 at 10:19 am
Totally disagree with Defense Rules and a hellava lot of you. The team fell a part due to massive O line injuries and Brady’ needing everything to be perfect for him. Brady was simply awful this past season. And everybody outside of Tampa Bay knows it.
February 11th, 2023 at 11:05 am
Tom Brady was FAR from “mighty” last season despite what fan boy Joe thinks.
February 11th, 2023 at 11:14 am
The loss of Gronk caused the problems. He was Brady’s go to guy and blocked for the running game. Running on 1st & 2nd down the majority if the time sure did not help.
February 11th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
@Defense Rules,
Thank you for being a voice of reason in a parade of boobs.
February 11th, 2023 at 1:58 pm
@ defense rules – Bowels ia a PRIME EXAMPLE of the PETER PRINCIPAL
Textbook…those 5 years are a DEFINITE indicator and part of someone’s resume.
Stop making excuses…it’s quite sad.
He is what he is…
February 12th, 2023 at 8:49 am
Michelin Man, Pop N Fresh, Stay Puff, Creme Puff and RT Kristen Wirfs.
Toad Blowes coached them up to be tuff guys
.