“Mature And Move On”
December 26th, 2023
Devin White is an emotional guy.
It’s part of what’s made him so successful as a player, and it’s the part of his personality that sometimes draws the ire of fans.
Why didn’t White play against Green Bay when he was a full practice participant leading up to the game? Why didn’t White travel with the Bucs to Atlanta the week before? Those answers surrounding the Bucs captain are unclear.
What is clear is that head coach Todd Bowles believes “things got out of hand in the wrong way” last week when it comes to the White saga. It was quite a quote from Bowles and Joe can’t be sure of where Bowles’ comment was directed.
The head coach followed that up yesterday with WFLA sports chief Dan Lucas by saying coaches and players have to mature and move on, and White showed that with a big game on Sunday.
“He had a great week of practice,” Bowles said of White. “He’s flying around. You know, last week was last week, you put that aside and you go ahead. There are a lot of things that’s going to happen during a season that you gotta mature and move on from, as coaches and as teammates and as players. So we moved on from that. And Devin came out and played the way we know Devin can play.
“It was a heck of a play that Devin made on that [interception], and he continued from there and had a heck of a ballgame.”
It’s all very strange. If White simply told Bowles his healing foot was too sore to play in Green Bay, as Bowles told media, that what is there to “mature and move on” from?
Joe just hopes whatever has White now playing with his hair on fire is here to stay, at least until White finds a new team next season.
December 26th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Well more than inmaturity, he is inconcistent, he makes great plays and really bad once.
And is difficult to forget some plays when you clearly see that he is not giving all he has,……
If somebody wants to pay him big, I hope is not the Bucs…..We need money for Evans Wirfs and Windield and probably for Mayfield too
December 26th, 2023 at 12:37 pm
The interception was good. The missed sack was bad. The “roughing the passer” was ugly. I wish Devin White knew how to play football, i.e. knew how to tackle.
December 26th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
The problem I have with White and many other fans too, is that he Wildly inconsistent with his play.
You can pretty much count on LVD to be in position and make plays and “be” where he’s supposed to be in the defense…..BUT
with Devin White, alota times he’s outta position or is “whiffing on tackles and coverage”. I think because of his supreme speed, he got away with alot of that in college with much lesser players but because everyone in the NFL are Elite players, we’re seeing all of White’s flaws now.
We all know Devin White is an extremely physically gifted player ……….but mentally, he seems WEAK!!!!!
December 26th, 2023 at 12:45 pm
Poor coaching-
Great talent with a personality to be managed and directed.
Waste of a special player, failure of management and coaching.
Waste of all the time and money to let him walk
December 26th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
@CleanHouse: agree, but Devin has been playing next to the best ILB for yrs now. A luxury for most players. Time to remove the binky and find some self motivation by yr 4
We’ve been dealing with Shaq’s inconsistencies for yrs, but somehow he gets a pass. I guess it pays (literally) to keep your mouth shut.
December 26th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Why the issues with Godwin? Why the issues with White?
IT’S ALL PART OF TODD BOWLES MASTER PLAN THAT TAKES US TO THE SUPER BOWL!
#TEAMPOSITIVE!
December 26th, 2023 at 1:03 pm
I think white will be back her for sure
December 26th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
@ChiBuc – it does pay for a player to keep their mouth shut. Inconsistency in performance and negative attention = better luck with your next team.
December 26th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
White is terrified his immaturity will cost him millions.
December 26th, 2023 at 1:14 pm
Whether he Marie’s or not move on! I’d he starts going from team to team because of that attitude it’ll make you mature real fast
December 26th, 2023 at 1:16 pm
The defense looks different as of late, and I believe it’s because Bowles has gotten a lot more aggressive with the playcalling. Technically he might not be blitzing more, but the defense is clearly more aggressive, bringing more men on blitzes and playing more man-to-man as well. I’m not sure if garbage time will mess up those stats, but this is not the same ultra-passive ultra-soft zone defense we were seeing even a few weeks ago.
White is the type of player you need to run that defense. Guys who are fast and explosive.
December 26th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
I’d think Baker’s career trajectory would serve as a cautionary tale to not extend any final judgements on boys still growing into manhood.
December 26th, 2023 at 1:46 pm
His PFF went from 39 to 46 after that game, so there’s THAT
December 26th, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Helluva talent but very unstable mentally and emotional.
You don’t pay someone with that profile top money to be in the middle of your defense.
December 26th, 2023 at 2:22 pm
White has been incredibly misused these last few years.
In 2021, all the corners on the team got hurt, and the Bucs were having to sign guys off the street to start a few days later. I completely understood at the time why they had to switch to zone and play safe, because you just couldn’t rely on 7th string corners to play aggressive man-to-man defense.
Because of the switch to zone, White was forced to play back in coverage, where he’s not a great fit. He’s a game wrecker when he’s being aggressive and rushing the passer. But again, at the time, I got it, I didn’t like they way they used him, but I understood.
Then, the corners are back, Bowles plays aggressive at the end of the Rams game and the Bucs lose. Since then Bowles has been a gutless wonder as a defensive play caller, and the Bucs defense has not been the same, and White has been wasting away as he’s forced to mostly play zone.
I know that just sitting at home watching the games, he certainly knows that being in the game and being told to do something he’s not good at – while he’s one of the very best in football when he’s rushing up the middle on every play.
BUT, to the credit of Bowles, a few games ago, it seemed like he suddenly realized he’s going to get fired if he doesn’t turn thing around, and the defense has started to look like the 2020 defense again. They’re aggressive, they’re sending multiple people on blitzes, and they’ve been playing more man to man.
In that defense, White is a superstar ALL-Pro player, and he could be a huge part of any playoff run.
That’s if Bowles doesn’t revert to the garbage soft zone stuff we’ve seen most of the year. Never count out Bowles to make the wrong decision, but hopefully he realizes over the last few weeks what wins games, and what sitting back does to lose games.
December 26th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Diva might have a chance with a head coach like Dan Campbell, or John Harbaugh.
Todd is not a head coach and has failed in the corrective action department. See JTS, Ryan Neal, the cover zero receivers defense and the zone bust defense.
But at least now he seems to be putting the best players in the game and taking the cuffs off of Canales and Mayfield. Beat the Aints and we get to listen to his bizarre answers to questions for another year.
December 26th, 2023 at 3:13 pm
Please don’t start your obnoxious sarcastic team positive stuff again Rod. You’ve really worn that one out.
December 26th, 2023 at 3:23 pm
Please don’t start the team positive crap again. You’ve worn that one out
December 26th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
I think it’s pretty evident what happened here, white was benched for Britt due to a poor attitude. When white was told he wouldn’t start and be rotated in, he didn’t like that and began pouting. Clearly Bowles wouldn’t disclose that type of stuff to the media because it would cause a major distraction plus he likes white.
December 26th, 2023 at 5:13 pm
Devin White should have a sit down with baker. Bouncing from team to team tends to humble these dudes. Champaign problems led to a week on the inactive list.
December 26th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
Devin is so mercurial. I think he’s bi-polar. He’s AB in the making.
December 26th, 2023 at 7:20 pm
Yea that quote makes me think that he didn’t want to be in rotation and was pouting… however, perhaps the only reason for a rotation was because he also was still not 100% ready to go with the foot injury…
Either way, it’s all very strange.
December 26th, 2023 at 7:24 pm
Whatever happens, we need #45 to come and ball out like his job depends on it for the rest of the season.
December 26th, 2023 at 8:01 pm
Weebs10 Says:
Please don’t start your obnoxious sarcastic team positive stuff again Rod. You’ve really worn that one out.
——-
Man, some people just want to wallow in negativity.
But that’s not me, I’m 100% #TEAMPOSITIVE!
And the movement will never die!
December 26th, 2023 at 8:23 pm
Jb47 Says:
December 26th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
I think it’s pretty evident what happened here, white was benched for Britt due to a poor attitude.
———-
White was playing slow and looking injured before he missed games … for being injured.
Hate on White all you want, which I think is really stupid, but one thing he never does is play slow – and he looked slow, clearly because he wasn’t healthy.
There’s no vast conspiracy here, you had a guy who looked injured and missed time because he was injured, and now that he’s back, he looks healthy and fast and we saw what he can do on Sunday when he was dominate.
December 26th, 2023 at 10:08 pm
I think White stays on an incentive laden contract. He wouldn’t be one of the highest paid LBs so why leave a defense you love & that utilize your skillset.
I say keep him b/c when he’s on he’s one of the best in the league!
December 26th, 2023 at 11:30 pm
The Bucs organization needs to get mature and move on from Devin White next year.
December 27th, 2023 at 12:50 am
Very talented player getting humbled, like most people. The Bucs will let him test the market then get him back at a bargain.
Hopefully, they’ll use him more creatively.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:03 am
White is a cheery picker, ever see him shed a block to make a play. Once he get’s a blocker on him he quits.
December 27th, 2023 at 3:02 am
Yet more Bowles speak!
“successful as a player”
Really? 5 games in 2021.
Since then counting last weeks game, not so much. I realize he got a pick.
Go Bucs!
December 27th, 2023 at 4:32 am
He begged Bowles for another chance.
And Bowles doesn’t want to destroy the kids career.
If Bowles had benched White for the rest of the season, White would lose all value in free agency.
Bowles isn’t that harsh.
White will play well. Sign elsewhere. We’ll get a compensation pick.
Britt and David will start next year.
End of story.