Todd Bowles Deflects Antoine Winfield Health Question
January 17th, 2025
One sad note to the Bucs’ division-winning season was star safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. having an off year.
It happens. But Joe’s real sadness is thinking about how Winfield injured his foot in Week 1 with the Bucs’ victory already locked up.
He didn’t have to be on the field. Garbage time turned into crisis time. Winfield missed the next four games and never seemed to be the same player Bucs fans were used to seeing.
Winfield also missed the final four regular season games after messing up his knee early in the Week 14 Raiders game.
Joe asked Todd Bowles this week whether Winfield “was ever 100 percent after Week 1?”
Bowles didn’t have a straight answer.
“I couldn’t answer that personally, but I would venture to say I’m sure everybody played hurt a lot,” Bowles said. ‘But when he’s healthy, you can see it. I think once he got healthy he got injured again. So it kind of impacted a little bit.”
Joe’s not sure why Bowles said he couldn’t answer the question. As the defensive playcaller, he needed to know Winfield’s health status each week because it’s tied to what Bowles might ask him to do on the field.
Joe goes to bed at night assuming Winfield was hurt since Week 1 and will come back in April as the All-Pro he was last season. Joe can’t fathom what a faction of Bucs fans assert: that Winfield’s play fell off because he got a fat new contract.
January 17th, 2025 at 2:40 pm
@Joe
He doesn’t give a straight answer because he’s an imbecilic moron. Hey, take it easy.–Joe
See his halftime interview during the most recent playoff failure. Sure, Joe saw it. Funny five-second screwup. It’s not like it was a White House news conference. No big deal. –Joe
How much more proof do you need on this?
28-27
January 17th, 2025 at 2:44 pm
Just like the Shaun Alexander contract……dude gets paid big time, but was never the same player again
Oh well….he got his money now
January 17th, 2025 at 2:53 pm
I’d say Bowles is coming from the viewpoint of there’s a difference between ready to play and being 100%. As his own DC, Bowles needs to know that the player is ready to go… not that he’s necessarily 100%. That doesn’t sound like an evasive answer as much as Winfield is a pro in the NFL and everyone plays hurt at some point.
For me, I agree with Joe. Trolls will troll but Antoine gets the benefit of the doubt until next season.
January 17th, 2025 at 2:56 pm
Of course he played hurt. Mike Evans played hurt. No, he was not as effective and when he started getting back close to 100%, he got hurt again. He did make the strip in Atlanta that was discounted because they didn’t have a replay view. He was hustling. He was still doing AW31 things. And he came back for the playoff game. It takes work to get back on the field. Don’t worry about AW31.
And don’t blame Bowles for him playing late in the first game. First game, they played very little in pre-season, everyone needs the work. It wasn’t game 17 and they were banged up. Also, JD did put up some numbers on us in that game. They have to finish the game.
January 17th, 2025 at 3:06 pm
Paying Winfield was a HUGE mis step by Licht
Almost as bad as over paying Carlton Davis and Dean.
Winfield has NEVER played a full season, balled out in the contract year, make him do it again versus over paying a safety, who is usually the farthest away from the ball
Didn’t like the signing last off season, still don’t
January 17th, 2025 at 3:08 pm
Only time Winfield played a full season was his contract year, good for him for fooling Licht
Bad on Licht overpaying a secondary that is rarely around the ball
January 17th, 2025 at 3:15 pm
Why assume he’s not playing at his usual self because he got paid? What makes you think he’s a low character kind of guy. He’s a professional, and he’s not going to give anything less that what he’s capable of. Have you heard of pride? His downturn is totally health related. You’ll see next year.
January 17th, 2025 at 3:19 pm
Regardless of whether AW was banged up or not our safeties flat out su$&=% for a vast majority of the year. They were pretty invisible except when they were giving up long completion’s or touchdowns for a large part of the season.
I hope Winfield balls out next season but I’d be looking for big help @ that position.
January 17th, 2025 at 3:23 pm
Let’s not forget Winfield only played 4 games in 2017 and only played 4 games in 2018 before we drafted him…
The dude has always been injury prone.
We just got lucky the first few years…
January 17th, 2025 at 3:27 pm
Ballhawk75
Who do you think our HC should be? Who are some good HCs in your opinion?
You keep saying Todd must go but who’s your ideal replacement?
Also, why must you continue to call the man names and attack his character or intelligence to make your (supposed) TB football points?
I imagine you’d call him by his name, or just sir, if you were sitting in front of him 👍🏼
January 17th, 2025 at 3:30 pm
lol so ignorant and at least some of the people who were calling Kancey a bust for being injured are stepping forward. I mean what are the odds of a guy putting in all that hard work to become one of the best safeties just to get paid and decide to get lazy instead of injured. He’s not Mr glass Dean level player he is one of the best in the game which is why he’s paid like it. Is that how you treat your team captain? How about while he was fully healthy and solidified as one of the best the secondary was still one of the worst in the nfl so don’t blame him for the results of Bowles defense
January 17th, 2025 at 3:34 pm
Coach only deflects, getting really tired of looking at his big dumb face. I don’t care if the players like him or not, that means less than zero to myself and the rest of the fan base. Get a winner in here or overhaul the entire defensive staff. Injuries are never an excuse.
January 17th, 2025 at 3:35 pm
Based on his pedigree and his personal motivations, I don’t think he is going to half-ass his way through his second contract. He’s been a grinder for too long. I look for a bounce back year in 2025.
January 17th, 2025 at 3:47 pm
Yeah I really don’t put much stock into the mindset that he checked out after getting paid. The injury was certainly real, and some injuries don’t heal as fast as you’d like, especially in the legs.
He’s got something to prove next year, and think he will be hungry to quiet down the naysayers
January 17th, 2025 at 3:59 pm
@GoneGator
“Who do you think our HC should be? Who are some good HCs in your opinion?
You keep saying Todd must go but who’s your ideal replacement?”
Mike McCarthy is out there. He would be my first choice.
In a perfect world I would give Coen the nod as HC, bring in a young WR or QB coach to be the OC from another team with a hot offense, and hire Rex Ryan as the new DC.
There are plenty of other offensive minded candidates out there that could also do the job.
Historically the Bucs only win titles with offensive minded coaches that play to win.
Bowles plays to win 9-6 as if it’s 1956 again. He has no killer instinct.
January 17th, 2025 at 4:26 pm
@Ballhawk75
McCarthy is a good coach. His players respect and play hard for him. I wouldn’t want him coordinating offense or defense but he’s a good manager/leader.
His W/L % with the Cowboys was .583 Btw.
I do appreciate your respectful reply, along with your opinion on a solution(s). Shocked me to be honest – lol.
I don’t agree with you but thats OK.
Perfect world for me? Hmm, I think Todd’s a great leader and would be better served with a separate D coordinator. May need to jettison some position coaches but that would probably come with a new D coordinator anyway.
I also think Todd staying on his current role is preferable to replacing him at this point if that above isn’t an option. NO WAY would I fire Todd and replace him with Coen. We can agree to disagree in a civil way this time. 🙂
January 17th, 2025 at 4:45 pm
Bunch of grumpy old men yelling at clouds in the comments. Winfield made a couple splash plays this year when he was in and healthy, which was not many games. He stripped Kyle Pitts on the Goalline against Atlanta and had the refs called that right would have changed the game and the season as a whole.
No respect for the a$$hats in here acting like he got paid then lost his hunger for the game. You all sound like dolts. If Winfield has another off year next year then you can start bellyaching. If he has a great year next year you trolls will find someonelse to dump on. Miserable sob’s
January 17th, 2025 at 5:04 pm
Mike McCarthy! Forgive me laughing so hard. I’d take Greg Schiano back before MM.
January 17th, 2025 at 5:11 pm
@ Ballhawk: Don’t quit your day job!!!
January 17th, 2025 at 5:37 pm
@Anyhony
We’ll be having the same conversation next year at this time because people like you want to cover for mediocrity.
Watch the rest of the playoffs and please name one team that Bowles could take over and win with.
No one is clamoring for him or anyone connected to his defense.
Except for the lemmings and the Joes.
January 17th, 2025 at 5:44 pm
@Ballhawk: Your solution would get us to 7-10 and no free agent players would ever consider signing with this team. Good defensive players want to play for Bowles! With money to spend you’ll see some very good players want play in Tampa Bowles!!!
January 17th, 2025 at 6:41 pm
Blaming everything on an coach typical for Tampa fans
He got hurt simple worst injury than they thought it happens you could tell he wasn’t 100%
He’ll be back healthy and we move on
January 17th, 2025 at 6:44 pm
If you idiots really judge a player off of being hurt and you seen what he can do while healthy you should kill yourself
January 17th, 2025 at 9:57 pm
Why does Bowels deflect? Because he can.