“I’m Not Frustrated.”
August 19th, 2013
While small pets ran and hid from their masters this past weekend, cowering in fear of being drop-kicked because their masters were so frustrated with a Bucs loss — a preseason loss — the calm amid the hysteria is Bucs commander Greg Schiano.
Among the topics that had Bucs fans running to their liquor cabinets after the loss to the Patriots was the play/non-play of defensive end Da’Quan Bowers. He’s a player who has a pile of Bucs eggs in the team basket. Fans see Bowers eggs beginning to crack, per Bucs personnel; he is not living up to the demands of Schiano.
Bowers has struggled so much to become that every-down lineman the Bucs need, he didn’t even start the preseason game at New England.
But Schiano states, unlike Bucs fans, he is not rattled by Bowers’ play.
“Da’Quan’s embracing the opportunity without a doubt. I’m not frustrated, you know, I’m not frustrated,” Schiano said. “There are certain days that I’m disappointed that we didn’t do more, that we didn’t get it better, but he’s making progress and as long as he keeps making progress he’s going to be a great player. It’s just we have to keep making progress. I actually thought he did some things Friday night that we haven’t seen him do, so I thought he played better. We just have to keep making progress with him and he will. I mean, this guy wants it badly and he’s willing to do what we ask, so it’s just a matter of time.”
That’s the key element in this subject. Bowers has taken to Schiano (and his assistants) and is as driven to succeed as the coaches. If Bowers was sulking (like LeGarrette Blount did) or moping around grumbling (like Sgt. Winslow did) Bowers would likely be traded or cut by now.
When coaches begin ignoring you, that’s when it is time to worry. The coaches have not ignored Bowers one bit. And he is doing his best to appease them and improve his play. That’s a giant first step.
August 19th, 2013 at 5:57 pm
I think it is a testimony to the relationship that he and his staff have with the players. When a player wants to play for you is when you can reach their potential. Let’s hope that Bowers responds.
August 19th, 2013 at 6:45 pm
So…what is the real story with this guy? Did he come in to camp so totally out of shape that it is taken him all of camp to get back in shape? How did he pass NSO’s fitness test which I had heard everyone had passed.
Time for some serious peer pressure from the likes of McCoy and Clayborn on his A$$. As well as a kick in the a$$ from Bryan Cox.
August 19th, 2013 at 6:49 pm
Our pass-rush aside from Mccoy is laughable. At least it has been on tape thus far in the preseason. Clayborn has shown flashes that he can become dominant… but that remains to be seen. Of course Schiano will save face publicly and say that he is content with our current options at DE…. at this point it’s fairly obvious that we should have made a much more serious run at Abraham, Harrison, Freeney or Umi. Watching the Pats game and our lack of pressure was scary. Brady had a perfect pocket on nearly all throwing downs vs. our 1’s. Give any QB the time and pocket that Brady had during those two drives and they would be 14/14 or whatever his stat line was. It all starts up front with the pass rush- god forbid Mccoy tears another pec…. it would be laughable at that point.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:03 pm
11-11 and bicep… McCoy tore his biceps. Details, details.
August 19th, 2013 at 7:13 pm
Point remains unchanged, but thanks for your concern! And its actually Biceps. Details, details.
The term biceps brachii is a Latin phrase meaning “two-headed [muscle] of the arm”, in reference to the fact that the muscle consists of two bundles of muscle, each with its own origin, sharing a common insertion point near the elbow joint. The proper plural form of the Latin adjective biceps is bicipites, a form not in general English use. Instead, biceps is used in both singular and plural (i.e., when referring to both arms).
August 19th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
@Meat
Don’t forget that was a preseason game. They even played a vanilla defense. All they used was a base defense. No stunts, no LB, safety, CB blitzes. When we play the Patriots in the third week you’ll see a whole different defensive plan then.
August 19th, 2013 at 8:36 pm
@ Buc’n Junkie- understood. However your same logic applies to the Pats offense. No chips to help the tackles, vanilla offense (aside from being fast between plays, which all NFL teams, not just the ones quarterbacked by Peyton and Brady should be able to pull off, and will in the coming years, thats the future), and no specific game plan to beat us or put their guys in special situations. For the most part, it was man vs. man, with their man winning those battles the bulk of the time.
August 19th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
I think one has to “read between the lines” with Coach Schiano.
August 19th, 2013 at 11:03 pm
To be fair, Blount had a reason to sulk. Our new regime never intended to use him and that was probably pretty clear on his end.