Speaker 1: Good morning, books fans. It's Wednesday morning, which means it
Speaker 1: is time for Buccaneers and Satura Live presented by Miller
Speaker 1: like Casey Phillips here with senior writer and editor Scott Smith.
Speaker 1: As always, this is when we take all of your questions,
Speaker 1: So if you have one of those for us, head
Speaker 1: on over to the Buccaneers Facebook page. If that is
Speaker 1: not already where you're watching this, leave your comment in
Speaker 1: the live comments section underneath it. That's where we can
Speaker 1: get to your questions as we give people a chance
Speaker 1: to do that. I wanted to first start out with
Speaker 1: some of the news of the week. There were definitely
Speaker 1: some roster moves that happened, so tell us what those
Speaker 1: are and what those implications might mean. I think the
Speaker 1: key move is the promotion of Rashard Robinson from the
Speaker 1: practice squad to the active roster. He's already played in
Speaker 1: three games, even though he's only been on the practice
Speaker 1: squad because of these elevations, but you only get two
Speaker 1: standard elevations for any player. He played a third one
Speaker 1: as a COVID replacement. So barring what we don't want
Speaker 1: guys being placed on the COVID list, there was no
Speaker 1: option to bring him up anymore. If you wanted him
Speaker 1: to play on game days, you had to sign him
Speaker 1: to the active roster, and obviously the Buccaneers him. He's
Speaker 1: both as a special teamer where he's done well, but
Speaker 1: also has another option at cornerback. He hasn't gotten in
Speaker 1: on defense yet, but he but he's looked good on
Speaker 1: the practice fiel according to Bruce Arians. So it's just
Speaker 1: another option at a position where Bucks have been shuffling
Speaker 1: through a lot of options. And to make room for him,
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers released Jaden Mickens, who has been their primary
Speaker 1: kick and punt return Um. And yeah, the punt and
Speaker 1: kick return thing is going to be so interesting to see.
Speaker 1: And I know that that was what everybody was excited
Speaker 1: to see about Jalen Darden, right that this was why
Speaker 1: we knew there were just such an emphasis in the
Speaker 1: draft about special teams overall, whether it was coverage guys
Speaker 1: or bringing him in. Um, we knew that wide receiver
Speaker 1: was probably not going to be where we saw his
Speaker 1: impact early on based on how deep that room was. So, UM,
Speaker 1: what do you think this says about maybe the progress
Speaker 1: he's made and their hopes for him moving forward. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've always liked what he can do because he's got
Speaker 1: such good lateral movement and shorter a quickness and it
Speaker 1: just makes for what should be a good punt returner.
Speaker 1: He's secure catching the ball. I think just at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season they were a little concerned that
Speaker 1: they didn't want the moment to be too big for him.
Speaker 1: You know, there were some really big, high profile games
Speaker 1: like the Dallas kickoff game to start the season, and
Speaker 1: I think they just felt a little more comfortable with
Speaker 1: the steady veteran back there. But now coach says that
Speaker 1: he said that he's totally comfortable with Jim Darden as
Speaker 1: the kick returner going forward. So I think that's what
Speaker 1: we're gonna see, Um, And I'm excited about that because
Speaker 1: I think there's some big play possibility there. And and
Speaker 1: to your point about putting a lot of work in
Speaker 1: this offseason on special teams, Jeff and I had Kevin
Speaker 1: Minter on our Saltidogs podcast, which just went up this morning,
Speaker 1: so check it out please, um, and he was talking
Speaker 1: about how the special teams are are much improved this year,
Speaker 1: and he gives most of that credit to the young
Speaker 1: guys the guys have just stepped right in and played
Speaker 1: awesome from the beginning, like kJ Britt and Grant Stewart
Speaker 1: and Joe Tryon's so apparently what the Buccaneers tried to
Speaker 1: do in the offseason with those additions is working out
Speaker 1: so far. Yeah, and uh, you know they're they've already
Speaker 1: had to be a lot of different moves made because
Speaker 1: of injury. And you mentioned the practice squad elevation or
Speaker 1: or so, um, give us kind of a large scale
Speaker 1: injury update which could take me. I feel like with
Speaker 1: how many people are on it, so what do we know?
Speaker 1: What do we not know? When might we know more? Well,
Speaker 1: it might take weeks to break it all down if
Speaker 1: we knew more. But Coach, the first time he spoke
Speaker 1: was yesterday because the Bucks had a bonus day after
Speaker 1: their long weekend. It was really just about an hour
Speaker 1: long walk through. Uh, and he really didn't we didn't
Speaker 1: have to put it out an injury report, And he
Speaker 1: basically was like, well, we're kind of waiting see on
Speaker 1: about three guys. I've got my fingers crossed, but it
Speaker 1: might come down to the wire. I think at least
Speaker 1: two of the ones he's referring to their Rob Gronkowski
Speaker 1: and Um and Antoine Winfield Jior and Winfield still as
Speaker 1: of yesterday hadn't been cleared from the concussion protocol. And
Speaker 1: I know that sounds concerning a few weeks in and
Speaker 1: it is a concern, of course, every concussion is, but
Speaker 1: some but part of that concussion protocol is actually going
Speaker 1: through practice and then being okay the next day. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of steps that you have to go through.
Speaker 1: So the fact that he wasn't off of it as
Speaker 1: of Tuesday doesn't necessarily mean that he's still suffering badly.
Speaker 1: I don't really know, to be honest with you. He
Speaker 1: was out on the field at the beginning of practice yesterday,
Speaker 1: So um, we'll see on those guys. Uh, but I
Speaker 1: think we're gonna have to wait until later in the
Speaker 1: week to get much clarity. Okay, and then he has specifically,
Speaker 1: we had a lot of people asking about Lavonte, David
Speaker 1: and Gronk, and uh, for them, you know, we can
Speaker 1: talk about both when when they might return, but also
Speaker 1: what their absence has looked like and guys who have
Speaker 1: stepped up. What you thought about how the team has
Speaker 1: handled both of them being out. Yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: Lavante is supposed to be back this week, um, which
Speaker 1: is a shame because you know, obviously the Bucks are
Speaker 1: much better with him in there. But Kevin Minter, who
Speaker 1: I was just talking about once again, is doing a
Speaker 1: good job of filling in, just like he has a
Speaker 1: couple of times in the last couple of years. And
Speaker 1: really the tight ends with Rob Gronkowski out have done
Speaker 1: a pretty good job. O J. Howard had his best
Speaker 1: game in a while, certainly of this season in the
Speaker 1: win over Philadelphia. Cam Braid is a reliable guy, especially
Speaker 1: in the red zone, and I think one of the
Speaker 1: things that people might not be noticing about o J's
Speaker 1: play is with Robot, He's had to play that role
Speaker 1: of the in line tight end. That means he lines
Speaker 1: up most of the time right at the end of
Speaker 1: the offensive line rather than like split out wider in
Speaker 1: the slot. Earlier in his career, because he's such a
Speaker 1: netflix and fast guy, OJ spent about half of his
Speaker 1: snaps detached from the line, just like another big receiver,
Speaker 1: But now he's playing more of a traditional two way
Speaker 1: tight end role where his blocking is important. We all
Speaker 1: know Rob Gronkowski is one of the best blocking tight
Speaker 1: ends in the league and was awesome at that last
Speaker 1: year in the beginning of this year, So those are
Speaker 1: big shoes to fill, but he's doing a good job.
Speaker 1: So o. J and Cam have really shown how the
Speaker 1: depth of deposition has helped us get through and win
Speaker 1: three straight games without one of the bucks better offensive weapons. Okay,
Speaker 1: on our next one, Samuel had asked, do you think
Speaker 1: that Bowls will be coming up with more package plays
Speaker 1: for getting try On into this upcoming Sunday games? Overall
Speaker 1: this time out the way that we've seen him be
Speaker 1: used when Shack and JPP are both healthy and available
Speaker 1: for a game, what that has meant so Um, when
Speaker 1: JPP missed two games, Joe got to start those two
Speaker 1: and played, you know, about the same amount of snaps
Speaker 1: that JPP would have liked them or whatever, and he
Speaker 1: made some nice plays as a pass rusher. But I
Speaker 1: think there was something interesting that Bruce said the other
Speaker 1: day when somebody was questioned about should he try to
Speaker 1: even out the snaps more between JPP and Joe now
Speaker 1: that JPP is back, and Bruce pointed out there's more
Speaker 1: to it. There's more to play in that position than
Speaker 1: just rushing the pass her and I think maybe JPP
Speaker 1: overall is more obviously the more developed player in his
Speaker 1: overall game and against the run and setting the edge
Speaker 1: and so on. So we see these splash players from
Speaker 1: Joe and they're very encouraging and good, but I think
Speaker 1: JPP is well rounded. Game probably still takes a little
Speaker 1: precedent right now as Joe continues to develop. So you've
Speaker 1: seen in the last couple of games when with JPP back,
Speaker 1: Joe's uh snaps on back down to about twenty a
Speaker 1: game where he's just basically doing situational pass rushing. I
Speaker 1: do think those will go up gradually. And yes, as
Speaker 1: the question I asked, I do think, as we saw
Speaker 1: in the very first game, that Todd Bowles is going
Speaker 1: to come up with some more creative packages, maybe to
Speaker 1: get all three on the field at the same time.
Speaker 1: I think that will come along gradually though. Okay, uh
Speaker 1: Daniel asked, do you think this will be a passing
Speaker 1: game or running game first? Based on the Bears defense.
Speaker 1: It kind of depends on what the Bears dictate, because
Speaker 1: if we've seen it as we've seen in the last
Speaker 1: two games, are the last couple of games, maybe even
Speaker 1: three going back to New England. Uh, the opposing defenses
Speaker 1: are daring us to run the ball. They're playing a
Speaker 1: lot of soft zones, and they're doing us to throw
Speaker 1: a lot of quick, short passes and get yards after
Speaker 1: the catch. And so the Bucks are just doing that.
Speaker 1: That's what we're doing because that's what they're giving us,
Speaker 1: because they're they're taking away trying to take away the
Speaker 1: big plays. We haven't had a lot of downfield plays
Speaker 1: in recent games, but the Buccaneers now lead the league
Speaker 1: in overall. Yeah, that's yards after the catch. We have
Speaker 1: more of that than any other team in the NFL,
Speaker 1: which is not something that's been a hallmark of our
Speaker 1: offense in recent years. But that's what they're giving us.
Speaker 1: The Bears right now have a very good pass defense.
Speaker 1: A lot of that is because their pass rush is
Speaker 1: so good, although they may be missing a player and uh,
Speaker 1: and the run defense is probably the slightly weakest part.
Speaker 1: Right now, they're going to up about a hundred twenty
Speaker 1: nine yards of game, so I think they're going to
Speaker 1: probably dares to run, and I think we're gonna run again.
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, I mean, we're still gonna
Speaker 1: throw the ball forty somethingtimes because that's who we are.
Speaker 1: But it'll be more like the last couple of games,
Speaker 1: where there's all still pretty good one pass mix. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you brought up the one player might be missing that.
Speaker 1: Yeah that. There was news this morning that Robert Quinn
Speaker 1: was put on the COVID nineteen list. Definitely one of
Speaker 1: their big pass rushers. Um. But you know, depending on
Speaker 1: whether or not he's vaccinated, there changes the rules of
Speaker 1: how quickly he could come back. Theoretically at this point
Speaker 1: he could if he's vaccinated, to be able to do
Speaker 1: those two negative tests twenty four hours apart and be available,
Speaker 1: but who knows. I mean it is already Wednesday. You
Speaker 1: know that that that gets a little bit harder the
Speaker 1: later into the week you're put on that list, So
Speaker 1: we'll have to stay tuned to that to see if
Speaker 1: he's going to be available. But that definitely would affect
Speaker 1: things on their pass fresh Yeah. I think he technically
Speaker 1: went on yesterday, so that's five days before the game.
Speaker 1: Like you said, if he can return to negative tests
Speaker 1: twenty four hours apart, and he's accidented and asymptomatic, he
Speaker 1: can come back. But as we've seen both with our
Speaker 1: own team and against some opponents this season. Most of
Speaker 1: the times when they've had a player, we've had a
Speaker 1: player going COVID that week, they have not made it
Speaker 1: back for the next game. And that would be a
Speaker 1: pretty big luss for Chicago because by far their biggest
Speaker 1: strengths of our is the pressures are getting off. The
Speaker 1: edges from Quinn and Khalil Mack have combined for eleven
Speaker 1: point five sacks already, and the Bears lead the league
Speaker 1: in both overall sacks and tax per pass play. So
Speaker 1: any bit that you can weaken that is obviously a
Speaker 1: big advantage for the Buccaneers. Okay, and related to that,
Speaker 1: Richard did ask what concerns you most about the Bears? So,
Speaker 1: um that that would probably have been your answer. So
Speaker 1: now when a we don't know what that's gonna look like,
Speaker 1: but be just outside of that, maybe what would you
Speaker 1: say is your biggest concern about the Bears? Well, they
Speaker 1: still with or without Quinn, are still gonna have a
Speaker 1: good pass rush. Um, and that's probably the biggest concern. Uh.
Speaker 1: The Buccaneers have handled that well. I mean Philadelphia the
Speaker 1: key to their defense and why they were playing pretty well.
Speaker 1: They have been be able to get pressure with just
Speaker 1: their front four and having blitz very much, which allows
Speaker 1: them to play a lot of the types of soft
Speaker 1: zones and coverage that they've been playing. But the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: held them without a sack, and uh, that was big.
Speaker 1: It was a big part of that game. Uh. The
Speaker 1: offensive line played very well. They're they've got a big
Speaker 1: challenge this week though. There's a lot of good front
Speaker 1: seven players on team. In Roquan Smith. If you want
Speaker 1: me to pick out a guy in particular, that's one
Speaker 1: of the best linebackers we're gonna face all year, and
Speaker 1: he can do everything well. He's a very good blitzer,
Speaker 1: He's very very good in coverage. He's a sure tackler.
Speaker 1: He's already got sixty two titles, probably after Mac. He's
Speaker 1: the defender that the Bucks have to really focus on
Speaker 1: where he is the most. Okay, and Daniel last, who
Speaker 1: do you think is the biggest threat to us in
Speaker 1: the NFC overall and in our division? Wow? That you know,
Speaker 1: it's such a crowded field for the NFC right now.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are six and oh and then there's four
Speaker 1: teams Rams, Bucks, Packers, and forgetting one, I think there's
Speaker 1: four other teams are five and one, and there you
Speaker 1: gotta get said of them all. Maybe it's just three
Speaker 1: others in the Bucks and the fourth. Maybe you've got
Speaker 1: to consider all these teams to be prime contenders. I
Speaker 1: thought at the beginning of the year it was the
Speaker 1: Rams and and they're on our schedule and we already
Speaker 1: lost to them, and I don't think they've done anything
Speaker 1: to make me believe that any less. You just have
Speaker 1: to take the Cardinals a lot more seriously than you
Speaker 1: did before. You know, at first it seemed like maybe
Speaker 1: they were playing a little over their heads, but they've
Speaker 1: got some quality wins over the Rams and the Browns
Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks. They're not on our schedule, though,
Speaker 1: so they're not a specific threat to us until we
Speaker 1: get to the playoffs. I guess if I have to
Speaker 1: pick one, I'm still gonna stick with the Rams, just
Speaker 1: because I think there's such a complete team. Stafford completes
Speaker 1: that offense and the defense is fantastic. So it's still
Speaker 1: the Rams for me until further notice. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for us. On this edition of
Speaker 1: Buccaneers and satur Live, presented by Miller Light. Thanks as
Speaker 1: always for those amazing questions, and we'll be back here
Speaker 1: next week to talk about that Bears game. We'll see
Speaker 1: you then,