Getty Bruce Arians has concerns about how the offense performs in practice following a day off.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians wants to eliminate a growing trend for the offense that already reached historic proportions in his mind.
Arians called Monday’s practice “probably the worst offensive practice we’ve had in three years” during the press conference. Three seasons ago was 2019, his first year with the Bucs, when the team went 7-9 and former Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston threw 30 interceptions despite 5,109 passing yards and 33 touchdowns.
This year’s Bucs offense has 11 starters back from a Super Bowl-winning team led by quarterback Tom Brady. Arians won’t make any exceptions for last year’s achievements or for the fact that Brady and several Bucs coaches came back to Tampa at 2 a.m. following the Hall of Fame celebration in Canton, Ohio. The Bucs had a day off from training camp on Sunday because of the Hall of Fame festivities.
“Kind of a pattern of behavior now: after a day off, our offense just stinks,” Arians said. “They’ve got to break that habit. Dropped passes, missed assignments on basic plays — it’s just a lack of concentration.”
Bucs starters didn’t score a touchdown from three yards out in three plays during one session according to Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times. Backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw an interception during another session per Knight. Tight end O.J. Howard, who missed most of last season due to an Achilles injury, missed some chances on touchdown plays.
“I expect him to make those,” Arians said. “He’s still catching up to the speed of it and the physicality of it. He’s been out a long time, so he needs this camp.”
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Arians’ First Solution Isn’t Welcome
Arians expressed what the players need to resolve the issues of sluggish practices after days off.
“Well, back in the day we’d be out here running the s— out of them, but that don’t work anymore,” Arians said. “You go to jail for that stuff now. They’ve just got to grow up and man up. It’s been identified so they’ve got to fix it. I’m not going to fix it, you’ve got to fix it.”
Arians on Defense: ‘They Answered The Bell’
Arians liked what he saw from the defense in practice on Monday.
“I thought it was one of our best start-to-finish practices defensively … they answered the bell,” Arians said on Monday. “They came out and dominated the entire practice. It was good to see.”
Arians highlighted another player on his way back from a major injury — Vita Vea. The fifth-year nose tackle knocked down a Brady pass on Monday per Knight.
While Arians said Vea “looks good” coming back from injury, the coach noted that the former Washington Huskies standout is overweight by “three or four” pounds.
“He’s almost got his weight where it used to be,” Arians said. We had a nice target date of next Saturday, so I think he’ll hit it. He probably sweat it out today, so if he’s smart, he’ll go jump on the scale now.”
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