When you are looking for an entertaining quote and brutal honesty defensive line coach Brentson Buckner is your guy.

On Monday Buckner’s brutal honesty was on display when he spoke to the media after the team’s first practice back from the bye week.

“I think we’ve been quite average,” Buckner said about the defensive line. “I think they’re still working on and trying to get an understanding on what I’m asking them to do.

“We’ve been great at working on it and average at getting done what we need to get done. It’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint but my guys are working hard and I couldn’t be more satisfied with how they’re working.”

Even taking injuries to Vita Vea, Beau Allen and Mitch Unrein into account, average is right.

The Bucs defensive line has held teams to just 87.8 yards per game on only 3.9 yards per carry, but you could also attribute that to teams opting to pass against the Bucs’ defense, something they’ve struggled to stop all season.

The team’s eight sacks ranks 26^th in the league, but most teams have also played a fifth game. Seven of the eight sacks have come from the defensive line, with Gerald McCoy and Vinny Curry each totaling one and a half sacks, and a team-leading four sacks from the Bucs’ newly acquired defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul.

Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

“Jason is a pro’s pro,” Buckner said. “Jason comes to work to work hard and the one thing that I can’t coach, and I don’t think anyone can coach, is that when he steps on the field he doesn’t feel like anyone can block him. That’s the attitude that the great ones have and he’s brought that attitude every day.”

From the veteran and model of consistency in Pierre-Paul to the Bucs’ first-round pick in Vea, Bucker emphasized how vital it was for the unit to continue working and getting better every day.

While Vea has missed time and faced limited snaps in his time back, Buckner spoke highly of the rookie, his work ethic and his potential.

“I know y’all were looking for 10 sacks and 13 tackles for loss [from Vea] then we could get the Warren Sapp comparisons,” Said Buckner. “But he’s still a kid. Vita should still be in college, if I’m not mistaken, and he’s missed all that time. He’s a kid that’s growing and working hard and he’s a kid that was frustrated in how he played because he takes pride in his work. He didn’t let, ‘I’ve been injured,’ be an excuse. He was like, ‘Coach, I’ve got to get better.’ When he’s got that type of attitude with the way he works… the sky’s the limit for him.”

The Bucs will head to Atlanta and take on the Falcons this Sunday and look to continue improving on their 2018 campaign. The Falcons have already conceded 16 sacks on the season and with the offensive weapons at their disposal, getting pressure on Matt Ryan will be key to getting a win.