One week after Bucs head coach Bruce Arians admonished cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III for needing to “get his mind right” when the former first-round pick sat out of last week’s OTAs, Hargreaves was back on the field and ready to make amends.

Hargreaves dismissed Arians’ comments as just “tough love,” and said that Arians did not tell him to sit out practice.

“Nothing, it was about nothing,” Hargreaves. “He came to talk to me, and that’s my guy. We’re on the same page, it’s nothing.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Tough love. Just two weeks ago he was telling me how great I was going to be, right? So the good comes with the bad. Like I said, it’s nothing, he came and talked me, we talked several times before that – we’re all good. There was no issue, there was never an issue between us. I’m a coaches kid, there would never be an in issue with me and the coach – ever.”

Hargreaves went onto talk more about the issue.

“He didn’t tell me not to practice,” Hargreaves. “It was my decision, it was my choice. Just some lingering [injury] issues that I had coming into OTAs.”

Hargreaves talked about his expectations this offseason.

“Just [take it] day-by-day, I can’t take it any other way,” Hargreaves said. “I’m just excited to get going, but this (OTA practice) comes first. So I’ve got to get my lungs back, I’ve got to get my wind back, I’ve got to get back into rhythm.”

Despite being in just his fourth season, Hargreaves reflected on being the elder statesmen in the secondary among the cornerbacks.

“Yeah, I am the oldest – and I’m only 23,” Hargreaves said. “That’s kind of crazy, but I understand what needs to be done, I understand that I’m the vet. I’m going to help those guys come along, but they don’t really need no help, honestly, until probably the season starts, then they’ll start, but right now they got it, they got the playbook. I don’t need to worry about it.

“Those kids (new draft picks) are good, they can play. They’re long, tall, they can play. I’m excited for them.”