The Bucs had to deal with the Antonio Brown saga this year – first with his three-game suspension over trying to falsify his vaccination status, then with his quitting on the team in the third quarter of the Jets game. But linebacker Lavonte David hinted that there might have been more going on behind the scenes during the 2021 season within the organization.

On the heels of Tampa Bay’s heartbreaking, 30-27 playoff loss at home to the Los Angeles Rams, David had this to say.

“It’s football, man,” said David, who led the team with 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. “Things happen, starting with bringing all 22 guys back. It wasn’t going to be a cakewalk because obviously it’s football. Things happen. People get hurt. You have some mishaps here and there. Guys bump heads. That’s what happened this year. You had a lot – a lot of turmoil going on in our organization.

“Then you’ve got guys getting injured – guys who played huge parts of our football team and a huge part of our success. Just goes to show – you’ve got young guys stepping up and filling that void. It goes back to the management and the coaching staff and having guys ready. It was definitely a tough season, guys playing through injuries – all type of injuries.”

David mentions injuries several times, but didn’t reveal exactly what other turmoil the Bucs were going through in their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions during the 2021 season. Was it Brown’s antics or something else? Perhaps head coach Bruce Arians, David or one of his teammates will elaborate on that turmoil. The Bucs’ final press conferences take place at the AdventHealth Training Center on Monday morning.

Arians did say this after Sunday’s loss.

“Now, that locker room of guys have been through hell and back this year and I love them,” Arians said. “They have stuck together through all the injuries and everything else. Really, really proud of the comeback and not the finish, but I can’t say enough about all of them.”