The PR Bucs Monday Mailbag is where PewterReport.com’s Mark Cook answers your questions from our Twitter account. You can submit your question each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag.

Below are the questions we chose for this week’s edition of the PR Bucs Monday Mailbag.

Question: I’ve heard his name brought up and I like the idea, what’s the likelihood of Clay Matthews being an option? He could replace the Carl Nassib value, as we do not know anything about Anthony Nelson and what he would produce.

Answer: Clay Matthews would fit the trend of this offseason, the “one last hurrah” group of NFL big-named players that Tampa Bay has brought in to make a Super Bowl push. But like bringing in Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and re-signing Jason Pierre-Paul, there are some gambles associated with it. The Bucs would be hoping a 34-year old Matthews could get through an entire season pretty much injury free.

Former Packers OLB Clay Matthews – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR

Matthews has been pretty durable over his career, missing more than five games just once in his career back in 2013. But he is coming off a broken jaw that ended his one and only season with the Rams prematurely. Matthews played well in the 13 games for Los Angeles, recording eight sacks before his injury and he certainly is a high-motor guy that would probably fit in well with Tampa Bay’s personality on defense.

Yet PewterReport.com has learned that the Bucs don’t have any interest in Matthews for several reasons. The first of which is his age, as the 10-year veteran is 34. Tampa Bay likes Quinton Bell and Kahzin Daniels, both of whom were on the practice squad last year, and signing Matthews would essentially prevent either Bell or Daniels from making the team and claiming the fourth outside linebacker spot.

And finally what would Tampa Bay pay Matthews, and how? Coming off an eight-sack season, it is highly doubtful Matthews would play for the league veteran minimum, which is $1.3 million for a 10-year veteran. Matthews made $3.5 million last year in Los Angeles. And right now, even before signing any other free agents, the Bucs have just $4.873 million worth of cap room, and still have their rookie draft class to sign.

Question: With COVID-19 cases out of control in Florida, why won’t they move the start of the season to October? Would help if people would wear a damn mask.

Answer: I am sure that proposal has been discussed and the league is looking at that as a contingency plan, among 100 other scenarios. I don’t envy the professional sports leagues right now or even the NCAA. No matter what they decide or attempt, there will be some dissension and push-back. I am sure the NFL would have liked to have seen the NBA, NHL and MLB get started earlier this summer as a test for what they might be in store for. It does appear those leagues may get going soon, but there won’t be a lot of time for the NFL to study or garner any data from those leagues before teams report to camp. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL decision makers are in a tough position right now.

While the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise in Florida and in other states due to increased testing among other reasons, the good news is that the death rate has been dropping since April according to the CDC. That indicates to me that medical treatments for COVID-19 patients are advancing, which is a good thing. I personally still don’t want to gamble on getting it, but less people appear to be dying from it and we are seeing more recoveries likely in part because the average age of those testing positive has dropped. Hopefully that trend continues.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell – Photo by: Getty Images

I am in agreement on masks. What does wearing them really hurt? We can argue the pros and cons all day long, although the most recent science is pretty clear that they help slow the spread, but at this point it doesn’t matter. We are where we are, and now the big question is, how do we move forward to ensure sports is played safely? And as of now, no one can say for sure.

Question: So, if they’re able to pull off a season, how good will the quality of play be if full squad practices will be pretty much nil?

Answer: As a Florida State fan, I remember those Labor Day prime time match-ups that the Seminoles and Hurricanes played a few times back in the 2000s to kick off college football. College football has no preseason at all, they just practice, then line up for their first game. And usually those games were pretty sloppy with a lot or turnovers and penalties.

I expect the same for the NFL to a degree. Teams that haven’t gone through a ton of roster turnover this past offseason will hold a distinct advantage in my opinion. The 49ers, Saints, Chiefs and a handful of others should benefit. Teams that have new players, particularly quarterbacks, like the Buccaneers – or even worse, the teams that have entirely new coaching staffs – will be hurt the most.

I’d never really felt sorry for the Carolina Panthers, but imagine what Matt Rhule and his staff are feeling right now? Not only an entirely new system on both sides of the ball, but a new quarterback and a pretty big roster overhaul. Don’t expect much from the Panthers in 2020.

Question: If you had one play from the 2-yard line what personnel grouping would you put out there for the Bucs offense and why?

DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Getty Images

Answer: I would run a Jumbo package out there with Vita Vea as a lead blocker for Ronald Jones II in the backfield. I would also have both O.J. Howard and Rob Gronkowski in as tight ends and Mike Evans on the field as a receiver as well. This makes it look like a run formation, but teams also have to respect that Tom Brady could play action and find both tight ends, Evans, Jones and even Vea as eligible receivers.

I would prefer to run from this formation, but when a team has Brady at quarterback, I would put the decision in his hands whether to check out of the run and go to a pass depending on what he sees from the defense.