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: How do you think this team will respond after a loss compared to the Jameis Winston years? Do you think Tom Brady will be more vocal at the players who made mistakes than what Winston was, and will that want to make them play better?

Answer: I don’t want to make any excuses for the Bucs play of Sunday in the loss, but this wasn’t the Bengals or Jets that the Bucs were playing. Arguably other than the Chiefs or Packers, will the Bucs face a better football team than the Saints in 2020? New Orleans is a well-oiled machine with a QB/head coach combo that can probably finish each other’s thoughts and sentences. Sean Payton and Drew Brees are on the same wave length in every aspect of football and it showed again on Sunday.

The Bucs needed to play nearly flawless and hope the Saints were the ones making more mistakes. That didn’t happen on Sunday, but it’s not the end of the season. I have no real cause for concern at all. Now if this team were to lose next week at home to Carolina, then yes, sound the alarm – loudly.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

Brady is the leader of this team, but I am sure he is also trying to find the right balance of how to show that leadership. Throwing two bad interceptions in an 11-point loss doesn’t lend itself for him walking around the facility screaming at guys to play better. He knows that he has to play better himself first, and I don’t believe there is any reason to think he won’t. While Brady didn’t admit it in the post-game, there was clearly some miscommunication between he and Evans on the first interception, and on the second one, which was a pick-six by Janoris Jenkins, he got a little greedy. I think Justin Watson could have helped him out a little more possibly in the route, but Brady will look back on that throw and know it wasn’t one of his better decisions.

Tampa Bay will bounce back this week against Carolina and so will Brady. Most of the reasons the Bucs lost are things they can control. And one difference I sense this year versus previous seasons is, this team believed it was as good as the Saints. They weren’t hoping they were as good, but believed they could go toe-to-toe with the NFC South champs. They just made too many mistakes in Week 1.

Question: How long do we stick with Donovan Smith? He may have the worst feet for any LT in the league.

Answer: The problem is, the Bucs have put all of their eggs in the Donovan Smith basket. As bad as he played on Sunday, the team still believes he was the best player option at that position. The big issue is that he is making $14.5 million this year, but it’s the final year of his guaranteed money. Next year’s $14.25 million base salary is not guaranteed, so he’s essentially in a contract year – and it didn’t start well in New Orleans, as Smith surrendered a couple of sacks.

Rookie Tristan Wirfs, the team’s first-round pick, is not ready to play left tackle in the NFL, although he did show plenty of promise playing right tackle in his NFL debut against Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan. Joe Haeg and Josh Wells are backup tackles for a reason. And even if the Bucs benched Smith and played Wirfs, now they have a deficiency at both tackles with a rookie on the left side playing out of position, and a backup tackle on the right side.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

Smith has reached his ceiling in my opinion. He is an average left tackle that will continue to have lapses of plays like he did on Sunday where he got blown up on a run play and then followed it up with allowing a sack on the next. It’s just the same thing we have seen on film over the last five seasons. He may go through some games where he plays well, but will also have those meltdown snaps from time to time.

So it is sink or swim with Smith this season. And hopefully the sink doesn’t include a major injury to Brady.

Question: What did you think about our rookies – Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield, Jr.?

Answer: Like you, I only got to see the television view, which isn’t very good for seeing the whole field, particularly the back end of the defense. But from first glance both impressed me for the most part. Re-watching with the All-22 will be really fun and will give us a better perspective of how the rookies played. At first glance, neither Tristan Wirfs nor Antoine Winfield, Jr. seemed overwhelmed by the bright lights and big stage.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The coaching staff seemed to give Wirfs some help from time to time with a tight end staying in, and also have quard Alex Cappa lend a hand depending on the front the Saints showed. That makes a ton of sense with All-Pro Cameron Jordan locking up with Wirfs for most of the game. In his debut against one of the better pass rushers in the NFL, I think the film will show Wirfs had a very good game.

It was more difficult to see the play of the safeties but I don’t remember any glaring errors that stood out with Winfield, who had six tackles, one QB hit and one pass breakup. I thought all in all the secondary as whole played really well and did enough for the Bucs to win.

Question: Is Tom Brady in decline seriously? Also, I felt we didn’t push the ball downfield as much and when we did, we had some success – be it a big reception or a pass interference penalty. Was this because of a lack of arm strength?

Answer: I think we all need to take a step back and take a deep breath in regards to Tom Brady’s game on Sunday. It wasn’t what many expected, nor was it anything like we saw in practice over the last month. But he wasn’t facing a very good Saints defense after just one month of training camp and no preseason games to act as a tune-up. Honestly if he had, things would have looked much different in New Orleans.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

Saints defensive coordinate Dennis Allen is no dummy, and he has play-makers at every level of his defense. With no preseason, that is all the Bucs and Brady had to go by. It might take a little more time for Brady to get in sync with his receivers and even his offensive line. Teams just can’t simulate live-game action in practices, and Brady is still learning the players around him just as they are still learning him.

Brady’s arm strength is just fine. He threw eight passes over 20 yards on Sunday and five were right on the money. Those throws for the most part were made with ease. He may not have a cannon for an arm, but the coaching staff and Brady knows where his comfort level is as far as what he can and can’t do. But Brady’s arm looked lively in camp, and his eight deep shots against the Saints showed that wasn’t a mirage in practice.