Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said that the team needed to play rookie running back Rachaad White more after not receiving a single catch or carry against Green Bay in Week 3. White did see more action against Kansas City in a 41-31 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, and scored his first NFL touchdown.

That score atoned for a catastrophic mistake on the opening kickoff when White fumbled at the Tampa Bay 21-yard line. The Chiefs recovered and grabbed momentum with a 7-0 lead two plays later.

“My fumble was tough for me,” White said. “I hold myself to high standards and it shouldn’t happen. I don’t really know what happened. I thought I came down with the ball, but I guess I didn’t. … I just made sure I kept playing, kept pushing and that’s kind of how it goes.”

Bucs RB White Rebounds From Mistake

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

White did push through his mistake and carried the ball three times for six yards with two carries around the goal line, including his 1-yard TD run.

“Just cleared my mind, it was about the next play,” White said. “There was a lot of game left to be played. It didn’t deteriorate my confidence whatsoever. I don’t like fumbling. My college career [at ASU], I never fumbled. It’s life, it’s a great learning experience, helping me grow up.

“With the touchdown, we were going to go to a different play. TB (Tom Brady) scratched the play and called a run play and I just thought to get in there. My [offensive] line and tight ends, everybody was blocking – receivers did a great job of getting off the ball and doing their job. I did my job and they helped me get in.”

After getting stopped just short of the goal line on a first down run, White had to alter his path in midair on his touchdown plunge on third down. Chiefs linebacker Darius Harris was in the hole he wanted to hit, so White veered to his right and followed the block of Bucs right tackle Tristan Wirfs and tight end Brandon Walton to get into the end zone.

“Yeah because when the linebacker came clean… the play before that, I tried to obviously push through there,” White said. “The linebacker came clean this time, so I just saw a little seam to the right and I just knew that I’d get in there diving forward.”

White also had a career-high five catches for 50 yards against Kansas City.

Bucs quarterback Tom Brady was proud of White for scoring his first touchdown and making strides offensively.

“He did a good job, you know, did a good job,” Brady said. “He’s going to have to keep doing a good job. We only had three backs active. ‘Lenny’ (Leonard Fournette) plays a big role, has played a big role the last three weeks. So it’s good not to have so much on his plate all the time. We need other people to step in that role and help out.”

White has 11 carries for 21 yards (1.9 avg.) and one touchdown during his rookie season. He also has seven catches for 57 yards (8.1 avg.) through the Bucs’ first four games.