Penalties are beginning to become a problem again for the Bucs. They committed 11 penalties for 99 yards, which played a huge role in their Week 8 loss to the Saints.

The most penalized player in that game was inside linebacker Devin White, who committed three personal fouls. White’s overaggressiveness has been an issue at times this season where he gets out of his assignment or commits bad penalties. White was fined $25,000 for a pair of those personal fouls against the Saints.

After the results of last game, White’s mentor Lavonte David had a conversation with him about how to still play fast, but without the other extracurriculars.

Bucs ILBs Devin White and Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Me and Devin, we had a personal conversation about it,” David said. “It’s hard. That’s just the way he plays the game – physical, passionate and he goes all out. We just had our personal conversation, (I) told him how to handle stuff like that. You got to find ways to do what you do but implement it in the way the game is played right now. Don’t let nobody slow you down, don’t let nobody take your game away from you, don’t let nobody take the fun away from it. Just figure out how to do it in a certain way, in a legal way.”

Although White has been on the rise as a star on the Bucs defense, it was David that took him under his wing after the Bucs drafted him in 2019. The two starting linebackers are captains of the team and leaders on the roster, so when White has a game like he had in New Orleans, there is a reason to be concerned.

Once again David is acting in a mentor role as he tries to get White back to Pro Bowl-caliber player that many expected him to be heading into his third season.

“It’s something that he’s working on right now,” David said. “It’s definitely going to get better, though, as far as penalties and things like that. You can’t get worse than what was put on last week, so we’re definitely going to get better and that’s been addressed already.”