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Veteran Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. has seen a lot of football in his soon-to-be 10th year in the NFL. Through the grind, there’s going to be some ups and downs in each session, but Tuesday’s joint practice between the Bucs and Jaguars elicited a reaction from Godwin that he felt he needed to say.

With an overall lackluster performance from the Bucs on both the offense and defense, Godwin hated the energy that they put out. He could not get more direct that saying that as a team, they need to get their heads outside of where the sun don’t shine.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin Jr. Gives Candid Response To Team’s Effort

“Nothing too concerning, but sometimes you got to have more energy,” Chris Godwin Jr. began. “We’ve got to bring it with our own energy especially when we’re on the road in a situation like this. If it’s a game it’s going to be a hostile environment. We got to be able to pull our heads out of our asses sometimes and get back on track.”

The Bucs are thin at the wide receiver position at the moment, so Godwin has been one of the players picking up the slack with many players out. With Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan out and Tez Johnson just returning, it’s really been Godwin and rookie Ted Hurst III that have had the most reps with quarterback Baker Mayfield throughout camp. Knowing that Godwin wasn’t going to play in either preseason game allowed for him to play in both joint practice against the Jets, three of four practices back in Tampa the week after and in the joint practice today against Jacksonville.

Keep in mind that Godwin is coming back from an injury-filled season a year ago and it’s fascinating to see him carry all the weight of this group. With that said there’s a huge difference between what goes on now in the preseason and what will happen in the regular season.

“It’s definitely different because you have to use the practices to really prepare your mind and your body for the games,” Godwin said. “Luckily, just having the experience that I’ve had, you kind of know what to expect in a game, you kind of know when you feel game-ready. You just have to be really, really intentional about the work that you get in in practice.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“The coaches do a good job of structuring things that way as well so you’re constantly building up for that. Sure, the games help, but the preseason is a much different speed than the regular season anyway. It’s like, you get a little bit of a look but it’s not like…If you go into regular season expecting it to be the speed of the preseason you’re going to get your head cracked.”

Tez Johnson Reacts To Return

Speaking of the wide receivers, Tez Johnson got in on the action today against the Jaguars. He had slowly been brought back into the fold in practice last week, but did not play in the preseason game. This was his first look at different competition in quite a while.

“It feels good just to be out there with my brothers,” Johnson said. “It always sucks when you’re not out there with them. Just being back at joint practice today, I got to get my feet back from under me, but it just feels good having my teammates with me and encouraging me to be back and excited for me to be back. It feels great.”

Bucs WR Tez Johnson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

When asked about the offensive performance from today, Johnson wasn’t as brash as Godwin, but reading his expression, it could be determined that it didn’t meet the team’s demands.

“We have some stuff to clean up,” Johnson said. “Not every day is going to be a perfect day. We’ve got ups and downs in football. One day you look great, one day you look bad. Today, we got to just got to go back to the hotel and just watch film and fix our mistakes.”