Bucs forced to cram for Thursday game at Rams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith during a post game news conference following the team's 24-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS By Roy Cummings | Tribune Staff Published: December 14, 2015 at 05:46 PMTAMPA — Monday is typically a day of reflection at One Buc Place, a day for coaches to review tape of the game played the day before, grade player performances and correct mistakes.There was nothing typical about the Monday the Bucs experienced this week.With their next game coming on Thursday, when they take on the Rams in St. Louis in their only scheduled prime-time game of the season, Monday turned into a mix of days fused into one.“Everything gets moved up,’’ Bucs coach Lovie Smith said of the schedule teams take on when playing a Thursday night game.For the coaches, Monday felt a lot like Tuesday. That’s the day usually devoted to game-planning for the next opponent. But on their accelerated schedule, coaches began that process long before the Monday sun came up.For the players, Monday had more of a Wednesday feel to it. Their first real work day of the week, Wednesday is normally a dawn-to-well-past-dusk day made up early-morning and late-afternoon team and positional meetings and the one padded practice of the week.In this case, the day started a little later than usual, around noon, and the padded practice was changed out for a much lighter late-afternoon walk-through of plays. But the meetings were all conducted, and some players spent extra time privately watching game film.The accelerated schedule was a welcomed change. Rather than dwell on their 24-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday, a loss that severely diminished their playoff hopes, players and coaches were forced to move ahead and concentrate on the Rams.“That’s exactly how you want to do it,’’ Smith said. “That was disappointing (Sunday). There’s no other way around it. And when you’re disappointed, you want to make it right and have a chance to come back quick. So, to be able to play that (next) game a little earlier, that’s a good thing.’’Tampa Bay is 19-24 overall in primetime appearances, including 1-2 in Thursday games since the NFL started playing regularly on Thursdays in 2006. All three Thursday games were lopsided: a 36-17 win at Minnesota in 2012, a 31-13 loss against Carolina in 2013 and a 56-14 loss at Atlanta in 2014.Since the beginning of the 2013 season, 19 of the 37 games played on Thursday were blowouts decided by at least two scores.Injuries are one reason Thursday games tend to get a little lopsided. As Smith pointed out Monday, there just isn’t enough time for some players, depending on their injury, to physically recover for a Thursday game.The Bucs, for example, could be without several players, including wide receiver Vincent Jackson (knee), middle linebacker Bruce Carter (ankle), defensive tackle Akeem Spence (ankle) and left guard Logan Mankins (unspecified injury) against the Rams.None of those players would have been able to participate on Monday in a regular weekday practice, Smith said, and several others whom he did not name would have been limited. That hasn’t dampened Smith’s enthusiasm for Thursday games, though.“In an ideal world, you’d rather play them at home,’’ said Smith, whose team will wear a new, all-red uniform against the Rams, who will wear all yellow. “But we like playing a Thursday night game. We’re excited about the new uniforms and all of that. And, again, we need to play quickly, and Thursday night allows us to do that.”It also allows the Bucs a chance to show the rest of the football world how far they’ve come since they last played in prime time against the Falcons. Even in the wake of their error-plagued loss to the Saints, the Bucs are eager to take advantage of that opportunity.“We’re (in) the only (game) that’s playing at the time, and we want to show people we’ve improved, that we’re not the same old Bucs or any of that,” Smith said. “And as we go to that next stage, which we will eventually get to, we’re going to have a lot of these primetime games.“So, yeah, this is a big deal to us.’’[email protected]Twitter: @RCummingsTBOBuccaneers cut Josh ShirleyBrowns signed former Central Florida wide receiver Rannell Hall off Buccaneers' practice squad
