35 Days: Masifilo Will to Do Anything to StayJustin Pawlowski @CommishOnlineJuly 11, 2015
As we countdown the days until the Bucs' 1st preseason game, we discuss a different Bucs player at length.Writing some random story on some random Bucs player would suffice our countdown, but Matthew Masilfilo is anything but some random Bucs player.Masilfilo joined the Bucs as a defensive lineman in 2012 under then head coach Greg Schiano. A long shot to make the roster, Masifilo not oly made the roster, but became a player the Bucs were focused on developing. That development never fully worked out on the defensive side of the ball.Even under the new regime of Lovie Smith and Jason Licht, Masifilo was given a chance at defensive end. This off-season, everything changed, but it was another opportunity for Masifilo.Matthew Masifilo has been shifted to offense in an attempt to see if he can bring his work ethic and aggressiveness to either guard or tackle along the Bucs struggling offensive line."Matt is hungry and he is like a sponge," offensive line coach George Warhop told the media earlier this off-season. "Every day he comes out here he gets a little bit better. We know it's going to take some time, so we are patient with him. I like the fact that he shows up every day and wants to get better. He doesn't shrink to criticism. If you say ‘You are doing this wrong. You need to try that.' He says ‘Okay, I'm going to do it.' If he goes about it that way, he will progress quickly."I don't believe Masifilo is the Bucs' answer at either guard or tackle, but I do believe he's a player you want to keep around. If he learns enough offensive line technique, Masifilo could prove to be one of those invaluable reserves on game day.
