It’s not often when a team that has won three games in a row and is on the cusp of turning their season around to win a division that there’s controversy to supersedes that storyline. When Devin White is in the middle of it, that makes an exception. The Bucs’ inside linebacker found himself at the forefront of conversation this week after questions over his inactive designation last Sunday and on Wednesday, we finally got his side of the story.

To give a quick recap of everything, Devin White practiced last Thursday and Friday in full but was inactive on game day when the Bucs faced the Packers. According to reports from Pewter Report and Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, White was told he was going to share reps with inside linebacker K.J. Britt, who had started in place of Devin White the two games before. Upon hearing the news, White was not in favor of the news and proceeded to say that he couldn’t go.

On Monday, Todd Bowles didn’t exactly sound convincing when he said that he had a conversation with White on Friday or Saturday (he couldn’t remember) and that’s when he said he couldn’t go. Despite all of that, the Bucs didn’t downgrade White to out for the game even though they had made adjustments to three other players throughout the weekend.

Devin White Answers All

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Everybody wanted to hear from Devin White today. First, he was asked if Todd Bowles approached him about having a rotational role with Britt, which he sort of answered without answering. White was asked for clarification about this upcoming game and about his status in the last game.

“So far, we’ve just been trying to get me back on the field – get me comfortable,” White said. “Right now, we haven’t talked about it. The game plan just went in. I’m going to do whatever he needs me to do.

“Until that day comes, today was a walk-through so we didn’t really get after it to see how I felt or anything. For right now, not yet, but when he [does], or if he [does], then I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do.”

Then White was asked how it sat with him when he was told that Britt would play. This was his response.

“It didn’t sit [any type of] way with me,” White said. “K.J. has been playing well all year since I’ve been out. I’m proud of him. That’s what we do. That’s what he got drafted here to do – to be a great player that can step in for me and Lavonte [David] and he did just that.

“Just like I was supporting him when I wasn’t playing, if I did play, I was going to support him – whatever the case may be – just like he [does for] me. We’ve got a really great relationship – everybody in our linebacker room does. There’s never going to be [any] bumping heads about [anything] like that. At the end of the day, it’s all about winning.”

For context, here’s the video with those questions presented to him.

Next was Devin White displaying the timeline that led to him being out.

“I don’t know, shoot, I guess you could say Friday?” White said. “We had a practice – last Friday – I had a little more explosiveness then I’ve been [having] but I just still felt a little bit of discomfort. I knew I wasn’t all the way there yet. I didn’t want to jeopardize all the work we’ve put in when we sat the previous two weeks – trying to get my foot back right.

“I want to come back and I want to be full-go. A thing I’ve been doing is I’ve been [taping] my cleats and wearing tape under my shoe. I wear Jordan [brand] cleats and that has just not been me. I’m just trying to get back to being as me as possible.”

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: USA Today

“I’m going to say this one time,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “He was medically cleared to play, then he indicated that he didn’t feel right. He informed me that he couldn’t play – he couldn’t go. We had ongoing conversations until Sunday morning. I decided to deactivate him. When he got to the stadium, he found out he was inactive.”

Devin White Sets The Record Straight

The biggest topic that Devin White wanted to accomplish was shutting down any negative perceptions of him. If you recall, White had some cryptic posts on his Instagram story hinting that he didn’t like the way he was portrayed. His biggest gripe was people thinking he quit on the team by saying he couldn’t go.

“I’ve just been seeing a lot of stuff saying that I quit on my team,” White said. “I don’t understand how I could do that when it was me and Coach [Todd] Bowles’ decision to sit down and rest to be able to help my team. Even when I haven’t been playing, I’ve been in the building.

“I’ve been out there just supporting them – taking notes as if I was going to play, just in case they had any questions or if I [saw] something, I could relay it to those guys to help put them in a better position. That’s the biggest thing that didn’t sit well with me because I’d never quit on my team. I love this game so much, I love competing so much. Out of everything, that just didn’t sit well with me.”

Saints QB Derek Carr – Photo by: USA Today

When questioned about why he thinks information has leaked from the Bucs facility about recent events surrounding him, White wasn’t sure. He didn’t understand why the attention should be on him when the Bucs have been playing so well.

“I don’t know, man. I can only speak from what I know and what I went through and what I personally deal with,” White said. “I don’t know. I know I don’t have to tell [any] lies. It is what it is.

“Somebody might want to give you something to talk about, to make the [Buccaneers] be talked about – I don’t know. Baker [Mayfield] went crazy last week and we’re talking about Devin White. I don’t think I should even be mentioned in a game where I didn’t play, didn’t contribute [anything] besides being the biggest cheerleader that I could be in Green Bay.

“Other than that, I don’t know, man. Kudos to it – I’ll face everything head-on. It’s just another stepping stone in my journey that I’m willing to face. The story is going to be great in the end, so make sure they give you more information in the end when I’m on the right side of it.”

White is correct that Baker Mayfield having his best game of the season should be the headlining story. But this is also coming from a player who requested a trade before the season and was consistently commenting on other team’s Instagram posts in hopes that it would create a narrative that the Bucs should pay him instantly. Bowles has White’s back and will defend him endlessly, but it seems that not everyone surrounding Tampa Bay feels the same about him this season.