Table of Contents

About the Author: Matt Matera

Avatar Of Matt Matera

[adrotate group=”1″]

It was another pouring day of rain at the Bucs facilities, so they practiced inside again on Thursday. They’re playing indoors against the Cowboys on Sunday anyway, which made the practice as similar to that situation as it can get. Jason Pierre-Paul returned after missing it on Wednesday, and DeSean Jackson was practicing for the second straight day.

Despite it being a rainy day, it was a special day for two linebackers in particular. Adarius Taylor got a call in the middle of practice notifying him that his wife was about to go into labor and give birth, and Lavonte David was awarded the Ed Block Courage Award.

This award is voted on by teammates, and is given to someone who are role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. David discussed what it meant to win the award here:

After the team made the walk through the rainy conditions from the indoor facility to the locker room, head coach Dirk Koetter made his way to the podium. He first off spoke about how it went down with David winning the award and how deserving it is:

The Bucs will face against a third straight tough defense in Dallas after previously playing New Orleans and Baltimore the last two weeks. Those have not went well for WR Chris Godwin, who had one catch in the Saints game and a goose egg last Sunday. Koetter alluded to the fact that Godwin is playing hurt, but has full confidence that he’ll get back to the production they’ve had from him all season.

The attention quickly went over to David after speaking on winning his award. Before coming back against Carolina in week 13, David had missed some time with a MCL injury. He talked about what it was like playing through that injury in the middle of game, and how he was motivated to come back. He credited adrenaline and the love of the game.

David has yet to make a Pro Bowl in his career, though he’s had many teammates including Gerald McCoy publicly state that he should be, and it’s a disrespect that he hasn’t made one yet. At the end of the day, David doesn’t care about Pro Bowls, he just wants the respect of others, and for them to know that he played the right way. That’s what he would like his legacy to be in Tampa Bay, which he iterated here:

As the Bucs come under scrutiny for their lack of wins this season, a problem as of late has been a lack of explosive plays on offense. The Bucs are still at the top of the leaderboard in many offensive categories, but their explosive plays have dropped from the first half to the season to now.

Jameis Winston didn’t really have as reason as to why that is.

Since becoming the starter again, Winston has done a much better job of protecting the football. He has severely cut down his turnovers, but his statistics in yards and touchdowns have also gone lower in part of it. He was asked if taking extra caution with the ball has stopped his creative ability, but Winston doesn’t agree.

The Bucs have one more practice on Friday before traveling to Dallas on Saturday.

Week 16 Injury Report - ThursdayTampa Bay at Dallas Injury Report: 12-20
Fantasy Football Forecast Week 16Fantasy Football Forecast: Week 16
Subscribe
Notify of
14 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments