Bucs rookie outside linebacker Joe Tryon had his first NFL preseason sack nullified by a very questionable roughing the passer penalty on Saturday night. Tryon, Tampa Bay’s first-round pick, sacked Cincinnati quarterback Brandon Allen in the team’s 19-14 loss in the preseason opener, but was flagged for a personal foul.

As it turns out, referee Roy Ellison, the official who threw the flag, questioned his own call moments after Tryon was penalized. Tryon was mic’d up for the preseason opener and in a new episode of the In The Current video series, which is produced by the team, Tryon and Ellison have a discussion about the penalty. At the time it happened it looked like a suspect call as Tryon did not lead with the helmet, although the two helmets did touch.

“That was a good play on the roughing the passer,” Ellison said to Tryon, presumably after looking at a replay on the Bucs’ in-stadium video board.

Bucs OLB Joe Tryon – Photo from Buccaneers’ In The Current

“I didn’t mean to hit him like that,” Tryon said.

“I think we may have screwed that up, alright?” Ellison said.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians was still fired up about the blown call after the game in his press conference.

“Yeah, [the QB] is a runner,” Arians said. “He wasn’t a quarterback he was running the option. That play’s been in the league for a while now. Hell, you can hit ‘em when they fake it. I mean there’s no such thing as body weight. He wasn’t in a passing position he was a runner. He misread it obviously and that might be one of the worst calls I’ve seen in about 10 years.”

Overall, Arians was pleased with Tryon’s pro debut – with or without the sack that counted.

“Joe, he was disruptive. He showed some stuff. He didn’t get there all the time but he was disruptive.”