Bucs offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs has talked a lot in recent months about his move to left tackle from a physical standpoint. What we learned from one of the best Bucs players on the roster is just how this move has impacted him on the mental side of it.

Tampa Bay is relying heavily on Tristan Wirfs to be the anchor of this offensive line and protect the blindside of whoever wins the quarterback job. He’s an All-Pro at right tackle, so naturally he is expected to succeed on the left side. But even as world class athlete, Wirfs has had “What if” thoughts in his head, wondering if everything doesn’t go as planned with the move.

Bucs run game coordinator Harold Goodwin and LG Matt Feiler and LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tristan Wirfs Expresses Worries Over Tackle Move

Tristan Wirfs courageously opened up about his own personal worries and self doubt that have taken a toll on him. He’s worked to overcome this by speaking to Bucs’ team psychologist Dr. Joe Carella to help with his struggles.

“I don’t know if it has necessarily subsided,” Wirfs said. “I think just that the negative thoughts have been outweighed by the positive thoughts now. I have been meeting with our team sports psychologist to try and help it a little bit, because I was in a really rough spot mentally.”I was really nervous. I was playing out the season in my head over and over again like, ‘Oh, what if it goes this way or what if it goes this way?’

“So, I was like, ‘It is freaking May. You have to calm down.’ It has been a lot better by just trusting myself and having confidence in my abilities. Knowing the work that I have put in will pay off. I have been coming out here every day with the best attitude that I can. Especially with us having young guys kind of look up to me now. I am just trying to stay as positive as I can. It helps me quite a bit.”

Because of the success Tristan Wirfs has had so early in his career puts him in a bit of a rock and a hard place. Success brings notoriety, fame and a respect amongst peers for being the best at a certain position. But when in a situation like his, it is also met with high expectations. The outsiders may not see the harm in having an All-Pro move sides, but in reality, it’s a much more grand request than people realize without giving a proper amount of lenience to it.

Wirfs has been great just three years into his stellar NFL career, but that adds to the pressure. He’s played out a ton of different scenarios in his head.

“One hundred percent,” Wirfs said. “I thought about that all the time. I was like, ‘OK, well if I do not do this, then I am this. If I don’t do this, then I am a failure. If I don’t do this, then I suck. If I don’t do this, then I am not a good football player.’ All that stuff. I think having those things happen in the first three years are huge to what I am thinking about. Being a first-rounder, coming out [of college], when I first got here to camp I talked about it too.

“I went up against Shaquil [Barrett] and ‘JPP’ (Jason Pierre-Paul), I was like, ‘I can’t do this. I am terrible.’ I would go back to my apartment and just think like, ‘Oh my goodness, I am not cut out for this.’ Now it is just trying to keep those thoughts out as much as I can.”

Bucs OT Raiquon O’Neal and LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tristan Wirfs Is Leaning On Lane Johnson

Part of the battle was just saying out loud that he was looking for help. Tristan Wirfs was motivated by how Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson has been an advocate for mental health that it made him go out and seek it.

“I think it is huge,” Wirfs said. “Somebody that is at the forefront of mental health is Lane Johnson. He is very outgoing about that and very supportive of that. I was very reserved in talking about how I was feeling. I am still trying to get better at it. It seems so minuscule like, ‘Oh, you are just flipping side.’ But I was having breakdowns about it.

“I decided I cannot sit here with these thoughts anymore. I was setting myself up for failure. I would just think about, ‘I am going to suck.’ Or like, ‘I am not going to be able to do it.’ for all day long. So being able to talk to Dr. Joe [Carella] and just get those thoughts out of your head. Just being able to say them helps tremendously, just getting them out of your own head.

“I am still trying to get better at saying what I am thinking and feeling. I feel like in this sport you have to be tough and all that stuff, so just being able to get things off your chest and let somebody in that is there to help. They know what they are doing. He is a professional at what he does, and I am a professional at what I do. So, I let him or her do their job. It has been very beneficial getting that stuff out of my head.”

What Tristan Wirfs Has Gained From Psychologist Meetings

Bucs OTs Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tristan Wirfs also got into what he’s learned in these sessions. What we’ve all learned is that even people such as Wirfs, who is elite level professional athlete, shares the same kind of struggles that everybody goes through.

“I think a big thing was that I had a lot of negative self-talk,” Wirfs said. “I wasn’t very positive towards myself in my own head. I feel like a lot of us go through that where it is so easy to let negative thoughts creep in. Then you have to really try and work hard to think about something positive.

“For me it is like, I can see myself not throwing my left hand or not throwing the right set. It is so easy to picture doing it the wrong way. Then to picture it the right way you have to sit there and think about it.

“With that stuff and with thinking I am not good enough, that stuff being in my head is just – I don’t know. It is so much easier to let it go and just get it out. Then trying to turn those negatives into positives, which is a hard thing to do. It is really hard but being able to really hype yourself up in your head and be as positive as you can. It is huge.”