Tag: arians bucs

Watch: Bruce Arians mic’d up at Bucs training camp

Take a look back now at a mic’d up Bruce Arians during the Bucs’ 2019 training camp.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be entering Year 2 under Bruce Arians and are looking to improve on their 7-9 record from last season. With Tom Brady aboard, that seems more than doable.

Brady will be playing for a new head coach for the first time in over two decades after spending his entire career with the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick. Arians, at least from a personality standpoint, seems like a far cry from the rather quiet Belichick.

With training camp still a month away, take a look back now at a mic’d up Bruce Arians during Bucs camp last season.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers players take part in #BlackoutTuesday on social media

Tampa Bay Bucs players, and even head coach Bruce Arians, took part in #blackouttuesday on social media to help promote social justice.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of several NFL teams that have taken part in #BlackoutTuesday, a day to observe, mourn and bring about policy change in the wake of George Floyd’s death last week at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.

The movement has spread across social media, with several Bucs players taking part by posting black backgrounds to their account. Take a look at some of the players who have joined the movement below. Even head coach Bruce Arians, who hasn’t posted to his Instagram since October 2, 2019, got in on the action.

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#blackouttuesday

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🙏🏼

A post shared by Tom Brady (@tombrady) on

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#blackouttuesday 🖤

A post shared by G Baby (@chrisgodwin) on

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Stop killing us! #blackouttuesday

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✊🏿✊🏿✊🏿

A post shared by Lavonte David (@lavontedavid) on

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#blackouttuesday

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#blackouttuesday ✊🏾🙏🏾

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A 13-win season would help Bruce Arians achieve this mark

If Tom Brady can help guide the Buccaneers to a 13-win season in 2020, he’ll help Bruce Arians achieve this mark.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians went just 7-9 in his first season in Tampa, despite his team boasting the third best offense in the league. The erratic play of Jameis Winston doomed any chance the Bucs had of making a successful run at the postseason, and with Winston out and Tom Brady in, expectations are high for Arians in 2020.

While a 10-win season might be viewed as a success, the Bucs are aiming high and hoping to not only make a return to the postseason, but make a deep playoff run. That means, they’ll need to finish as close to perfect as possible. Fortunately, Brady has experience in that department, finishing 16-0 in the regular season back in 2007. The six-time Super Bowl champion has won 13 or more games seven times in his career, and if he can hit that number again this season with the Bucs, he’ll help Arians achieve a new mark, making him the fifth-winningest coach in Bucs history.

That’s right, Arians is just 13 wins shy of passing Dirk Koetter for fifth on the all-time list. It’s hard to believe, but it shows the struggles Tampa Bay has had throughout its history. Still, it’ll be fun to see if Arians can earn that distinction in just his second year.

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Bruce Arians wonders if there’s a ‘better option’ at quarterback for the Bucs

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really be finished with quarterback Jameis Winston?

The story of the 2019 offseason was quarterback Jameis Winston and how he’d perform under first-year head coach and quarterback guru Bruce Arians in a contract year.

Now, as we find ourselves in the midst of the 2020 offseason, the story is once again Winston and his future status with the Bucs. In a year in which he became just the eighth quarterback in league history to throw for over 5,000 yards in season, Winston also became the first quarterback ever to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season.

Suffice it to say, the Bucs are not about to back up the armored truck for Winston, at least in the long-run. Many predict the quarterback could find himself back in Tampa Bay in 2020 on another one-year “prove it deal.”

However, as Bruce Arians recently told ESPN’s Jenna Laine at the NFL Coaches Academy, the team doesn’t have clarity on the quarterback position yet because they don’t know which quarterbacks will be on the open market once free agency starts next month.

“No, because you don’t know who’s available. You’re just sitting and waiting to see, is there someone available? And is he a better option? That’s the problem. You get about three days to decide — the legal tampering [period]. Is somebody else gonna get let go? What’s the trade values? It’s really monotonous right now because you don’t really have any answers.”

I love that last line by Arians: “You don’t really have any answers.” That, in and of itself, seems like an answer to the question of whether or not Winston should feel confident about returning to the Bucs. If the team was committed to the QB, even for just one more year, you wouldn’t be hearing comments like this. After all, Arians has publicly said that Shaq Barrett “ain’t going nowhere” and that extending wide receiver Chris Godwin was a high priority for the team this offseason, too.

The fact that Arians has shown such little public support for Winston should be cause for concern for the former Heisman Trophy winner.

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Bruce Arians talks about the biggest difference between his Bucs and the Saints

See what Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said was the biggest difference between his Bucs squad and the Saints.

The New Orleans Saints lost another heartbreaking playoff game last weekend during the Wild-Card round, but if quarterback Drew Brees returns to the team next season, the Saints will likely be favored again to win the NFC South.

But, they’ll have their work cut out for them as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers proved in the second half of the season that they are a team on the up-and-up. With a young talented defense starting to come into their own, coupled with a potent offense, Tampa Bay could finally end their postseason drought in 2020.

And, according to head coach Bruce Arians, the biggest difference between his team and the Saints is the mentality they have entering the season in September. Arians recently talked about the message he delivered to his team following their Week 17 loss to the Falcons, and what it means for them heading into next year.

“The biggest message was I think the difference between us and the New Orleans Saints. In September, they knew they were going to win the division. We thought we might, but we weren’t sure and it was too late by October. You lose playoffs in September sometimes. A lot of people don’t like talking about that. When you start losing games in September they come back to bite you in December and some of those did for us… I think next year when we step on the field we should know we’re good enough.”

Tampa Bay certainly has a lot of confidence heading into the offseason, more so than at this point last season when they were coming off a 5-11 season and had one of the league’s worst defenses.

With a year of experience playing for Arians, this Bucs squad should surprise a lot of teams next season, including the Saints.

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Happy 26th birthday to Jameis Winston

Take a look at some pictures of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston in honor of his 26th birthday.

Over the weekend, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh enjoyed a little rest and relaxation in Napa Valley with his fiancee to celebrate his birthday, which is today.

But, Suh isn’t the only Buccaneer celebrating a birthday today. Quarterback Jameis Winston turned 26 today, still quite young for a franchise QB. The question, of course, is whether or not Winston will remain the Bucs’ franchise quarterback next season. While he did throw for 30 touchdowns and over 5,000 yards this season, he also threw 30 interceptions, including a pick-six in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons in the Bucs’ Week 17 loss.

Head coach Bruce Arians said the team will evaluate Winston over the next few weeks, but that an announcement of their decision won’t be imminent. So, while we, like Winston, wait and see what the future holds, here are some pictures of the quarterback, courtesy of the Bucs’ Twitter account, to hold you over.

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Did Bruce Arians just throw shade at Jameis Winston?

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians had some interesting things to say when talking about the team’s quarterback situation on Monday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season ended with a Jameis Winston pick-six in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. It was Winston’s 30th interception of the season, making him the first quarterback ever to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same year.

It was a tumultuous year for the former No. 1 overall pick, who also threw for over 5,000 yards. Given that Winston was playing on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, the team is under no obligation to bring him back next season. And, while reports have indicated that the team plans to bring Winston back in some capacity, nothing is certain as of right now.

And, when asked Monday if he thinks the team can win with a quarterback other than Winston under center, head coach Bruce Arians provided an answer that some may view as a shot at Winston.

“Another quarterback? Oh, yeah. If we can win with this one, we can definitely win with another one too. We’re gonna have a defense.”

First, referring to Winston as “this one” instead of by name is a bit of a slight in and of itself, but to say “we can definitely win” with another quarterback makes it sound like Winston is nothing special.

Maybe that’s not how Arians meant it, but it has to be frustrating for a head coach to see his team suffer losses because of the quarterback’s erratic play.

Arians also admitted that the injury to backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert provided Winston with more leeway than he otherwise would’ve gotten had a healthy and experienced backup been available.

“A big part of it was [backup] Blaine [Gabbert] getting hurt and we had to find out [if] this was the franchise [quarterback]. We had to find out.”

Arians said he and management will look over film from all 16 games in the coming weeks before deciding what direction to head in. Should Winston be back next year, you can bet the team won’t be as patient with him when it comes to his turnovers.

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