Antoine Winfield Jr. gave his team a stern message in the locker room after its loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 7.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped one of its most important games of the season on Sunday, relinquishing the NFC South to the Atlanta Falcons after a rough 16-13 loss. The sense of urgency wasn’t lost on the team — in fact, it came face to face with it right after the game in the locker room.
Bucs safety [autotag]Antoine Winfield Jr.[/autotag], who has played at an All-Pro level in 2023 and has been a leader on Tampa Bay’s defense, wouldn’t let the result of the game linger. Instead, he gave a speech to the team, and it came with a burning question for everyone in the organization: “How good do we want to be?”
“It’s up to us, it’s up to the guys in this locker room, and it’s really cool coming from (Antoine),” Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. “We all know what an incredible player he is. You know, that play he made on the goal line, that’s insane. Coming from him, everyone listens, all eyes are on him. It was really cool.”
Winfield Jr. himself says that he isn’t a man of many words, but when he speaks, he “really means it.” Winfield Jr. not only told his team that its story is its own and that it’s up to everyone to take the destiny that is out in front of them, but also spoke about the football issues plaguing the team.
“Yeah, just that we’ve got to close those games out. We’ve got to play better, and we’ve got to win those close games like that, to summarize it,” Winfield Jr. said. “We’ve just got to find a way to win.”
Finding a way to win has been tough for this team. Tampa Bay’s offense has stalled entirely, and a once-mighty defense is currently giving up the most third downs of any team in the NFL — it’s a big reason why the team couldn’t get off the field on the final drive of the game. Whether or not the Bucs have the talent and wherewithal to turn things around remains to be seen, but the team definitely has the motivation after Winfield’s big speech.
Everybody took it well,” Winfield Jr. said. “We’re all trying to win here. We’re all professionals. I just felt like it needed to be said and so I just said what I said.”
Wirfs echoed his statement, and so did another Bucs captain — quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“He is a key leader,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, [he made] a ton of big plays in that game and has been consistent here for a while. Those guys we have to lean on and follow that leadership and everybody else has to fall in line.”
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