“It’s Either A Pass Or Fail Grade”

September 28th, 2014

Has Joe been too harsh on Josh McCown?

Maybe. Or maybe not. That depends on how you interpret the words of Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl winning quarterback, Brad Johnson.

He talked recently about how McCown looks very athletic and appeared sharp in training camp, but McCown hasn’t cut it during the season.

“The little mistakes, they just cost you,” Johnson said of McCown on WHFS-FM 98.7. “It’s either a pass or fail grade is what you get.”

Johnson added that he “wouldn’t give up on him” yet. “Months ago, [McCown] was doing it for Chicago. Hopefully, it’ll translate in this season soon,” he said.

Regarding the state of the Bucs’ offense in the aftermath of losing Jeff Tedford, Johnson said to remember how Tedford was there to coach the coaching staff on his system and expertise, not only lead the players. The Tedford loss, Johnson said, is massive.

Nobody outside the team will know whether the players are just not making plays or are not feeling comfortable in the system, he said.

Joe agrees with Johnson on the pass-fail grading system. McCown failed in each of his three games, considering he primarily was hired for ball security, decision-making and leadership. And at 0-3 in a lost season, Mike Glennon is the only wise starting choice for the rest of the year.

On Glennon, Johnson liked Glennon’s half of football in Atlanta.

For those wondering what Johnson is up to these days, he said he’s leading five youth teams in Georgia — two football and three basketball — “a full-time coach with a whistle in my hands and filling up water bottles for the kids.”

19 Responses to ““It’s Either A Pass Or Fail Grade””

  1. terraj35 Says:

    Is anyone else wondering if McCown would even start at qb for the youth team Brad coaches? I know I am.

  2. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Any criticism toward Josh McCown is earned. I’ve always said, a player must earn his props…or his criticisms. In Josh’s case, he made several very stupid decisions that cost the team.

    The Jeff Tedford taking a leave of absence is a huge hit. More than that, it puts the Bucs in a position where they cannot hire a new OC because law may require them to hold the position for him. (I’m not entirely sure about that, but I think its the case)

    Arroyo is the worse person to have calling plays, and I was never in favor of Frazier being hired at all.

    Speaking of Frazier…here’s a theory for you.

    Josh Freeman was liked by a bunch of players on this team. While I think they agree he pushed himself out the door, where did he go? To the team Frazier was head coach of.

    And what did Frazier do to Josh? Built him up, let him play one game (too soon) and benched him.

    So the theory is this…could the defense be holding a grudge against Frazier?

    I’m sure the first person they called when he was hired was Josh Freeman, and I’m sure he had nothing good to say.

  3. nate Says:

    Basically he is saying were screwed to me..

  4. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    “we’re”

    were is something else entirely. This ends Grammar 101 from the anal-ist.

  5. RCH Says:

    Joe technically the season isn’t lost until the Bucs have lost 7 games. I am just looking for improvement going forward for next season.

  6. Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:

    So for the 4 months that Tedford was here, what EXACTLY did he teach the coaching staff?

  7. Architek Says:

    I’m not gonna watch the game and neither is America.

  8. Ray Rice Says:

    Besides the Super Bowl season, Brad was doing the same job he is now at the pro level. “Filling water bottles for the kids(rookies).”

  9. FanOfBucs Says:

    To be fair:

    He’s been running for his life since getting here.

    Guys keep dropping well thrown balls.

    The int’s we’re horrendous.

    -I think McCown is better than what many think, but may still not be enough. We shall see!

    Hopefully Glennon takes the job and never looks back today. That’ll make things easy.

    Go Bucs!!

  10. Espo Says:

    Ray Rice, you are the scum of the earth.

  11. MadMax â„¢ Says:

    Theres a new “Brad Johnson” … his name is Connor Shaw! With this inept organization, I COMPLETELY see why we’re not plucking him from Cleveland’s practice squad!

  12. Espo Says:

    He’s been running for his life because he holds onto the ball too long. The line has done surprisingly well. His receivers are getting open but he isn’t pulling the trigger. I can’t argue the dropped passes point.

  13. billy buckaroo Says:

    Chicago receivers for McCown
    Alshon Jeffery
    Martellus Bennett
    Brandon Marshall

    Bucs receivers for McCown
    V Jackson
    Mike Evans
    ASJ

    Offense Coordinators for McCown
    Chicago
    Aaron Kromer-Marc Trestman

    Bucs
    Marcus Arroyo – Lovie Smith

    Unfortunately for McCown
    Not Apples and Apples

  14. Buccfan37 Says:

    I’m going to watch the game to the sweet or bitter ending, either some much anticipated celebrating or a glutton for punishment. I used to go to Buc games at Tampa stadium with my brother. If the game was over early, like the Bucs losing bad in 3rd quarter, I would say let’s beat the traffic and get out of here. He insisted on staying until the clock read zero. Watching at home I can stay until the end.

  15. Louis Friend Says:

    @Buc Bonzai

    Your theory got a chuckle out of me. Maybe in some parallel universe something like that might happen, but I doubt that’s the likely cause here.

    Lavonte David might be turning into the saddest story on the defense this year. This absolutely gifted football player, blessed with abilities that few possess – has been crippled into a role he’s not comfortable with. He numbers are down, and his impact has diminished a LOT. I look at him struggling, and the words ‘bad scheme’ keep rolling through my mind. It’s damned unfortunate.

    As far as McCown, I hate to say it but – who cares? He’s 35, he’s careless and hasn’t shown an ability improvise without making bad decisions. Those aren’t scheme related whatsoever. Those are things that can’t be fixed in most players except through superb coaching. And that’s not happening here.

    Let the kid run with it. If 2 years of being thrown to the wolves doesn’t ruin him, some team will be getting a fine game manager when we inevitably let him walk a couple of years from now.

  16. Warren Says:

    same here Buccfan37…watching win or lose. Always interested to see the difference in effort or scheme and how effectively we make needed adjustments. Once I see something positive we can build on I will remain watching. Go Bucs!

  17. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Says:

    Glennon is the future, and since the Bucs don’t have much of a future this season, we might as well see what we have in him.
    I hope the team rallies around Glennon, and we get the win today to turn our season around.
    In my eyes, McCown was an expensive mistake, and in no way worth the money we paid for him.

  18. Trubucfan22 Says:

    You people miss the entire reason McCown was brought in. He was meant to be a mentor for glennon. Glennon hasn’t had a veteran leader to help him in the locker room and in the meeting rooms. As we all know McCown has been a career back up. He obviously wasn’t going to turn it around and dominate. Your expectations are too high for him. He is here to be a mentor because glennon is far from ready to being a successful nfl qb. Many people here expected him to suck and he did. Now you are mad that he sucked? Were you led to believe he was some all star? No, we knew he was bad, he’s only here because glennon is worse at this point. The bucs hoped that Glennon could only learn how to be a pro from a guy who has done it for 13+ years.

    It’s not McCown’s play making that brought him to Tampa, it was his locker room leadership and mentoring skills. In a season this jacked up we certainly need that leadership.

  19. buc4lyfe Says:

    I respect that and it’s the way it should be. Same goes for mike Glennon you either pass or fail. No one wants to hear excuses for any of the quarterbacks here in Tampa but Glennon mob that’s all I hear. Why not judge him on his play and stop using everyone else as an excuse for why he averages 5 yards per passing play