DJax Irked; Koetter Sympathetic

October 1st, 2017

Poor job of targeting.

In case you may be unaware, Bucs speedy wideout DeSean Jackson wants the rock.

Aside from a pair of 10-yard catches (he was targeted six times), Jackson was pretty much a non-factor today. A couple of times, Joe noticed — and the scene was also captured on the video replay boards at the Den of Depression — a visibly agitated Jackson after he couldn’t come down with a catch.

Asked about Jackson’s mini-temper tantrums, winning Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said he doesn’t blame Jackson one iota for pitching a fit.

“Rightfully so, DeSean should be frustrated,” Koetter said. “DeSean is an elite player in this league and we didn’t give him the ball. We tried to get it to him. We’ve talked about how Jameis and Cam were clicking [from their first meeting] and how Jameis and Adam were clicking [when they first met]. Jameis and Mike are always clicking. We got O.J. on track. We couldn’t with DeSean; we couldn’t get it to him other than a couple of short ones.

“I mean we tried. We tried to get it to him. We just flat out missed him a couple of times or didn’t see him a couple of times.

“DeSean has every right to be frustrated. We have to get him involved more because he is a dynamic playmaker.

This is just weird to Joe. You see, Joe never missed a training camp practice and it sure looked to Joe like Jameis and Jackson weren’t just on the same page, they were on the same sentence.

Perhaps it takes time to develop a chemistry between the two but Joe is really surprised these two can’t click, as Koetter would say.

51 Responses to “DJax Irked; Koetter Sympathetic”

  1. johnnybuc Says:

    practice and game are totally different things you know this joe. totally different defense he’s going against and the giants in particular know what jackson is capable of

  2. Defense Rules Says:

    Just watching the games on TV, it looks like 2 complementary problems going on. Jameis is overthrowing DJax and underthrowing him on those deep passes (not exactly Jameis strength?). For his part, DJax doesn’t look like he’s getting any separation from the defenders, even when it’s 1-on-1. The times when I’ve keyed on him on some intermediate routes, he doesn’t seem to be getting separation there either. So part of it seems to be on Jameis, part on DJax. And oh ya, maybe part of it is on play design?

  3. celly Says:

    Crazy concept…. maybe call a couple slant plays to him?

    Just get the ball in his hands and let him make a play.

    One thing I don’t see Tampa/Jameis do that i see plenty of other teams do is the Run/Pass Option, where Jameis sees the DB playing 10 yards off and just throws the ball out there.

  4. Andrew Says:

    It’s difficult because Winston wants to avoid the int and I think this causes him to overthrow the deep ball a lot, which means he overthrows Jackson a lot.

  5. LovieBall Says:

    Where are those end-arounds we saw in the preseason?

  6. Erik w/ Clean Athletics 'The Kwon Alexander of Bucs fans' Says:

    It’s like Jameis can’t account for DJax’s speed and he throws behind him on virtually every throw right now… Even intermediate and short routes.

    ‘Cmon, Jameis. Lead your Man!

  7. Trubucfan22 Says:

    Winston’s down field accuracy on the deep balls is off. He is used to his WRs getting off the ball clean with no interference but in the games DJax is always hand fighting and getting bumped by the CBS or safeties. Throws off the timing and results in an overthrow. The deep one he threw to djax today was just as I explained. DJax didn’t have good separation and was hand checking with the CB which slowed down his route running. I’m not sure how they practice at one buc place, but I’m guessing it is a little less competitive than in the game. Jameis has to work on just giving djax a chance at the ball. Trust him to fight for it and be the one to come down with it.

    But I also think we need to get mike Evans down the field more. It seems like most of the throws to mike are short 10 yard curls or dig or outs. Nothing really attacking the safeties deep. I’m sure we will see it more soon, I’m anxiously waiting for the offense to click as a whole, right now you can tell it is doing good, but not nearly as good as the talent we have. It will get there though. Just in time for our playoff push. 😉

  8. Trubucfan22 Says:

    Celly, Winston doesn’t have a very quick release. QBs with a very fast release are better at pulling off those plays. Aaron Rodgers comes to mind the most, he has a lightning fast delivery.

  9. Wesley Says:

    I fear he’s going to turn into a cancer, by putting pressure on Dirk and Jameis.

  10. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    I agree w Celly

    Lets hit Jackson with more WR Screens/Slants and let him get some YAC…..that should keep him happy instead of so many low percentage downfield throws.

    And, by the way, has anyone noticed that 3rd down pass to Brate was low percentage (for 3rd down)…..yes Jameis was on the money and Brate made a great catch….we got away with it….if that’s an incompletion we might have a loss.
    We do that a lot…..instead of the 4 or 5 yd high percentage pass for the first down.

  11. Jim Says:

    When they do click, watch out!

  12. LakeLand Says:

    He got behind the defense once, the ball was overthrown. But they did tried to get him the ball.

  13. SteelStudBuc Says:

    Jameis and Desean have connected well on some passes in the Vikings game. The touchdown was good… the sideline catch… nice post route off a play action quick hitter. Jameis just couldn’t do it today…

    I think Desean outta the slot on some crossing routes, deep curls… slants… Bring the safeties up a bit… that one today that was overthrown had 3 guys with DJax… somebody else was open.

  14. NFLNut Says:

    Desean ain’t sniffing the HOF anyways so he should care about wins more than stats at this stage of his career …

  15. Supersam Says:

    I said this when we signed Jackson, him and Winston aren’t a good match. Winston is TERRIBLE at deep balls

  16. Supersam Says:

    Keotter needs to get more creative, other than just “Jackson go long”

  17. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    DJax doesn’t deserve those opportunities. He drops the short, easy catches all the time.

    That was the knock on him all along. 56 catches last year for 1000+ yards…but he could have had many, many more yards if not for all the drops.

    Yes, Jameis is overthrowing him on the deep passes…because supposedly DJax is fast enough to make it to the ball. He’s not…and I doubt he could catch more than 1 out of 5 deep passes that hit him in the numbers anyway.

  18. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Jameis connects to Evans with deep passes. Funny how that works, eh?

  19. Buc50 Says:

    On one pass play, DeSean ran a go route when the post was wide open because there was no safety help. I think the routes are as much a problem as the throws.

  20. Mo_Downs Says:

    Yeah, whatever…!!!

    The team lines up with 3 TE (ME13), a slot and a legitimate WR in DJax.
    Jameis isn’t used to throwing to anyone with speed, period.
    I assume that’s why Godwin (4.4/40) is used sparingly.
    But, a win is the goal..right?

    I’m not surprised that Mighty Mouse got caught from behind by a linebacker when he had a 5yd lead and nothing but grass in front of him.
    The Bucs aren’t winning a foot race at any position.

  21. mjc Says:

    Jameis does not have confidence in D JAX yet. Through 3 games we have seen Mike, Cam, OJ, Adam make some fantastic catches. Unless the ball is perfect D Jax he is not making the catch nor is he making an effort to go after a ball. Also he is getting bumped off his routes.

    Main positive so far is he still is drawing coverage away from Mike and other receivers

  22. cmurda Says:

    D Jax needs to be making more of an effort to get to the ball and less of an effort in whining constantly.

  23. JameisDungy Says:

    Dirk has to stop being predictable with Djack.

    Appreciate Adam’s efforts, but why are all the screen passes to him? We really want 160 pound Jackson as the main blocker?

    Why are we not throwing drags, crossing routes, etc to get him the ball in space.

    Deseasn is a very different WR than what Dirk was use to coaching in his career. He’s use to big and physical wrs. Use some of these plays for Adam with DJack and maybe they end up being TDs for the Bucs.

  24. Destinjohnny Says:

    Epaecially odd since d jack put some much time in during
    Ota’s…….

  25. unbelievable Says:

    D-Jax has been getting knocked around by DBs quite a bit, altering his timing and position just slightly which I think has contributed. A couple plays have looked like he could have gave more effort.

    Jameis has also flat out missed him a few times too.

  26. Jeffbuc Says:

    Why with the receivers we have are we lining up big. And getting the whole defense in tight. I never understand why if teams are going to run up the middle to try and get a yard they bring in everybody. You are only runnng between the guard and center so wouldn’t you want to go spread offense and get as many people as possible on defense away from the line. And as for Jackson I feel you why are we running screens to Adam. All those quit screen and routes should be his because he can actually take them to the house. And then out of those sets we can fake a screen or quick slant and he can take off deep while the safety is cheating. Sounds better than just lining him out wide and sending him deep when the corners will instantly be turning there hips and sprinting deep. It just seems the play calling isn’t that creative. Why wouldn’t we run that Howard wide open play again evidently they were confused try to get them again. We are to predictable on offense. Is it me or do we always look the same defensively and offensively no matter who the coach is we have looked this way since Raheem was here. I have been saying for years when a fan knows what your running by the formation think what a team knows.today was the only time I can remember us totally fooling someone with that Howard play. But will also help if Jameis could actually hit a deep receiver in stride once. And a deep jump ball to Mike won’t hurt every once in a while. I really feel I could call a better game than our current oc. We get one good run and you can bet we will run it the next 3 plays. On the final drive I have to say wow jameis way to bring us down the field 5-5 for 55 yards. But to stop there and put it into the hands of the struggling kicker. That’s insane I bet the head coach carries a big mother fuc$$$$ stick.

  27. THETRUTH Says:

    JW had never been consistently accurate on long ball since at FSU , he had WR that made great plays many times. He has struggled with Evans past few years on long ball. So when he gets it there you gotta make the play. JW will hit target in 35 yard in route or out but deep let’s be honest needs improvement

  28. LocalJoker Says:

    Too many weapons! WR Chris Godwin never got a pass! Koetter doesn’t have a game plan to incorporate everyone and run the ball as frequent as he does. Get in line DJax!!!

  29. Mike Says:

    Koetters a jackass

  30. tnew Says:

    think Koetter will call out Winston for Djax not trying to blocking 24 on Humprhries catch/run midway through the 4th? I’m sure that’s on Winston too.

  31. PRBucFan Says:

    D Jax is open but Winston just can’t hit him in stride.

    More over throws than under throws surprisingly.

  32. PRBucFan Says:

    lol ur all pathetic acting like its DJax fault that Jameis isn’t used to someone with his speed. Of course he connects with Mike lol. Not only has he played with him multiple seasons, Mike is also much slower and not usually running Go routes everytime they try and connect.

  33. Richbucsfan Says:

    It appears #3 has reached his limit. Short to mid range, ok. 20+ a crap shoot. This is a franchise QB?

  34. Swoop Says:

    No, but Mariota is…HAHAHAHAHA

  35. simon Says:

    Everybody ready for the woodshed beating we are going to receive on Thursday given the fact the patriots lost on sunday…thanks stinking panthers!! I just hope the bucs keep it respectable 40 -10 and brady under 500 yards and am good.

  36. Geno Says:

    Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
    October 1st, 2017 at 10:56 pm
    Jameis connects to Evans with deep passes. Funny how that works, eh?

    So this comment seemed off to me. 2015 Evans long was 68 and 2nd long was 40. In 2016 his long was 45 with 2nd long 39. Did not seem like connection with deep passes to me especially with that many targets

  37. tnew Says:

    First off, if 70+% passing, 300+ yards, 3 TD’s and 0 INTs is Winston’s “limit” then ok, we should all be thankful for that. Just think about what that season would project to..

    Now, for DJax. I think we, as a fanbase, are realizing exactly who he is. Most of us just know him from ESPN highlights or fantasy stat sheets. DJax wants to be considered “elite” like Koetter loosely tossed but the mentality between the two elite receivers in the game in Evans and OBJ was huge. Winston has missed him, but he hasn’t helped Winston out too much. Those two throws “behind” him in the middle of the field, maybe those were bad misses, but if he leads him into the middle of the field, the safety kills him, or maybe DJax gets held up by a cb (avoids contact, 2nd Int vs Vikings) and its another INT.

    Evans, Humphries, Brate do not give up on routes. Humphries may lose his battle but he will fight the fight. Brate or Evans may have drops (they both did in this game) but they don’t require perfect balls to give maximum effort.

    When you don’t show to OTA’s, you play very limited in preseason because you are “saving yourself for the real season”, and you are surrounded by workaholics like Evans, Brate, Humphries and Godwin, why do you think that everything will be perfect?

    Every relationship is a two way…. in this case a three way street. I’m glad Koetter used the collective we versus the typical he. (tho it sure felt like Koetter was saying he, most people heard Winston in that context)

    However, Koetter needs to go back to what he said in preseason about sharing the balls.

    https://www.joebucsfan.com/2017/06/dirk-koetter/

    I can promise, in breaking down coach’s tape, Baker has less loafs this season than DJax. I can’t wait to see if it looks as bad as the play in the 4th when Hump makes a catch, breaks a tackle and Djax first loafs, considers making a block and then decides not to. He makes the block there and Hump scores.

  38. Jlbucs Says:

    Djax has made poor attempts at playing the ball when he is targeted. It caused an int last week and almost again this week. If starts helping his qb out then maybe he will earn more targets. Right now, I wouldn’t trust him.

  39. Dusthty Rhothdes Says:

    Throw his some under screens get him some reverses, he was definitely open some times on the goal line and djax dropped one in there but they are not even close on the deep throws

  40. Ed Schwartz Says:

    Jackson has played under head coaches like Andy Reid when he was in Phila and Jay Gruden in Washington. Both coaches ran a modern version of the west coast offense with lots of crossing patterns. Jackson was very successful working the deep part of that offense. Many of his long TD’s were long crossing patterns or post routes.

    Koetter doesn’t run many crossing routes, even Hump’s catches are bubble screens and short vertical routes.

    With the speed of Jackson, to take advantage of his ability you should be crossing him with Evans or Brate running pick plays so he can catch it on the move. Sometimes you have to make plays that fit the players skill sets rather than have him running the same kinds of routes as Evans and Humphries are running. Likewise with Howard, he can get downfield pretty fast, he should be getting more targets.

  41. Shane Says:

    I think he does make a huge difference though. He’s opening the field up for Mike and other guys.

  42. Stud Says:

    Hard to make YAC when the QB can’t hit you in stride. Jackson is still fast and gets separation but Winston struggles hitting lots of guys in stride. Until he cleans up his ball placement he’ll be who he is now a middle of the road QB who will tease you with a few great games but is mostly average.

  43. Tom Edrington Says:

    D-Jax pouting on the sideline like the spoiled prima donna he is……looks like an outsider, he’s a mercenary…..only happy when he has stats.

  44. Conte Piscateli Says:

    I absolutely think djax should get at least one end around a game, if only to keep the defenses honest and afraid of it. Seriously though it’s not hard to gamelan him a couple easy short throws early in the game. His first involvement shouldn’t be a bomb in the second quarter.

  45. USMC-BUC Says:

    Lets mix in a wide receiver screen, I know Rudy gets those out of slot, wouldn’t make sense to run those same plays to DJax who has a better chance of breaking it open?

  46. TeddyTB Says:

    Man for once I hope someone from the bucs actually reads this comment sections. While jameis hasn’t been money on the deep balls this only a piece of the problem. The play calling is very vanilla at this point and its obvious there’s more ways to utilize DJ than we currently are. But he gets paid a lot so he needs to show top effort even on bad throws. I love DJ as a player but I was pissed when he gave up on that block for humphries, inexcusable. I actually wanna see him & Godwin on the same side crossing with all that speed.

  47. Big Daddy 58 Says:

    Easy does it fellas.Dirk koetter is very capable of drawing up plays for all concerned.When you play poker do you tip all your cards? Watch what djaxs stats do when we cross into mid season.!Skies the limit!

  48. SOEbuc Says:

    This is just Koetter putting more pressure on Jameis to force “explosive”, possibly plays by agreeing with DJax that his hissy fits are okay because he wants the rock more. If he can get open, pitch it to him, but if not we got plenty of other guys that could be open.

  49. SOEbuc Says:

    *possibly stupid plays

  50. Doctor Stroud Says:

    Don’t worry, DJax, we’re “irked”, too.

  51. Swoop Says:

    Because Bucs fans wish they could have Mariota instead…the Titans franchise QB…America’s REAL QB. BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!