70 Percent Juice
August 15th, 2021
O.J. Howard
There is one thing Bucs fans can be certain of when watching a Tampa Bay preseason game on WFLA-TV.
Rondé Barber will be on the air parroting what he’s hearing all week/summer long from high-ranking Bucs officials. So Joe is always hypersensitive to what Barber has to say for that reason.
Throw in the fact that Barber watches game film and practice film, and knows what questions to ask of the power players, and Joe has no problem calling Barber an ultimate Bucs insider.
On the broadcast last night, Joe’s ears perked up when Barber speculated that O.J. Howard (“Juice,” as Tom Brady calls him) is about 70 percent healthy.
Howard played last night and caught a pass, and Barber’s chatter came after Howard’s reception. Joe is confident Barber didn’t pull that number out of thin air.
So is 70 percent healthy a good place to be after Achilles surgery 10 months ago? Joe is not a doctor, but it is promising that Howard is on the field without restrictions.
Can Howard get to 90 percent this season? 100? Do the Bucs plan to use Howard sparingly until he gets closer to 85 percent?
It’s going to be a very interesting second half of the season for Howard.
August 15th, 2021 at 11:25 am
Not part of the future, IMO
August 15th, 2021 at 11:30 am
He better keep an eye on Hudson. Barbers right 70% today. IMO Free Agency by final cut down.
August 15th, 2021 at 11:33 am
OJ will help us win back-to-back Superbowls then a team like Miami will pay him HUGE. It’s almost a shame b/c OJ has entrenched himself into this community by openly supporting the Rays & Lightning and going to games.
August 15th, 2021 at 11:54 am
OJ Howard at 70% is still better than 70% of the other Tight Ends in the league!
August 15th, 2021 at 11:56 am
Howards never been more than 85%.
August 15th, 2021 at 12:16 pm
Achilles recovery is slow. This was to be expected.
August 15th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
OJ=Trade Bait.
August 15th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
These percentages interest me……..70 % of what?……Strength, painless-play, speed……could it be 72%?………
And…who’s to say you can’t jump from 70% to 90% in a week or two….who knows?
August 15th, 2021 at 12:34 pm
Yeah, all this percentage crap… there’s no precision to it and there isn’t any measurement. It’s just some dude having an opinion. Is his speed and agility at 70%? Or his physical fitness? It’s all just NFL speculation-industrial-complex chatter, nothing more.
August 15th, 2021 at 1:34 pm
Well, it’s obvious 70% doesn’t relate to the probability of reinjuring it or causing a set back in his recovery. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let practice with the team, much less play any snaps in a preseason game.
August 15th, 2021 at 1:46 pm
Last chance.
August 15th, 2021 at 1:52 pm
It’s amazing how many ‘fans’ here actively root against high draft picks and want them to fail. They want to be able to call people a bust, because they, themselves, are losers who have never done anything with their life, so they want, no, need to see failure elsewhere, it’s the only way they can look at themselves in a mirror.
August 15th, 2021 at 1:53 pm
Trade bait ???
Lol
August 15th, 2021 at 3:20 pm
Rod Munch I can only speak for myself here. I am one of O.J. biggest critics and I would love nothing more then him to proove me wrong.
Still waiting but I do hope he makes me eat my words this year……So dont confuse crisism with rooting for failure. I know some folks would love more to be proven right then see thd Bucs succeed. But i would bet most of us would rather be wrong and see us win.
August 15th, 2021 at 4:11 pm
Unless a miracle occurs and O.J. finds a way to be consistently good, then he will be a former Buc after this year. That would be three first round busts that Licht has drafted in Winston, Hargreaves, and potentially Howard. Licht has certainly turned the corner, but he has made plenty of mistakes along the way while beciming a good gm.
August 15th, 2021 at 4:54 pm
If he is only 70 percent, I don’t see how he has any chance of getting healed if he has to play this year. The guy has tons of talent, but constant injuries will be his downfall. I hope I’m wrong but I just don’t see how he can be successful if he is only 70 percent healthy.
August 15th, 2021 at 4:57 pm
JimmyJack – You’re an actual fan of the team, generally way too optimistic if anything (which isn’t a bad thing mind you), but I’m certainly not talking about yourself. I’m talking about the ones who just hope failure on everyone and celebrate loses and injuries. There’s a lot of those people here.
August 15th, 2021 at 5:15 pm
I heard this comment by barber very different then the lames who have not played sports. You think the bucs would put oj out there if his injury was only 70% healed? What barber is saying to the non athletes is the man has to get back into football shape physically, mentally and confidence that his achilles is 100% good to go. Right now he is playing with a little hesitation because he has to trust he can be what he was pre injury. You heard arians say he has to get used to hitting and being hit again. Him being 100% will take reps. Remember how long it took gronk to get it together last year after being out a year? He was not a full go until like week 6. Same thing applies to OJ here. The fact this needs to be explained is crazy. But like rod said, sime people just chomping at the bits to call him a bust.
August 15th, 2021 at 5:21 pm
Work him in slow.
Brate and Gronk and Hudson got it covered.
Can’t wait to see a healthy Juice though!
August 15th, 2021 at 8:00 pm
Howard thinks that Howard will finally reach his potential this year. Howard has always thought that Howard has the sickest natural ability of the whole TE corps. Howards injuries have been his biggest problem in Howards opinion. Just like with everyone else, Brady will bring out the best in Howard. Howard can’t wait for some sick passing plays and TDs to Howard
August 15th, 2021 at 8:01 pm
Howard always opts for 100% real juice because it’s the healthiest
August 15th, 2021 at 8:16 pm
My thought is why did Ronde say 70% when he knew that at some point he was going to throw that out there? Hmmmm as stated and we all know he is privy to what we do not. I want OJ to be a weapon for the Bucs but my thought there is more to that statement than we know.
August 15th, 2021 at 8:38 pm
Joe, please enable likes and dislikes on the comments.
It will make it so much more fun.
Sincerely,
A reader since the start of JBF
😁
August 16th, 2021 at 1:10 am
Well said Cosell.
Leave it to the ghost of a HOF broadcaster to tell it like it is.
August 16th, 2021 at 4:19 pm
Download the Bucs app n you’ll see a lot of those plays by many of the players and get instant notification too if you’d like that it’s very cool. Screw twitter