Worry

September 8th, 2021

Reason to worry?

Injuries. It is the lone thing freaking out Bucs fans.

This Bucs team is so stinking loaded. Maybe not in the salary cap era has a team been stocked with so many stars.

What sort of deal with the devil did Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht make?

No one in NFL media is as adept or astute at using confidential sources among NFL suits and coaches quite like Mike Sando of The Athletic. So he used contacts to come up with one worry for each NFL team.

But for the Bucs, there really is no worry. Except for the unpredictable injury bug.

The worry: Having one of the NFL’s oldest rosters by average age leads to key injuries after Tampa Bay succeeded in bringing back every key player from its Super Bowl team.

“I don’t think there’s a weakness, in my opinion, on their defense. You might ask, where does the running game go? And I actually think it’s going to be improved with Giovani Bernard, who will be like James White for Tom Brady. To me, the worry is just injury. They have a bunch of older guys, and that is probably the only thing. If Gronk gets hurt, if Brady gets hurt, if Antonio Brown gets hurt, if Lavonte David gets hurt … Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul. I’m worried about those types of guys.”

If Lavonte David gets hurt, that’s a huge blow. Cross your fingers.

This unknown suit sort of backs up what Joe has been writing. Will all of these games (including last season’s playoffs) catch up to the older players? Don’t forget the NFL has 17 games this season.

Remember, the Bucs have an earlier bye. That’s troublesome in Joe’s eyes. Especially for an older roster with a 17-game schedule

Also, in the last four years, the Super Bowl winner had a bye week no earlier than Week 10. Joe doesn’t believe in coincidences.

The Bucs have a bye in Week 9.

19 Responses to “Worry”

  1. Hodad Says:

    Joe, take it from an old Zen master. Don’t worry about what you can’t control, and never waste time doing nothing when you could be taking a nap.

  2. AKicknTheBucNuts Says:

    What? Me Worry?

  3. August 1976 Buc Says:

    … in the last four years, the Super Bowl winner had a bye week no earlier than Week 10. Joe doesn’t believe in coincidences.

    Brady 43 and won SB, never done before Check
    Win SB in your own Stadium Check

    There are a few more “No team won the Super Bowl” things the Bucs did last year.

    Joe you also mentioned several times last year about the Secondary not having a player that had done “whatever” you spoke of and Won the Super Bowl.

    So we will see what happens.

    Most likely the Brady affect continues in the current Home town he is playing for.
    You know like Lightning Back to Back, Rays in the WS, and Boat racing the AL East right now.
    And all the other times in Boston,The Pats 6 and Bruins and the Sox multiple times.

    It is ridiculous how wherever the GOAT of GOATS Brady is, the area does amazing, try that one out, M Jordan….

    GO BUCS!!!!!!!!!

  4. Bucsfanman Says:

    Hodad- I’m going to ‘borrow’ that! LOL!

    This is always a “concern.” It WILL happen, as it does with 32 other teams. I feel much better now than I have in the past though.

  5. Alan Collingwood Says:

    I agree with Hodad, This is just inventing things to worry about. Relax, and enjoy football

  6. Going for ✌️In a row Says:

    Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah!!!!!!!!!

  7. Mort Says:

    Week 9 isn’t an early bye. It’s right in the middle. When they get a first-round bye it’ll be perfectly spaced out.

    Also, a mini-bye after week 1 when we play a full three days before most other teams, and 4 before some!

  8. Defense Rules Says:

    Bucs best defense against the impact of injuries is is not only our depth (in most position groups) but also our diversity. Having a player like Kevin Minter to plug in if LVD or White misses a game or two is huge IMO. Same thing goes with our OLine depth, RB depth, WR depth, Safety depth, even DLine depth. Most teams don’t have that kind of luxury this year.

    Diversity may not be quite as obvious, but this team COULD focus on the running game a lot more for instance if the need arose to win games. With our OLine & RBs like RoJo, Fournette & Bernard, the Bucs COULD beat most teams I think by running the ball if injuries to our WRs stalled the passing game. And if Brady were to miss several games & Gabbert or Trask comes in, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us running the ball a lot more in that situation too.

  9. Biff Barker Says:

    BA uses his veterans players wisely. Injuries are a part of the game.
    in years past, a couple of key injuries would torpedo the Bucs. We dealt with injuries last year and had enough depth to survive.

  10. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    This is sort of like worrying you may get into an accident before going to the game.
    Anything can happen to any team and to anybody…..or it won’t.

    We have only two player to worry about, IMO……Tom Brady & Devin White.

  11. Biff Barker Says:

    TBF, the short list boils down to our QB.

    Somehow we survived Dilfer, Freeman and the last idiot some called America’s QB.

  12. ModHairKen Says:

    The idea that just because the roster is older they’re automatically more prone to injuries is completely unfounded.

    They had few injuries last year and were just year less old.

    Complacency and entitlement are bigger concerns. This team was 7-5 after 12 games and this constant refrain that in week 13 a magic lightbulb went off and Brady just started playing lights out is crap, too. The Defense is far from perfect. Shaq was not a presence during a lot of games. The DBs were giving up many plays.

    Everyone got hot at the right time. That’s what happened.

    So, will they keep the momentum? Or have they read too many media stories about how great they are?

  13. Infomeplease Says:

    The BUCS had plenty of MAJOR injuries last year!! ME, CG, VV, and OH to name of few!!! That didn’t stop them from finding the promised land!! GREAT TEAMS DO GREAT THINGS!! GO BUCS!!

  14. Leighroy Says:

    “Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you very far.” – Van Wilder

  15. Brandon Says:

    If Brady, Suh, and David get hurt… they are older… but between the three of them they have combined to miss almost no games in the last 10 years. We could play WHAT IF with anyone on any roster… but that’s a big WHAT IF considering Suh has never missed a game due to injury, Brady has only missed the one season and no other games due to injury, and David has missed seven total games in nine seasons. Can they get hurt? Sure… anyone can… but these guys are very unlikely.

  16. PassingThru Says:

    It’s a legit worry, only a casual fan would gloss over it. The salary cap era pretty much guarantees that all teams will have weaknesses, and for most teams there are positions that are paper-thin.

    The one player you cannot lose is Tom Brady.

    If you lose a player at another position, pray that it happens prior to the trade deadline, and that the replacement player can quickly become acclimated to the Buc offense or defense. For example you can thank Licht for having the smarts to pick up Steve McLendon after Vita Vea went down. Excellent trade, McLendon held down the fort for only a sixth round pick. That’s exactly what you want if or when a key injury occurs.

  17. SufferingSince76 Says:

    He reached the obvious conclusion and that’s a good feeling. Brady feels good. JPP feels good. I feel good.

  18. SOEbuc Says:

    Yawn. This team was probably the oldest last year, also.

  19. Mike Johnson Says:

    Just pray Brady can stay healthy. I have no confidence whatsoever in Arians pet project backup.