Todd Bowles Defends Jamel Dean
August 17th, 2025
Bucs coach supports.
Last night it appeared cornerback Jamel Dean got beat for a touchdown in the Bucs’ second worthless preseason game in Pittsburgh.
(Joe types “appeared” because specific assignments aren’t always known and too often what looks like a blown coverage is actually the corner trying to clean up for another teammate’s mistake.)
In his day-after presser this morning, Bowles admitted, yes, Dean made a mistake that allowed a Pittsburgh touchdown.
Of course, after the game, Bucs fans were hollering loud for Dean to be cut, deep into the night. Not only won’t that happen, Joe would be very surprised if Dean is not the opening day starter in Atlanta.
Bowles didn’t sound as if he has any desire to demote Dean.
“I think he has had a very good preseason and a very good camp,” Bowles said of Dean this morning. “The touchdown he gave up because his eyes wandered somewhere else. And then we busted a play before that.
“He’s been playing well. He’s been very aggressive. He’s worked on little things that we’ve talked about working on. And we’re pleased with where he is at.”
Joe has been to every practice this summer. Right now, from down-to-down (not picks, not anything else), just play after play in training camp, Dean is the best corner on the team. Rookie Jacob Parrish is coming, though.
The only corner Joe has seen capable of putting up a fight against Mike Evans has been Dean. Oh, when Zyon McCollum guards Evans it’s a Mexican standoff. Evans will get his; McCollum will make some plays too. But Dean has been the only corner Joe has seen this summer that may have an edge on Evans.
Sure, Evans has burned Dean a couple of times, but Dean has been solid guarding Evans. Jalen Ramsey and Joey Porter can’t say that.
August 17th, 2025 at 10:04 am
It’s preseason.
August 17th, 2025 at 10:10 am
wandering eyes is bad i’m guessing lol
August 17th, 2025 at 10:14 am
If Dean is the Bucs ‘best corner’ look for another lousy pass defense this season.
August 17th, 2025 at 10:19 am
In Joe’s opinion, Dean is the best CB on the team. In the opinion of tons of casual fans, he should be cut immediately for giving up completions in a preseason game.
August 17th, 2025 at 10:21 am
The injuries to Christian Izien and JJ Roberts, has thrown everything off. Izien and Roberts are their two most versatile defensive backs. They both can play nickel, outside corner, and both safeties positions. Now it seems like they will have to keep Jacob Parrish at nickel, or Kindle Vildor. It puts Josh Hayes (Parrish teammate at Kansas State) job in jeopardy. Next week they will decide who stats, and who get cut. I hope Hayes stays, he’s excellent on special teams.
And Josh is from Lakeland
Ex Buc- the late Geno Hayes nephew
We gotta wait and see how this play out
August 17th, 2025 at 10:23 am
Dean’s problem is not cover ability but availability. If he stays healthy, the corners are a strength.
August 17th, 2025 at 10:29 am
What we will see as a result of Dean getting roasted is an even higher percentage of “nothing over your heads” deep drop zones, the old bend over and break defense. Last year’s defense might look really good to us after the genius finishes “adjusting” his schemes in his “lab.”
August 17th, 2025 at 10:36 am
Few bad reps, now Dean has some tape so there’s no excuse to allow that to happen. On that long pass the safety was 100% supposed to be crashing down but was caught sinking inside. It happens, I don’t need 3 bad preseason reps to determine the value of a guy who’s been on the time since ‘19.
August 17th, 2025 at 10:46 am
Dean was already in mid-season form . Talent is there but something is off with him. All we need is a bunch of rookies in bowles complicated defense. This team won’t stop a pass all year
August 17th, 2025 at 10:51 am
It just seems too hot and cold anymore, Dean is a stud and can play ball out at corner but he doesn’t seem to show up every play my opinion for what I’m watching games. The backup quarterback actually was attacking Dean because his man was getting open all the way into the end zone
August 17th, 2025 at 11:03 am
He’s solid and when he’s able to jam, he can shut down top corners. The problem is have is when he gets beat he magically pulls something. Its like his hammy is waiting to pop for every time he gets beat for 30+ yards. I hope the best for Dean, because we sure need him.
August 17th, 2025 at 11:09 am
A few years ago the casual fans wanted Trask to start over Mayfield . Now they want Dean cut because of a bad play in preseason. Bucs fans have always had the reputation of being some of the most ignorant football fans in the NFL. Trask will likely be 3rd. string . So much for the amazingly knowledgeable fan base in Tampa Bay
August 17th, 2025 at 11:15 am
For me, it seems like Dean gets beat a few times in a game then suddenly comes up hurt – like taking himself out. I just don’t see the fire and want-to if an NFL CB. Just my opinion. Would love to see more killer instinct- oh and catch an INT once in a while. All the skills in the world but I question his drive to be the best.
August 17th, 2025 at 11:17 am
I remember a month or so back the bucs corners were talking about playing more aggressively. Im still seeing 10 to 12 yard cushions. If he doesnt play our corners tighter I’m putting money on another embarrassing pass defense for the 2025 season.
Sorry, but Bowles doesnt look like a head coach. He’s quiet. He appears to be smiling when hes getting his arse kicked. Someone on here mentioned once that they weren’t sure if even Todd knew he was the teams head coach. Without Baker on this team it would be a guaranteed 4 to 5 wins at best .
Please play real defense for once!!!
August 17th, 2025 at 11:23 am
He’s probably gonna end up dropping everyone out again this year, too! WHEN DID YOU EVER SEE SIMEON RICE WARREN SAPP OR ANY OF THEM DROPPING INTO COVERAGE? As far as I can remember like never. That’s why they’d pretty much always end up with at least 10 sacks every year because they played up front & put pressure on the QBs instead of dropping out.
August 17th, 2025 at 11:25 am
I’m still very much in Dean’s corner, but he got roasted on THREE plays in that series in which the Steelers scored their first TD.
o !st he gave up a 42 yard pass to Wilson.
o 2nd he had that pass interference call for another 19 yards.
o 3rd he got roasted on that TD pass to Johnson.
Steelers moved the ball 63 yards in 4 plays. One pass was incomplete, and the other 3 passes were defended by Jamel. Sorry but not his finest hour. He was much too slow reacting to 2 of those 3 plays and got behind them. The PI call was bogus IMO.
August 17th, 2025 at 11:31 am
Tony … ‘WHEN DID YOU EVER SEE SIMEON RICE WARREN SAPP OR ANY OF THEM DROPPING INTO COVERAGE?’
Bucs were using a 4-3 back in those days Tony. From what I can see, all teams who use a 3-4 nowadays will occasionally use at least 1 of the OLBs to drop into coverage.
Watching Reddick drop into coverage several times last night, he looks like the most natural LB out there. Of course, he did play a lot of ILB with Arizona in his first 3 years there.
Kinda looks like Bowles plays a lot of 4-3, with one of his OLBs dropping into coverage while the other rushes with the 3 DLinemen.
August 17th, 2025 at 11:37 am
When a runner is faking the funk as a football player this is what you get. Dean is scared of contact and has no heart. To be beat twice in a row on big plays is unforgivable. At least he could’ve looked like he was baiting the qb on the td. Bowles defending Dean is par for the course, no different from him defending Armstrong even though special teams sucked out loud for all to see and smell. A huge reason why fans aren’t sold on him as our head coach
August 17th, 2025 at 11:45 am
Get with the time Tony, we would be too predictable if there were 4 DT that you automatically exactly what they were going to do. Having them drop back makes it hard for Quarterbacks to prepare.
Charger DT dropped into coverage and get a pick on Friday? Didnt the same happen for a Baltimore DT last year?
I like that we are unconventional, but maybes that’s me
August 17th, 2025 at 11:47 am
The P.I call was bs and the Wilson play I believe he was supposed to have help in the middle but the touchdown that was all dean stay with your man but all in all he played pretty decent
August 17th, 2025 at 11:56 am
I will never understand playing 20-13 yard DJs off of an NFL WR. You give them all that room for a running start and then they breeze right past you. It’s ridiculous.
Jam at the line, then run with them. Give your pass rush a chance. Damn.
August 17th, 2025 at 11:56 am
*10-12 yards
August 17th, 2025 at 12:06 pm
“WHEN DID YOU EVER SEE SIMEON RICE WARREN SAPP OR ANY OF THEM DROPPING INTO COVERAGE?“
They didn’t have to because they had Strong & Weakside LBs because that was a 4-3 and we run a 3-4, but with our personnel can show 3-4 that functions like a 4-3 after the snap. That’s why you hear so much about positional versatility and Bowles being able to disguise things.
We drop our OLBs and DTs to take away QBs underneath options and fill zones. Reddick was just underneath and even jumped the ball on McCollums pick. Tells you two things, Reddick is reliable in space and that’s the type of play made by a defense with multiple guys keying on the QB in a pass rep.
August 17th, 2025 at 12:13 pm
Bowles and Dean should have been shown the door outta here. College level division saved his job.
August 17th, 2025 at 12:22 pm
@ Defense Rules
C’mon. How often do you see the Browns drop Myles Garret into coverage? How about TJ Watt? Maxx Crosby?
Defensive End/OLB/Rush End…I don’t care what you call it. These guys are paid to get after QB’s and get TFL’s, not drop into zone coverage.
Bowles thinks he’s being clever with this crap, in reality all he’s doing is buying the QB an extra second in the pocket to find someone. I have no idea why a top pass rusher would want to play for Bowles when he ends up taking sack opportunities away with this nonsense.
August 17th, 2025 at 12:24 pm
Lol @ Joe thinking Dean is the best CB on this team. I have not been to a single practice and I can tell you Zyon is the best CB on the team not broken glass Dean.
August 17th, 2025 at 12:46 pm
Coaching matters. Bowles seems to have plenty of excuses when he talks. Maybe he should hire a real defensive coordinator who would/could actually coach up his players.
August 17th, 2025 at 1:03 pm
@Gotbbucs
Go watch the Chargers-Rams last night, DT Terah Edwards sank into coverage and got a pick and returned it 20 yards. It’s a football thing, not a Bowles thing you guys stir yourselves into fit for routine play. It’s entertaining, sometimes.
August 17th, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Some of yall calling for him to be cut are ridiculous. Yeah let’s just make the secondary depth even worse lmao
August 17th, 2025 at 1:21 pm
Bowles defends Dean.
Yeah, he has for years.
Hard to defend play that bad.
Then again, he defended JTS for every year that guy was here.
Hard to be honest, and be a coach
August 17th, 2025 at 1:42 pm
gotbbucs … Apparently we just have a difference of opinion about how the Bucs play the 3-4 defense (as does Todd Bowles BTW). In the 3-4, OLBs do sometimes drop into coverage.
The Browns’ Myles Garrett is listed as a DE because the Browns run a 4-3 defense, not a 3-4. At 6’4″ & 272 lbs he’s pretty good-sized. He almost never blitzes (4 blitzes total in the last 5 years) & averages about 2 PD/year (rarely targeted). Comparing apples & oranges.
The Steelers do run a 3-4 like we do, and TJ Watt is listed as an OLB. Guess what, he blitzes an average of about 3 times a game, and apparently drops into coverage also because in his 8 years he’s got 49 PDs (roughly 6 per year). Hmmm, LVD got 6 PDs last year, Dean got 7 PDs & Tykee Smith got 7 PDs. So TJ is right in there with our ILBs & most of our Secondary. Do you honestly believe he accomplished that just by rushing the passer? I think there’s a little pass coverage involved.
And the Raiders Maxx Crosby has played in both the 3-4 (3 years) and the 4-3 (3 years). He’s only blitzed 16 times in those 6 years, and 13 of those blitzes came in a single year (in the 3-4). He averages 4 PDs/year, which is actually more than most of our ILBs & Secondary get annually. So chances are good that even he has been used in pass coverage some.
I understand what you’re saying about the dropping back into coverage ‘ends up taking sack opportunities away’ but Bowles has been doing this same thing since he came here in 2019. JPP played 3 years under Bowles (38 games) and got 20.5 sacks (7 sacks/year average). Had he played the full 49 games in those 3 years he would’ve probably averaged 9 sacks/year. Had he played in all the Giants games during his 8 years with them, he roughly would’ve averaged 8.4 sacks/year (in their 4-3 scheme). Roughly the same.
August 17th, 2025 at 3:44 pm
What is that 7 picks in 2 games? 6 sacks?
Defense won both of the preseason games so far. No credit (even a little) to Todd for the coaching emphasis on turnovers?
August 17th, 2025 at 4:03 pm
If only there was a defensive scheme that was more clear with who you are supposed to cover.
August 17th, 2025 at 4:04 pm
The fact that fans are pissing and moaning about OLBs playing in coverage says more about the fan than the actual practice of having your OLBs play coverage, because what?
I blame the media, and fantasy football for valuing players at the OLB positin for ONE stats mostly due to fantasy purposes. 0-0 or tied up, do you think 1st & 10 or anything shorter is a “pass rush” opportunity? Silly rabbits
August 17th, 2025 at 4:35 pm
Dean appeared to be in midseason burnt toast form last night. Atlanta is going to pick on him mercilessly.
August 17th, 2025 at 5:16 pm
Buddha Says:
August 17th, 2025 at 10:23 am
Dean’s problem is not cover ability but availability. If he stays healthy, the corners are a strength.
==================================
Dean’s problem IS cover ability which he does not possess. His other problem is he is a poor tackler. Other than that he is as many say here a first ballot HOF’er.
August 17th, 2025 at 8:44 pm
Trade him before he gets hurt. Get an edge rusher…..any edge rusher. Once he signs the new contract, get the crutches ready.
August 18th, 2025 at 12:09 am
The hate Dean gets is crazy.
Smith was clearly supposed to help over top on the one big play but stood there as the receiver ran by him. Then the next play was a Phantom passing interference on Dean. That was great coverage, not Idea what the ref was looking at.
Regardless, he is the starting CB. It is up to Morrison to get healthy and unseat him. Parrish has clearly earned the nickel starting job.