“Out Of Sight Out Of Mind, Though, Bro.”
November 12th, 2025
Bucs icon Rondé Barber is no fan of players mentally recharging over a long seven-day, bye-week vacation.
Yes, he’s referring to the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Todd Bowles gave the team a full seven days off during their bye week following their Week 8 win at New Orleans. The NFL mandates players only have four days off.
Barber shared his disgust today that the Bucs came out Sunday — at home — and didn’t play well after getting all that vacation time.
“That’s significant to me,” Barber said on The Rondé Barber Show, produced by WFLA-TV.
Barber said he never got that much bye-week rest and, regardless, he certainly spent his bye weeks studying film and getting better. He also shared bye-week chatter from former Bucs great Ndamukong Suh.
Per Barber, Suh said bye weeks are about grinding to improve, not putting your feet up or traveling.
“It’s middle of the season. There’s no reason to take time off. Right?” Barber said. “In my mind. I think you still got to get out there and prepare yourself. It’s extra preparation. Like that’s a whole nother week of film that you could just be dialing in on what Drake Maye is trying to do. Now I don’t know if guys did that or not. I’m speaking out of my bye-week experience.”
Barber seems to think players disconnecting too long from One Buc Palace is a bad thing.
“Out of sight, out of mind, though, bro. If it’s not hitting you in the face every day…” Barber said, adding players don’t have to study their opponents all the time; they’ll get a ton out of just studying their own games.
Joe has to remind fans that Barber is a Hall of Fame player and Suh will be one day. There’s a reason guys get that good.
November 12th, 2025 at 9:16 pm
Love Rondé, he’s prone to hyperbole.(see Vernon Hargreaves analysis)
November 12th, 2025 at 9:23 pm
If Rondé says it it’s word!! I agree with what he’s saying, our Bucs are making a lot of money to put the best team they can on the field. The goal is to win the Super Bowl. 7 days rest may sound great but in the end, it may have been too much.
I can’t wait. I can only hope the Buccaneers get it together in practice this week, travel to Buffalo and Beat the Bills !!
Go Bucs !!
November 12th, 2025 at 9:41 pm
I can’t verify…IMHO there’s not enough players with their (Suh And Barber) attitude on this team. It shows most every game. That goes for the coaches too!!! They may put in 60 hours a week but to be great they may need to put in 80 or 100.
November 12th, 2025 at 10:20 pm
He’s right.
November 12th, 2025 at 10:20 pm
Another genius move by Todd Bowels.
His all time record as a HC after the bye is 1-6.
That is not a blip. It’s a historical fact due to incompetence.
Are the Glazers awake or asleep at the wheel?
Perhaps JL needs to be let go.
November 12th, 2025 at 10:26 pm
This is why it is rare for HOF players to be good coaches. They don’t understand the rank and file that make championships happen.
November 12th, 2025 at 10:36 pm
I thought it was weird when Bowles gleefully gave them the whole week off.
F that.
I want Drake Maye on film in his house, what he’s clicking on IG, what they ate for dinner…. I want him to think I can read his mind. And now I’ve got an extra week to get it.
I remember seeing Ronde talk about how many hours of film he watched of Donovan McNabb. Something ridiculous like 200+ hrs.
What happened to this mentality?
November 12th, 2025 at 11:10 pm
It just hasn’t seemed like they are grinding it out. It still looks sloppy too many coverage busts not enough pressure misfires on offense. I realize they have what they have on offense but it does look like a team with a lot of time off.
November 12th, 2025 at 11:25 pm
Much the off time Bowles gave was to “ get healthy” . One wonders how much off time would’ve been given if half the team wasn’t nicked up. Secondly, Morrison needs to improve during practice, and not at the expense of Josh Allen burning him ala drake Maye last week. You have dean playing pro bowl level. Squeeze that orange dry.
November 12th, 2025 at 11:37 pm
This entire f**king forum is 3 guys with 2 dozen names demanding Bowles be fired
November 13th, 2025 at 12:02 am
I applauded the move. Team was hurting, still is hurting. It was week 9 not 5.
In years past Bowles hasn’t done this and we have gotten the same result.
In hindsight, maybe it was a mistake. The bigger issue is soft training camp and limited padded practice. Guys bodies are in peak physical condition but how can you prepare for padded contact without it? Ludicrous.
November 13th, 2025 at 12:36 am
Ronde Barber didn’t miss a game from 1998-2012 … 240 games.
Ndamukong Suh missed only 2 games from 2010-2021 … 191 games (because of a NFL suspension).
And yes, BOTH will be HOF players because both were beasts. They knew how to prepare & they knew how to play better than anyone else. THAT level of talent & availability wasn’t on the field Sunday against the Patriots.
In terms of comparable levels of performance, I don’t see a single Buc playing at a HOF-level this season. So Ronde might be right about our 2025 players getting too much time off (to get right physically) instead of trying to fix their on-field problems, but I’m not sure 1 or 2 more days of practice would’ve made a whole bunch of difference.
November 13th, 2025 at 2:35 am
Exxxxactlyyyy. 💯
November 13th, 2025 at 2:49 am
I couldn’t believe how much time Bowles gave them off. It shouldn’t have been surprising though, as they barely practice under Bowles as it is. Softest training camps and preseasons ever.
Good thing they were so rested though right?
November 13th, 2025 at 3:52 am
OneAndThree Says:
November 12th, 2025 at 10:20 pm
Another genius move by Todd Bowels.
His all time record as a HC after the bye is 1-6.
That is not a blip. It’s a historical fact due to incompetence.
Are the Glazers awake or asleep at the wheel?
Perhaps JL needs to be let go.
Ok….. got you on everything, But why does JL need to go???
November 13th, 2025 at 5:13 am
Got a lot of NFL players in the comments? Basic management – what works for one dude won’t work for all.
November 13th, 2025 at 5:45 am
It makes you wonder if this just a paycheck type team. You can’t build a championship team with that attitude. It seems the fans are more passionate than the team. That can’t happen. SB teams function with passion and play angry. Is this how the Bucs play?
November 13th, 2025 at 7:14 am
To me the most interesting take from that Rhonde show was how he noticed NE HC Vrabel was constantly coaching up his players coming on and off the field the entire game. Constant real time communication. In contrast we have Todd Bowles who seems to think his job ends with the last practice before a game.
November 13th, 2025 at 7:40 am
With the injuries we’ve suffered, a rest was needed, at least physically.
The Bucs played well, just not well enough. It’s not the end of the world.
November 13th, 2025 at 7:46 am
They could only practice 1 time during the BYE per NFL rules..What was the excuse for the Eagles and Lions games too much practice ?
November 13th, 2025 at 8:22 am
Didn’t Ronde and Rah party around town mid season? Or was that a rumor?
November 13th, 2025 at 8:30 am
I believe that was Rah-Rah and Talib(an)…
Bowles gave them a week off I believe…following locker room speech after Taint game. It showed…
November 13th, 2025 at 9:11 am
I thought I saw a bit of a trend last year. When the team was off Monday following a win, they lost the next game. I could be mistaken though. But it seemed that way.
November 13th, 2025 at 9:54 am
The team needs to be pushed by a bad ass head coach who demands, I’ll say it again demands the highest effort and attention to detail. Bowles is not that guy. We are more injury prone because we don’t step on the field and be the ones to APPLY the force and impose our will. Rather they absorb the force from the opponent. The real football players were durable like Ronde, Suh, Brooks —- those that played as alphas and played with an edge. We get pushed around far too often. Sorry but it’s a reflection of the demeanor of the head coach who accepts losing and just doing enough to keep his job.
November 13th, 2025 at 11:02 am
Two evenly matched teams played a good game. The team without its top receiver and top running back lost. No reason to try to come up with other reasons for the outcome.