Early breakdown of Bucs.

Last year, there were several things not to like about the Bucs. For Joe, the main red flag was the defense.

It wasn’t just that the defense was lousy. It was they quit on KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles. Joe is convinced of it.

So this offseason, the Bucs made an effort to bring in guys with heart, passion and maybe a tendency toward violence. There was no doubt about it: The Bucs had to change the DNA of the defense.

Now we are way, way early into the 2026 campaign. The Bucs have only had a handful of padded practices. But even at this early stage, a coach may get a whiff of what his team may be like when the season kicks off.

So last week Bowles was asked what he likes about this team roughly 11 days into training camp.

“They’re really mentally tough, and they’re making each other better,” Bowles said. “They understand what we have on each side of the ball, and they’re really trying to make each other better – from the pass rushers and the tackles, to the interior, to the wideouts and the [defensive backs], and the quarterback seeing different coverages and disguises, battling mentally with the safeties.

“They really talk about everything after the play, so I like that about them.”

Well, camaraderie is a good thing. Wanting to improve his hopeful. Last year in December, Joe swears when the Bucs broke huddle on defense, they hollered not, “Ready — BREAK!” Instead, Joe swears they broke huddle yelling, “Ready — TULUM!”

Not everyone on the defense quit. Lavonte David sure never quit. Nor did YaYa Diaby. Or Jamel Dean. Bowles had Antoine Winfield playing out of position on purpose, playing deep center field because not everyone was balling out.

No, not everyone quit on the defense. But enough to help sink the season.