“We Really Gotta Use Him A Little Bit More”
October 21st, 2026
One man is completely in charge of who gets on the field for the Buccaneers.
That’s the head coach of the team. So it’s always odd to Joe’s ears to hear Todd Bowles talk about how a player needs to see the field more. If that’s the case, then play him!
On the Buccaneers Radio Network this week, Bowles was asked about rookie receiver Ted Hurst again making plays late in a game on Sunday.
Bowles talked about Hurst’s growth and how the Bucs need to get him involved more often.
“The game’s not too big for [Hurst] and as he gets the offensive game plan and the situations down that he can see and play fast and, you know he’s really gonna start coming on right now,” Bowles said. “We really gotta use him a little bit more. But you got Chris [Godwin] and [Emeka Egbuka] and we only got one ball. So that ball, as well as Bucky [Irving], so that ball gets spread around pretty good. But he’s gonna be a heck of a player for us.”
Joe wonders how Bucco Bruce Arians would be using Hurst if he was calling plays for this offense. Hurst and Chris Godwin likely would be seeing a lot more of the ball.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:19 pm
It’s old news at this point, but what type of “leadership” has Bowles shown these past 5 years?
October 21st, 2026 at 12:20 pm
Yeah, Egbuka has proven to be a nice player but nothing special, at least so far. Hurst surely has great potential and given the (non)performance elsewhere on the field he should definitely get more targets.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:21 pm
Does Joe know, besides the multiple ex-players/coaches weighing in, how do the Glazers come a decision on major issues involving the franchise? Have heard multiple viewpoints, just curious on Joe’s.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:22 pm
There’s a lot of things you need to do more with. So many things, little time to do it. Clock is running out on the Bowles regime.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Really telling input from Fournette:
“I can say this from being there, playing under Coach Bowles, right?” Fournette said. “He’s not a very vocal. He’s not a vocal coach, right? When we mess up, you know he might yell, but it’s not – it’s not one of those yells that you take serious. I mean I respect him, but it’s like when B.A. (Bruce Arians) got on your ass, he got on your ass. Like, ‘Damn, I hope [Arians] don’t chew my ass out again like that again like that. You know what I’m saying?”
Not a yell you take serious… that says it all.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:34 pm
Jack Burton Mercer,
Egbuka proved to be a nice player for the 1st half of last season. That’s it.
Ever since the bye week last year, Egbuka has been a below average to very poor player.
He currently is pretty terrible. He’s near the top of the league in drops and near the bottom in production.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:38 pm
Bring back BA as HC and this team would get considerably better immediately.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:38 pm
Does anyone have any confidence in this coaching staff? Every comment after the fact says that ‘should’ have played one or two players more. What about figuring all that out during the week’s practices? This is an underwhelming coaching staff top to bottom. The players regress, the players are out of position, this coaching staff is stubborn about how and who to play. I don’t see any major leap to consistently winning with this staff. Clean house and save the careers of some of the players who have a future and have lost their ability to win.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:46 pm
“But you got Chris [Godwin] and [Emeka Egbuka] and we only got one ball. So that ball, as well as Bucky [Irving], so that ball gets spread around pretty good”
None of these guys have or are doing anything special to get priority over Ted Hurst. Another part of the problem is that our QB play has been bad since the start of the season. Bottom 5 in pass play EPA, bottom 5 in yards per attempt, and in a group of 4 teams along with the Colts-Dolphins-Chargers as offenses with more INTs than TDs.
So sure, you want to get Ted Hurst more involved, but how’s that work with streaky QB play or not having a QB that can threaten defenses(one of the reasons Mike said he liked SF) downfield. Rodney Dangerfield a** offense gets no respect and shouldn’t be respected as long as we cannot do anything well.
October 21st, 2026 at 12:48 pm
Dean had like 7 pass breakups last week, was he covering EE? WHY were we throwing at their #1 db?
October 21st, 2026 at 12:48 pm
11 more games
October 21st, 2026 at 12:48 pm
I’ve always hated TB comments to this issue. I would think ANY coach, especially one on the hot seat, would always want the best, most effective players on the field at all times. But this is also a coach that pulls defensive linemen into coverage instead of rushing the passer. (in TB’s defense, maybe every NFL team does this…idk) If the starter of any position got injured…someone is coming in for that person on the next play. There is no, “we gotta use him a bit more”. Just put him in. Take the other dude out. Guys might play harder if they knew they will get pulled for lack of performance. idk.
October 21st, 2026 at 1:03 pm
He has dropped two touchdown passes that cost us two games. Bench him. He has touched the ball less than 15 times and has dropped two touchdown passes. Ask yourself ~ would you keep a RB in the lineup if he had two fumbles on -15 touches?
October 21st, 2026 at 1:05 pm
“We really gotta use him a little bit more. But you got Chris [Godwin] and [Emeka Egbuka] and we only got one ball“….. and we only throw the ball about 30 times a game, and we only complete about 20, and most of those are around the line of scrimmage and they go to Bucky and here comes another two yard Gainwell so we don’t want to mess up that good thing we have going because the best way to demoralize a defense is to beat them by getting 2 yard chunk plays…
October 21st, 2026 at 1:07 pm
Egbuka seems unwilling to sell out to make a catch, he rarely comes up with a contested catch. Last Sunday, it appeared he had a chance to catch that less than perfect sideline pass form Jalen. Might have snagged it had he laid out for it. Finesse receiver, not physical.
October 21st, 2026 at 1:07 pm
Gross
October 21st, 2026 at 1:10 pm
What’s stopping you, Todd? You keep repeating yourself, but you never do any of it. Coaching malpractice.
October 21st, 2026 at 1:11 pm
Good coaches:
• Tailor scheme to player capability
• Put players in the best position to succeed
• Amplify their team’s strengths and hide their team’s weaknesses
Terrible coaches
• Prioritize “their” scheme and stick to their “principles” even when they are failing
• Put players in positions that expose their vulnerabilities
• Fail to adjust their depth chart to account for performance
IF our coaches were any good at all THEN we would not be talking about player use. Do you hear anyone complaining about the 49ers use of their offensive or defensive personnel?
October 21st, 2026 at 1:16 pm
buckit
1,000% agree with you
GO BUCS!!!!
October 21st, 2026 at 1:17 pm
Bowles credibility on anything is shot. His explanations are garbage. I’d sooner forfeit the remaining games than have to endure him talking about this team anymore.
October 21st, 2026 at 1:21 pm
GAINWELL!
GAINWELL!
GAINWELL!
October 21st, 2026 at 1:26 pm
If you watch Egbuka, he hasn’t been laying out on throws that aren’t in the bread basket, especially on the deep balls. Maybe he’s a little gun shy because of the toe injury he had in camp. There has to be a reason for why he hasn’t looked the same since midway through last season.
October 21st, 2026 at 1:26 pm
We miss M1K3. No surprise he left, looking at it in hinds sight. I hope he wins another chip!
October 21st, 2026 at 1:49 pm
Baker was starting to go to Hurst when he gave up on waiting for godwin to get open. the rookie qb cant nake all the nfl throws so hurst im sure cant wait for baker to be back
October 21st, 2026 at 1:49 pm
“We need to get Tucker more touches”
Sound familiar?
October 21st, 2026 at 1:53 pm
our receiver group looks like…
as louis ck might say….”a bag of dixxx”
i get it, we lost big mike, and jmac (who i really thought just might be our leading receiver this year) are both gone or out…
the receiving corps look like a shell of a group right now…
gotta think it’s because of zzz-rob or rookie jalon…probably a combo of the two tho…
yet i still think we have a good team when i look at the roster…and i will still watch the game sunday vs. carolina…and i also will believe we can still beat carolina come sunday…go figure……maybe i’m lost too
October 21st, 2026 at 2:09 pm
Personally I am starting to feel bad for the Joes. Who wants to get up every day and have to write about this coach, team and organization?. Unfortunately it won’t change much until January. And why did he mention Godwin? They put that dude in witness protection and nobody has seen him.
October 21st, 2026 at 2:13 pm
he’s just sad. sad old todd.
October 21st, 2026 at 2:17 pm
Bowles is a weak a$$ coach with a weak a$$ personality and zero passion.
And that is the type of team we now have. Go figure.
October 21st, 2026 at 2:18 pm
we are not the only team having a bad year…
look at san diego…whaow…
look at philly…their jalen is having heavy medical clotting issues and his career could be in jeopardy…
every season is different storybook…
if i stay positive, maybe we turn the page to a new chapter on sunday funday…
a big win vs. carolina might be just what the team needs rn
October 21st, 2026 at 2:19 pm
i will pray to JOBU
🙂
October 21st, 2026 at 2:24 pm
I can’t even listen to Bowles talk any more. I feel like I get dumber and dumber the more I listen to him speak.
Some coaches I can listen to all day and actually feel like I might even get smarter listening to this guy. But not Todd. It’s the exact opposite.
October 21st, 2026 at 2:42 pm
Appreciate the thoughts.
Hey, it’s still about football (and Joe LOVES football). And its still about the Bucs (and Joe LOVES the Bucs). Joe made it through the Lost Decade and survived the Era of the Smiths. The past 12 months has been a picnic by comparison.