Todd Bowles On Antoine Winfield: “He Runs Everything”
May 26th, 2025
The Bucs defense is loaded with mysteries and X-factors.
Joe does not know where to start.
Which version of Haason Reddick shows up? Will Jamel Dean keep his rookie competition on the bench? Can Calijah Kancey play a full season? Will Chris Braswell “shock” the NFL as Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht predicted?
Is SirVocea Dennis anything more than a brittle tease? Will Todd Bowles make his annual change at nickel cornerback?
Does Lavonte David have another Hall of Fame season in his 35-year-old legs? Will YaYa Diaby become a legit sack artist?
Joe could go on but will stop at star safety Antoine Winfield, Jr.
Winfield’s fifth Bucs season was marred by multiple injuries and when he was on the field last season, he didn’t look anything like the All-Pro he was a year prior.
Speaking on SiriusXM NFL Radio, head coach/defensive coordinator Todd Bowles noted that Winfield’s contribution (or lost contribution) goes beyond game days.
“He runs everything,” Bowles said. “I’ve never seen anybody punch the ball out like he can punch the ball out. And him and Lavonte [David] are probably two of the hardest practice players I’ve ever seen practice since I’ve been coaching.”
Joe heard Bowles’ comments about practice and wondered how missing Winfield for so long last season possibly impacted preparation and focus during the practice week.
Regardless, now the Bucs have Winfield back at 100 percent health and the rookie cornerbacks, along with whomever plays safety alongside Winfield, should benefit greatly during the lead-up to the season.
And if Winfield manages to restore his 2023 form and health, then the Bucs should be a far more dangerous postseason threat than they were last season.
May 26th, 2025 at 6:39 pm
.. from your pen to the football god’s ears when he is in a benevolent mood.
May 26th, 2025 at 6:43 pm
For all the money we are paying him, hopefully he can return to his 2023 form. He will certainly be better than he was last season.
May 26th, 2025 at 7:04 pm
Joe, you pointed out so many “ifs” and rightfully so. Makes you wonder if we have the defense to compete for a Super Bowl. I do know, on paper, the Bucs defense is much more improved than last year.
May 26th, 2025 at 7:07 pm
Caused a fumble on Kyle Pitts last year that wasn’t called. Hopefully the horseshoe isn’t inside Atlanta anymore this year.
May 26th, 2025 at 7:15 pm
Safety play, or lack thereof, helped doom us last year.
If AWJ can return to form and Tykee moves to safety we should be greatly improved although depth could still be a problem. Izien and Merriweather are hopefully another year better.
Would be a very nice surprise if one of our udfa safeties can be developed to be a solid backup 🤞🏼
May 26th, 2025 at 7:25 pm
Of all the mysteries listed, the Braswell shocking the world seems the least likely to me. I sit in the southwest corner in the upper deck. When I would focus on him during a play he got physically outmatched every single time. It was embarrassing. Zero dog in the guy.
May 26th, 2025 at 9:03 pm
My biggest surprise last year was the play of Winfield Jr.
He had a really bad year on the field.
I said it when we signed him- as great as he can be, we will regret signing him to that big of a contract.
We payed him enough to sign two very good safeties. And unfortunately, he didn’t play well enough to be one good safety.
I hope he rebounds to his 23/24 form. He was the best safety in the league.
Like Jordan Whitehead last year, modern safeties seem soooo inconsistent
May 26th, 2025 at 9:16 pm
Dean will pull a hamstring right after the contract is effective.
May 26th, 2025 at 9:27 pm
I’m hopeful AW3 returns to form. Tykee needs to be joined at the hip with AW3. Defenses will be attacking Tykee and the communication with AW3 will be critical.
May 26th, 2025 at 11:25 pm
I have zero doubt that if he stays healthy Winfield will be back to form. He was finally getting healthy mid season and got one of those Friday walk through injuries. Banged knees with a player if I remember correctly. He just couldn’t get healthy. I doubt it had anything to do with his new contract.
Is there any doubt that Tykee will be the other Safety opposite Winfield?
May 27th, 2025 at 8:29 am
GoneGator
Agree completely about the safety play but in particular Winfield JR.
He’s the straw that stirs the drink. He has the capacity to play all over the field and he has a great football IQ.
And perhaps most importanly he has the capacity to be a true “game changer”.
May 27th, 2025 at 11:46 am
I find it mind blowing Winfield has been great every single year of his career and all of a sudden people doubt him after being injured all year ? Truly truly baffling.
May 27th, 2025 at 12:17 pm
saw someone propose acquiring Colts safety Julian Blackmon. make any sense to anyone?
May 27th, 2025 at 12:18 pm
winfield’s chasedown at the pylon was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, given the game situation
May 27th, 2025 at 12:29 pm
What if we get some coaching on the defensive side of the ball? What if we run more man to man defense, where there’s no mystery about individual responsibilities? And when we do run zone, what if the pass rushers rushed the passer and the zones were tighter, converting to coverage before the ball is caught 15 yards downfield?
That would be refreshing after two years of Swiss cheese.