Can June Juice Help Bucs Win September Games?
June 5th, 2026
Juice.
Joe won’t go bananas over an underwear football practice in June. This week’s OTA practice will be long forgotten in two months.
The main thing that jumped out at Joe on Tuesday (Joe mentioned this in his practice notes and spoke about it with the Sage of Tampa Bay sports, the great Ira Kaufman on his podcast) was a ton of energy coming from the defense on Tuesday.
This was welcome. Last year the Bucs defense played lethargically and uninterested. This rocked Joe because the Bucs were in the thick of a hunt for a playoff berth.
That’s one reason Joe thought the defense, at least some players, threw in the towel on KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles. Shameful attitude. Shameful play.
The Bucs made it clear this offseason they were determined to bring in physical dudes who brought juice to the practice field and on gamedays. Physicality naturally brings juice. Even players love it when a teammate lays the wood to an opposing player.
But you cannot get physical in underwear football. There is no hitting of any sort. Quarterbacks wear creamsicle jerseys. Close friends Lions coach Dan Campbell and Bowles both took turns in recent days referring to underwear football as “a pajama party” or “two-hand touch” and “flag football.”
They’re not wrong.
So it’s hard to be hyped about underwear football yet Bucs defensive players brought it on Tuesday. It made the practice, um, fun.
Joe has seen this before, just not in OTAs. Back in 2020 and 2021, Joe saw this often, specifically in 2021. The defense had swag and attitude and pride, as did the offense.
And man, there were wars between the Bucs offense and the defense. Joe remembers one particular practice that got moved inside the Glazer Shed for inclement weather. The Bucs had a live, 11-on-11 session that was basically a live scrimmage.
Think of the players who were going at it, all with pride and passion. Tom Brady, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Playoff Lenny, Tristan Wirfs, Ryan Jensen, Ali Marpet, squaring up at it against Vita Vea, Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul, Shaq Barrett, Lavonte David, Devin White (when he was good) and Antoine Winfield. Wow.
Joe remembers watching that practice and standing on the sideline with a Bucs security guard. At one point he turns to Joe and asks, “You believe what we are watching?” Joe said, “This is some high-level football.”
As the practice came ended, Joe said to the security guard, “Remember what we just watched. We may never get to see something like this again.”
Joe is not trying to compare a bunch of Hall of Famers fighting for pride and honor in a live scrimmage to an OTA practice, let’s not get ridiculous. But the juice on Tuesday was welcome.
Will that carry over to the regular season and result in wins? Time will only tell.
But as Aileen Hnatiuk of WFLA-TV Channel 8 said, it certainly appears to be a green flag.
@aileenhnatiuk #bucs #nfl #tampa #fyp ♬ original sound – Aileen Hnatiuk
June 5th, 2026 at 12:26 am
Can June Juice Help Bucs Win September Games?”Simple answer, no.
June 5th, 2026 at 1:03 am
Beginnings aren’t a Twocoach problem. It’s sustainings, middles, endings and clutches that have been his problems.
But in 2026, confidence is high that he can fail early as well.
June 5th, 2026 at 1:04 am
Well it’s been a low bar. Let’s see how they look after 12 weeks of Bowl… I mean Bucs football.
June 5th, 2026 at 1:32 am
Yeah we’ve heard this song and dance before. The Joes are complicit in trying to sell the snake oil for the Glazers.
Every year under Bowles we get false promises and misinformation.
This turd can’t be polished.
June 5th, 2026 at 2:54 am
Oh look! The trolls are already here. Yippee.
June 5th, 2026 at 3:17 am
Don’t worry, Joe! Nothing Bowles patented 3 game plus losing streak won’t cure!
That and the image of Bowles looking like a constipated wooden Indian on the sidelines after a 40 yard dump pass TD against some DL dropped into coverage.
June 5th, 2026 at 4:52 am
So it is only June, but this is looking like a very good team.
June 5th, 2026 at 5:19 am
Of course energy in June matters!
It’s called momentum!
We need to start with passion and finish with even more passion!
Momentum matters to all the trolls and idiots on this page.
June 5th, 2026 at 7:19 am
Harness the Juice
And in the words of Jon Gruden, “and if you ain’t got any JUICE….you FAKE IT”
June 5th, 2026 at 7:33 am
June matters… mainly to the rookies and new FAs… but really a bigger deal to the offense that’s on it’s 5th OC in 5 years. They’re learning the terminology, and using it out on the field is needed… run the plays as realistically as possible as often as allowed.
June 5th, 2026 at 7:35 am
Lynchmob, turds can be polished. But it’s still a turd
June 5th, 2026 at 7:46 am
If you’re trying to make it a part of the defense/team establishing its’ identity, then yes. Practice like you play and play like you practice.
June 5th, 2026 at 7:48 am
Compare the HC and QB of that 20-21 Bucs team to what we have now and you’ll get your answer. No. That team had an identity and leadership, this team doesn’t.
June 5th, 2026 at 8:32 am
Ok wait…WHAT!?? Aileen Hnatiuk…! Holy crap! I started watch her and immediately forgot what Joe posted. In fact, I don’t even know what Aileen said.
June 5th, 2026 at 8:39 am
LMAO! They will be all worn down by September. Pace yourself boys! However, if you practice like this, you MAY play like this.
June 5th, 2026 at 11:03 am
Every time I accidentally read a post by FloorMatt, I vomit in my mouth a little. More than a little, actually.