Injury Talk From Jason Licht
June 21st, 2026
Coaches and team executives often like to say things like, ‘Nobody cares about injuries. Injuries can’t be blamed for losing.’
Do these guys think fans are stupid? Of course fans care, and of course injuries matter when it comes to the bottom line.
Fans want transparency when it comes to injuries, in-season and especially after the season when they’re trying to understand and assess what they watched for 4 1/2 months.
Frankly, “this Joe” was disappointed Team Glazer didn’t play the injury card when explaining its support for Todd Bowles after last season. Instead, Team Glazer stressed how hard the roster plays for Bowles, battling like warriors to the final whistle of every game. Really?
During a chat with Sports Day Tampa Bay, Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht recently talked about injuries, their impact and, of course, he dropped the tired line about injuries not being an excuse for anything.
Licht was asked for a takeaway from the late-season collapse.
“My takeaway was I was sick,” Licht said. “I mean, nobody was more sick than Coach Bowles. We all had to, like, look at oursevles in the mirror.
“You can’t point to just one thing. Nobody cares about injuries, and so when I do these interviews, I hate to say, because I always catch myself saying, ‘We’re not hiding behind injuries, but …’
“When you don’t have your offensive line together for the majority of the season, it seems like, that just takes a toll on everything. You can’t move the ball. You can’t sustain drives. The defense is out there too long. Your quarterback is not comfortable; it doesn’t matter who it is. So there was a lot. And I’m not blaming it just on that one thing. We learned a lot from last season.”
Licht went on to stress how the Bucs’ core of young players experienced that up-and-down season, which should help them going forward. Joe agrees.
But Joe will note how Licht deserves a 15-yard personal foul here on a couple of fronts.
Licht had the audacity to say the Bucs defense was on the field too long. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay led the NFC in time of possession last season. So the Bucs had the most rested defense in their conference.
Also, Joe will point to the 2015 season. Licht’s offensive line dealt with significant injuries and new starters pulled off the street (Joe Hawley and Gosder Cherilus), and the team was breaking in rookie starters Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet. The latter dealt with injuries that cost him four games.
That 2015 offense ranked fifth in the NFL in total yards and eighth in first downs. They moved the ball up and down the field with a rookie quarterback suffering from vision problems he later said affected him reading defenses.
June 21st, 2026 at 8:53 am
We led the NFL in time of possession? Just double checked and it looks like we were 3rd in TOP. Either way that’s a surprising stat. It speaks to a lack of explosive plays and an ability to sustain long drives. It also suggests the D gave up points quickly.
June 21st, 2026 at 8:57 am
Yeah, Joe. Winston had 22 TDS and 15 picks in 2015. What a freakin monster he was. If Mayfield pulled that crap he’d of been out of Tampa in a year.
June 21st, 2026 at 9:18 am
Yes we all saw how quickly the defense gave up points. I am sure that had something to do with the time of possession. Then the offense often moved the ball., but died in the red zone and settled for fg.
The defense was simply pathetic, that is all you can say. I don’t think we can blame the offense for the defense. Yes Licht covering for a sad defense
June 21st, 2026 at 9:35 am
Well, this year is as likely as not to become groundhog day/season Jason, if you don’t do something about shoring up that interior offensive line depth!
NONE of our backup Guards are good enough to hold their own against starting NFL defenders. Adding one rookie (from the 5th round) is NOT going to solve this major deficiency.
Trade a late rd pick if you have to – pay $5-6M for one year if you have to – but find a way to get this team a solid backup Guard so the offense doesn’t do another nosedive if/when any one of the 3 starting IOL players gets hurt and has to miss games….
June 21st, 2026 at 9:40 am
Sorry folks
I don’t have any faith in anyone or anything said coming from OBP
including the 3 Blind Mice
June 21st, 2026 at 9:48 am
I used to think the Offense dictated time of possession. Until seeing how lame the Defense was last year. The Defense got abused so quickly by other teams’ Offenses that they increased TOP by putting their own Offense back out there way too often and too quickly.
June 21st, 2026 at 10:06 am
“ Licht had the audacity to say the Bucs defense was on the field too long.”
Thats classic Bowles. He said that the year following the loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship game. That was the beginning of the Bowles excuse train.
My answer then was that same as it is now. First, as compared to what? We averaged 31:53 in TOP which was 3rd in the NFL. Which is partly due to the fact that the defense collapsed for too often. Our defense would collapse and give up points to teams that had better offensive coordinators. There were a few notable exceptions – Seattle – San Francisco.
Analyzing this teams performance is just weird. The stats are confusing frankly. From week to week it doesn’t line up. Personally, I can’t make heads or tails of it.
June 21st, 2026 at 10:09 am
Yes, I’d assume if they “led the NFL”, that they led “and the NFC” too
That parenthesis is either not needed or backwards
June 21st, 2026 at 10:35 am
Smash im confused! 1st or 3rd in TOP? How is that the ” lack of” to sustain drives?
June 21st, 2026 at 10:38 am
Smash im confused! 1st or 3rd in TOP? But there was a ” lack of” to sustain drives?? Help me out!
June 21st, 2026 at 11:24 am
Light has dug his own grave by not addressing the team’s biggest problem. Mike left because of it.
Vita is holding in. Baker wants more than he deserves. It’s a goat rodeo.
Enjoy your last Bucs season, Light. You and Todd can start up a charter fishing business or something. Of course everyone would expect the boat to sink, so….
June 21st, 2026 at 11:56 am
When you give up big plays on defense and give the team a short field because of bad special teams your offense gets the ball right back so yeah I can see us leading the league in TOP. But…….
June 21st, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Flat out injuries crippled the best part of your club {offense}, ST just sucked and the defense? Pick a card, any card, old, lack of real players, loafing, quitting. Just say things the way they are. Yeah that Glazer comment was a head scratcher, they need a better PR guy to tell them” Look guys, this is our excuses, memorize them and stick to the script”.
June 21st, 2026 at 12:19 pm
Lol ok
June 21st, 2026 at 12:31 pm
If that was the case, they would have givin up 75 points a game ! Be real ballwasher
June 21st, 2026 at 2:11 pm
@Joe,
I think this stat may be misleading simply due to the fact that the D yielded scoring drives so quickly, enabling the offense to get back on the field and struggle for it’s average 2.65 plays per possession (Google AI).
June 21st, 2026 at 2:47 pm
I take it that the tipsy Joe who declares Licht a Ring of Honor shoe in did NOT pen this article. 🙂
Licht has his work cut out for him now. Two contract “issues” and a cornerback depth chart that’s wafer thin…not to mention some talented players in contract years.
I’m not fully schooled on the salary cap…but Evan’s turning his beak at a lucrative extension must not have created extra loot with a dead cap hit etc.