Physically fine.

There really aren’t any proper superlatives in the King’s English to describe what an unreal player Tristan Wirfs has been for the Bucs since he was plucked in the draft in 2020.

The fact he became the game’s very first player to be named All-Pro at both right and left tackle says it all. In many ways, Joe believes Wirfs has set the standard for tackles, past, current and future.

So when Wirfs plays anything close to a mortal human being, it’s jarring to the system. That’s the ridiculous standard he has set. Anything less than elite and people start wondering if Wirfs is slipping.

(For example, when Chase Young last year blew past Wirfs for a sack of Baker Mayfield, Joe did a double-take and then checked to make sure that really was No. 78 on the field.)

By any human being’s standards, Wirfs had a good game last Sunday in Cincinnati. By Wirfs’ standards, it was mediocre. Maybe.

That’s a windy way of Joe saying Wirfs didn’t look himself on Sunday. Naturally, this has led to Bucs fans whispering questions about Wirfs.

Whenever Wirfs looks less than perfect, people start wondering what is wrong.

Wirfs basically had no training camp. He injured a hamstring the day before training camp opened running an agility drill. That hamstring was slow to heal as Wirfs barely got in any practice snaps until after the worthless preseason was finished.

So given how Wirfs was not the Wirfs against the Bengals that we all know and love, could his hamstring still be bothering him?

Wirfs wasn’t his All-Pro self last year either and Joe chalked that up to his knee surgery and how he didn’t get back on a practice field until Week 3 of the regular season.

So yesterday when Wirfs spoke with the local pen and mic club, Joe asked him if he still had any lingering issues related to his hamstring injury this summer.

Wirfs told Joe there were zero issues. His hamstring was fine. He’s 100 percent, he said.

“No, no. It felt good! Felt good,” Wirfs said in a chipper, yet adamant tone. “It felt good to be back out there and move around at full speed. It was good.”

Well, that’s good to know. Maybe Wirfs is still catching up from all the time he missed this summer? You know, rust?

Wirfs also mentioned that Mayfield’s helmet headset issues really put the offensive line in a bind last Sunday so maybe that was a factor?

Either way, as Joe stated previously, that’s the crazy standard that Wirfs has set for himself. Anything less than perfection and Bucs fans begin to sweat, wondering what’s wrong with one of the best players in Bucs’ franchise history.