Bucs fans are wondering…what gives? We heard how comfortable Josh McCown looks in camp, and then he stinks it up in the first preseason game.
When McCown takes the field Saturday Night at Raymond James Stadium vs the Miami Dolphins, he will have a few changes in front of him.
Jamon Meredith, who has several starts behind him, has been removed as a guard, moved instead to backup Offensive Tackle. Oniel Cousins whom Bucs fans wanted to crucify for his efforts Friday, will remain a starter, but will change sides over on the other side of Center.
Bucs coaches looked closer at the tape and felt Cousins had a lot of pluses to go with his minuses, and feel he will be best when shown the errors he made.
McCown held the ball too long on his last series which resulted in a fumble. His pick 6 was a result of poor protection and letting the ball sail way over and outside of rookie WR Mike Evans. A nice 3rd down completion to Chris Owusu of 17 yards and a first down was wiped out by a holding penalty on Demar Dotson. Cousins put his hands on his mans face on the replay to kill that drive, not that the play really mattered anyways.
Bucs fans can take solace in the fact the defense looks like its ready to play the ‘for real’ games. The 2nd team defense came in after McCown put the ball on the ground and did their jobs. After giving up 8 yards to Storm Johnson, the defense roped the running back for a loss on 2nd down, and again on 3rd down, with a familiar name making the play each down; Da’Quan Bowers. Coming to camp in best shape of his life, he has moved inside and is McCoys backup. He looks every bit the roll.
Lovie Smith told us not to panic, and he’s right; there is plenty of time between now and the 3rd preseason game to get some consistency up front so we can see the first unit on display for the better part of a half to give us an indication of what we can expect in 2014.
Despite going against backups, and with backups to work along side of, QB Mike Glennon looked sharper and every bit the game manager he did last year when he threw for 19 TDs against 9 Interceptions. Glennons scoring pass to Tom Streeter was impressive as he scanned the field, looking right, then left, then ahead when he found the former hurricane for the first TD of 2014.
BRIGHT SPOTS:
- Austin Seferian-Jenkins flashed a little of whats going to make him special this year.
- Charles Sims showed he will not resemble a typical rookie in 2014.
- Tommy Streeter has been busting tail in camp to get noticed. We noticed ya Streeter.
- Gerald McCoy will have double digit sacks in 2011, he has separated himself from the rest of the NFL.
- Connor Barth is still Connor Barth. Enough said.
- Notice to all Guards in the NFL. Do not worry about getting cut by your team in the Preseason; Check out City of Tampa leasing options in WestChase or Carrolwood.
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