After receiving a veteran alleviation period during minicamp and OTAs, Buccaneers' linebacker Lavonte David was back on the field with his foot on the gas pedal for the first training camp practice on Wednesday. David, the unquestioned leader of the Tampa Bay defense, showcased his range at the age of 35. He spent the offseason prioritizing speed, going through various track workouts to enhance his explosiveness. As he enters Year 14, David operates off a simple mantra from Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks: Fall in Love with the Grind.
"My favorite part about the grind is that third, fourth day of full-pad practices and everybody is tired, everybody's beat up, everybody's complaining and then to just come out like 'No, F that, I want to be the one to bring everybody on.' I want to see everybody pick themselves up, and I want to be the guy bringing everybody up when they are going through hard times in camp," described David. "I just feel like that's a part of the grind people do not really pay attention to. I feel like if I am one of those guys who can pick everybody up when it's tough and it's hard, then everything is going to be easy after that."
In 2024, the Buccaneers finished 15th in total defense, fourth in rush defense and 29th in pass defense. Tampa Bay held opponents to under 100 yards rushing in each of the team's seven games after returning from the Week 11 bye, including holding opponents under 40 yards rushing in three consecutive games from Weeks 15-17. At age 34 in 2024, David became the lone player with 100-plus tackles, 5.0-plus sacks and three-or-more forced fumbles.
David is one of four players since tackles began being tracked in 1994 with 1,500-plus tackles, 35.0-plus sacks and 10-plus interceptions, along with London Fletcher, Ray Lewis and Bobby Wagner. He has been named a team captain for Tampa Bay in 11 consecutive seasons and is the longest-tenured player on the Bucs' roster. He is second among active players in career tackles at 1,600, coming in behind Wagner at 1,832.
David led the Bucs' defense with 122 tackles and added 5.5 sacks (his highest sack total since 2013), nine tackles for loss, six passes defensed, an interception and three forced fumbles in his 13th NFL season in 2024. Overall, the Buccaneers' fell short of their lofty goals last season and have one mission in mind for 2025: the quest for another Lombardi Trophy. David came back for another year of football with unfinished business consuming his mind.
"We just fell short, and definitely unfortunate, but probably one of the main reasons why I came back, and I know what we are capable of and I know what we can do," he said. "We have the talent to do it, and we have the mindset to do it. So, we just got to put it all together and I always say, 'Offense just do their thing, defense we just have to take care of it.' We have just got to do a better job defensively, and I think we'll get to the promised land if we do that.
"[Head] Coach [Todd Bowles] said in a team meeting yesterday, 'We do not want to be a monster unless we want to be the elite.' I feel like that's a mindset we have to have. The past couple of seasons, always coming down to the wire to make the playoffs, and we do not want to be in that situation anymore. We have the team to dominate, and we want to have that mentality, and when you have that mentality, it can get us there. I feel like that's what we had back in 2020, when everybody had confidence, everybody was playing a great brand of football. Also, obviously a big part of that is staying healthy too. If we stay healthy and we take care of what we need to take care of, I think we can get it done."
The Buccaneers, now an established NFL powerhouse after accumulating four-straight division titles and a Super Bowl LV victory over the Chiefs, are chasing more than another division banner to hang in the AdventHealth Training Center. With David at the helm of the defense, the Buccaneers are chasing another ring in 2025.
