Skip to main content
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Advertising

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sights and Sounds from the Buccaneers Back to Football Forum

The Buccaneers hosted the Back to Football Forum with the Tampa and St. Pete Chambers of Commerce on Tuesday afternoon and players in attendance didn’t hold back during their Q&A session.

TAMPA, FL- AUGUST 27, 2019 - Linebacker Devin White #45, Quarterback Jameis Winston #3, Wide Receiver Mike Evans #13 and Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh #93 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the Back to Football Forum at the Westshore Doubletree hotel. Photo By Tori Richman/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TAMPA, FL- AUGUST 27, 2019 - Linebacker Devin White #45, Quarterback Jameis Winston #3, Wide Receiver Mike Evans #13 and Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh #93 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the Back to Football Forum at the Westshore Doubletree hotel. Photo By Tori Richman/Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On what the goal is for this year:

Bruce Arians: "Every single year, put a ring on our fingers. One team, one cause."

Bryan Glazer: "I agree with that, but I also want to be the first NFL team to win a Super Bowl with women coaches on our team."

On rookie LB Devin White:

Ndamukong Suh: "He's been great. He's very dominant and he comes in and is very forward in thinking about how he wants to play the calls and things he gets from Todd Bowles. For me, my ultimate goal is always to be a dominant force – to one, be able to help him relax and keep the linemen from getting up to him and give him the ability to have one-on-ones and make plays."

On how he's adjusting to the new defense:

Devin White: "From the moment I got drafted, I was one of the happiest kids in the world because it's a great defense, you get to fly around. You know, Jameis Winston never knows what's coming at him because we have a lot of different things that we can do. Then when we got Suh, it made it even more interesting because when I look at him, I look at all the people that are going to try to double-team him and I can make some plays. It's just great. I'm still getting the hang of it like you said, I'm young and trying to command [the defense]. He gives me tips in the game like, hey if you don't get a play in, call your favorite play. We're gonna back you up. So, I'm still learning but I love it, man. I feel like I'm in heaven up here."

On how he's seen the rookies develop:

Bruce Arians: "We give them a lot of opportunities and one of the reasons we have a large coaching staff is all spring and most of camp, we had two practices going at the same time. Normally, a rookie might get 50-55 snaps in the spring. Ours got over 400. So they had over 500 snaps to show that they could play and get opportunities to learn and get repititions and get on film. So that part of it, it's easy to coach that way. You get to see who's smart, who's not and smart is number one. We can't have dumb players beating us. We can't have Bucs beating Bucs and that's the one thing that we preach every single day. That evaluation has been fantastic and these young guys have really gotten involved and they're doing a heck of a job."

On what kind of leader he strives to be:

Jameis Winston: "My main thing is just bringing great energy in and to lead by example. I think Jason [Licht] has done a great job of putting great players around us and now it's just time to execute. We have a great coaching staff and we have some great defensive players so now I just have to do my job and go out there and win games."

On Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles and his defense:

Bruce Arians: "I think the respect throughout the league for Todd and what he has done – he is a great teacher. He has a simple way of making things that are complicated very simple. He knows how to take each one of these guys and put them in a position to be successful. It might be something different each week – this matchup, hey Suh, we're putting you on this guy, we like this blitz because Devin, we can get you on this back so he's really good at finding spots to put his players to be successful in a very simple way but for an offense it's very, very complicated."

Ndamukong Suh: "Just to echo Coach Arians, it's very simple, create matchups – whether I'm inside, outside, standing up on some situations, which is actually a lot of fun because I push Devin [White] over to the side and say, 'Hey get out my way' [laughs]. But it's really exciting and you have to be a smart player which pushes you and for me, football has been very fortunate to come easy. I like being able to be challenged and Coach Arians, as well as Coach Todd Bowles, do that. They push me and they find different ways for me to go to another level.

"It's pretty simple, I like imposing my will." (To which there was thunderous applause.)

On if he's used to being in the league yet:

Devin White: "I still feel like a little star-struck. After the first game, I asked Mike Evans can I have his jersey [pause for laughter from the crowd]. I think I'm used to it now […] We have a lot of stars in the locker room. I'm just happy to be around those guys but for me it's kind of hard because I got zero stats and they got good stats so I'm just trying to get up there with them. I know I'm in the right position to be one of those top guys in the league like these three guys right here."

win monthly prizes, download the app and turn on push alerts to score

Download the Buccaneers app and turn on push alerts for your chance to win

Latest Headlines

Advertising