Il punto della situazione: parola a Lovie Smith

Lovie Smith mentre dirige il suo primo mini-camp come HC dei Bucs

Terminato il primo mini-camp alla guida della sua nuova squadra, coach Lovie Smith ne ha approfittato per fare il punto della situazione, e per rilasciare alla stampa alcune dichiarazioni su vari argomenti riguardanti i Bucs 2014. Di seguito, ho cercato di sintetizzare quelle più interessanti, tratte direttamente dal sito ufficiale dei Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Parola dunque a coach Lovie Smith!

Buoni propositi
A inizio anno sono inevitabili le dichiaraizoni di intenti e l'enunciazione dei buoni propositi, il difficile, come sempre, sarà tradurre le buone intenzioni n fatti concreti. Queste, comunque, le "buone intenzioni" del nuovo HC dei Bucs:

“There was definitely improvement from day one until today. Our players are showing up every day, they have a little break now and we’ll get back and we’ll start the second phase where the coaches can go out on the football field with the players next week except for you can’t go against each other offense [versus] defense. Like I said, a good start for us, we have a long ways to go, believe me we’re not ready for Carolina yet, but we have a little bit more time, but we’re closer to getting ready.”

Lovie  si è poi soffermato su alcuni singoli giocatori, analizzandone nel dettaglio le caratteristiche e valutando quello che potrà essere il contributo da essi fornito nella nuova stagione ormai alle porte.

Jeff Demps
L'ex velocista olimpionico è un giocatore che potremmo definire "osservato speciale" da parte di Smith. L'ex RB dei Patriots nonché medaglia d'argento con la staffetta 4x100 statunitense ai giochi olimpici di Londra 2012, è probabilmente il giocatore più veloce dell'intera NFL e questa sua caratteristica potrebbe rivelarsi un'arma letale, se usata nel migliore dei modi. Ecco cosa dice l'HC dei Bucs relativamente a Jeff Demps:
"I wanted to talk to him about where his commitment was,” said Smith about his early phone call. “Do you want to win another Olympic medal or do you want to be a good football player? And he let me know he was totally committed to being the best football player he can be. He’s been here every day and I saw a lot good things from him.”

Demps è dunque da considerasi un giocatore da football a tempo pieno, ma è ancora da definire il suo ruolo, visto che oltre a RB potrebbe essere schierato anche come WR e soprattutto come KR/PR. Ancora coach Smith;

"He is definitely the fastest guy in the NFL and you see that quickness,” said Smith. “We have to find a way to use that speed. He has good hands even though he dropped the long one yesterday; I’ve been talking to him about that ever since. There are some things you can do with a guy like that, whether it be with returns or [other things]. It’s on us now to find some ways to use him.” 

Da’Quan Bowers

Un giocatore entrato in NFL con grandi aspettative sino ad ora non mantenute, anche per seri problemi fisici, è sicuramente il DE Da'Quan Bowers. Questo il pensiero di Lovie Smith a proposito diell'ex stella di Clemson, peraltro alle prese in questi giorni con un ennesimo infortunio: 

“As far as my thoughts, I remember him a little bit from college and a little bit from last year, but I’m 55 now and it’s hard for me to remember an awful lot. Guys have to get out on the football field now. I know he’s here, right now he’s injured, he can’t go, but he’s been alert, he’s learning the system. Eventually we’ll get him out there. I know the rehab is going well. Seriously, he’s a good football player, but he needs to prove it right now. He’ll get an opportunity, a player like that should be able to excel in a defense like ours.”

Mike Jenkins

Uno degli innesti pincipali nella secondaria dei Bucs è quello del CB Mike Jenkins, reduce da stagioni non brillantissime a Dallas e Oakland. Ecco il profilo del giocatore tracciato da coach Smith:

“We brought Mike in here – I’ve known about Mike, I remembered when he worked out at USF. Good player, local guy and even last year as I was out, I watched him a little bit. Knew he was a guy with a year left and he had an opportunity to go wherever he wanted to, so we recruited him hard to come here, but everything you’re looking for in a good corner he has. He has a Pro Bowl on record. I think he had six or seven interceptions in one year. He has good hands, good quickness, he’ll tackle, a lot of things to work with, but for him as I told him, it’s time for him to settle down and what better place to settle than at home? But good camp, good start for him and we’re anxious to take this next step with him.”

Tight-ends 
Ormai da alcune stagioni il reparto dei TE è uno dei punti deboli di Tampa Bay; queste le riflessioni di Smith a proposito di Tim Wright  e soci: 

“I don’t think anybody can distinguish themselves running around in their underwear. You just can’t do that. We had a chance to see some of the ability and we knew that. Bringing inBrandon Myers, we knew what type of guy he was and what he’s done in a league, in Tim Wright what type of athlete he is, it’s good to get [Luke] Stocker back out on the football field, [Tom] Crabtree and [Steve] Maneri. We have all those guys on video, but it’s hard to kind of tell with tight ends. We want to be able to see them once we get in pads and see what they can do then."

Calendario 2014

Premesso che le squadre vanno incontrate tutte e che gli avversari con cui scontrarsi erano noti da dicembre, da ieri si conoscono anche le date e la composizioni completa della "schedule" 2014. Calendario facile o difficile? 
“I like starting off – it’s about the division and we get a chance to see exactly where we are. In order to be a champion, you have to beat the champ. We get a chance to play them right away at home, that’s important. There’s a time when it was really hard to play here at Raymond James Stadium and one of the goals that of course we’ll always have is win all of our home games. There’s a lot to get fired up about, we’ve already started our clock in the locker room, the countdown to that game. So that part is good and of course following up with another home game against the Rams, a good football team that played well last year. And to finish up with two games at home, we plan on being in it, so to finish up, it’s about how you finish as much as anything. To have two home games to finish up our season, but we knew who our opponents were and when we played wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Sull'importanza del "gruppo"
Queste alcune riflessioni di Smith sulla "camaraderie", ossia su quello che potremmo definire "spirito di gruppo" o "comunione di intenti" che regna - o che dovrebbe regnare - in casa Bucs:
“It is a team and we’re trying to get this team as good as we possibly can to get ready to compete against someone else. A part of that is just working together on both sides of the ball and for offseason work you’re not in pads so the camp is set up to avoid a lot of that type contact. Yeah I want the DBs talking; I want [wide receiver] Vincent Jackson talking to [cornerback] Alterraun Verner about what he sees and both of them sharing notes as much as anything. I want [quarterback] Josh McCown talking to the linebackers and [center] Evan Dietrich-Smith letting the guys know if they’re giving things away. That’s what we’re doing and of course the coaches the same thing. Just comparing as much information as we possibly can to get us a little bit better.”

Chris Owusu

E' noto come a livello di WR i Bucs siano particolarmente sguarniti, ma secondo l'opinione di coach Smith il ricevitore Chris Owusu potrebbe rivelarsi una bella sorpresa...

“He has good size, excellent speed and I’ve been impressed with how he has caught the football. Again I don’t know a lot nor had any preconceived notions about the players, but he’s a guy that you do notice. I did see on his chart before we went on the field a 4.36 [40-yard dash] will get your attention a little bit. He’s running good routes, he’s caught the ball well and he’s done some good things. There’s an opportunity, if I’m a receiver I would be just really doing everything I could to show the coaches exactly what I have. This is a great chance to do that.”

Jorvorskie Lane e il ruolo del fullback
Uno dei ruoli meno considerati nel'NFL di oggi è quello del FB; Smith ne sottolinea invece l'importanza, parlando del nuovo FB dei Bucs, quel Jorvorskie Lane chiamato a sostituire Erik Lorig accasatosi ai Saints nel corso della free agency:

“We’ve seen him, and it’s just not that – you have to be able to do more if you’re at the fullback position. Fullbacks are kind of being pushed out of the league a little bit. But if you are a fullback, you need to be able to block, for one thing. Like all receivers want to catch the ball, all running backs want to run the ball, but someone has to be able to block and be a lead blocker. He has the size, as you mentioned, to do that, but he has excellent feet too, as a runner. Go back to his college days. For a big guy, he can move and can carry the ball. He gives us a little bit of flexibility. I like what all three of our fullbacks did this camp".

Sarà il MLB Mason Foster ad effettuare le chiamate difensive
Infine, coach Smith conferma che sarà il middle linebacker, e cioè Mason Foster, a chiamare le assegnazioni difensive: 

“Our mike linebacker will make our calls. As a general rule, I think if you’re the mike linebacker, they need to see you out front most of the time, all the time. [Former Buccaneers linebacker and current linebackers coach] Hardy Nickerson would look at you a little differently than I’m looking at you if you ask if the mike linebacker is going to make the call. He should do that, just like the quarterback should make the call on the offensive side of the ball. With three receiver sets sometimes now, [linebacker] Lavonte [David] might do it, we don’t know exactly who our other two linebackers will be when we only put two linebackers on the field in nickel situations. Maybe not then, but as a general rule, yes, the mike linebacker should be making the call.”