Bucs DC to Critics: Help us Put Game Plan Together
By Peter Smith
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan has heard the criticism that he is not using cornerback Darrelle Revis properly. In response, Sheridan had the following message in his media availability on Thursday:
"December 23, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan during the second quarter against the St. Louis Rams at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports“What I want to invite them to do is join us. I get here about 5:20 [a.m.] every single morning, and they’re more than welcome to hang around here until about 11:00 [p.m.] for the first four nights of the week and they can help us put the whole game plan together.”“We’ve got all the free cokes you want in the building and we’ll be happy to take those suggestions on how we can better use Darrelle. Trust me when I tell you we painstakingly game plan how best to use all of our personnel not just Darrelle.”"
Fans are certainly not the only ones who have been vocal in their criticism of what Sheridan is doing. Yesterday, Ron Jaworski went on PTI and specifically talked about how much man coverage Revis was playing. He went on to say that the Bucs were not maximizing what their defense could do. It remains to be seen if Jaworski will show up and take Sheridan up on his offer, but he is someone who certainly could with the amount of work he puts in watching tape on a weekly basis.
In Sheridan’s defense, the Bucs defense is hardly the problem in Tampa right now. While they gave up a surprising amount of points in their game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bucs defense has kept opponents under 20 points in three of their other four contests. Nevertheless, it will hardly be surprising when a few people show up and call Sheridan’s bluff and it will be interesting to see how the Bucs and Sheridan react. The Bucs take on the Atlanta Falcons this week in a battle between two disappointing teams looking to get anything going this season.