The Buccaneers made a late announcement about a change to their offensive line plans for Sunday’s opener against the Falcons, but the groundwork had been laid in practices leading up to Week 1.
Head coach Todd Bowles said at his Monday press conference that the team began giving projected starting center Graham Barton reps at left tackle “in case of emergency,” with Charlie Heck slated to start in place of the injured Tristan Wirfs. Bowles added that Barton “started looking better and better” and that Ben Bredeson “looked pretty good at center,” which led the coaches to realize “we probably need to do this” in order to maximize the group’s physicality.
The final piece of the shuffle was installing Michael Jordan at left guard, and the unit helped the Bucs to a 23-20 win. Bowles didn’t say what the plan will be against the Texans in Week 2, but it seems likely they’ll stick with what worked.
“We’ll see what it is this week,” Bowles said, via a team transcript. “I thought Graham, for the first time at tackle, played very well. I thought Bredeson did a very good job at center, especially controlling where the blitzes go and the pickups and everything like that. Michael Jordan played well at guard, as well. So, they played tough and they battled. You know, for those guys moving around, playing their first game at different positions, I thought they did a good job. Going forward, we’ll see.”
The Bucs hope to have Wirfs back in the next few weeks, but they won’t feel pressure to rush him if the current alignment continues to hold up.