August 13th, 2026
Vita Vea talks to NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew after Bucs-Jets practice in New Jersey yesterday.
Bucs monster defensive tackle Vita Vea isn’t really a media kind of guy.
Vea’s not a bad dude. Not at all. Once in a while he may talk to a reporter, but really not so much about football and certainly not about X’s and O’s.
(Vea loved to talk to Joe about former Bucs offensive consultant Tom Moore.) For Vea, media responsibilities are mostly an exercise in comedy. If you ask him a question, he often tries to turn it into a joke or a one-liner.
In other words, Vea is very evasive in interviews.
Joe can only remember twice when Vea was serious when peppered with questions. Once was after he caught a touchdown pass in Atlanta. The other was when he was telling Joe that Robert Hainsey would be OK at center after Ryan Jensen went down. In fact, Vea actually sought out Joe after a practice to tell Joe that about Hainsey.
Vea wouldn’t be the first and surely won’t be the last NFL player who doesn’t embrace the Fourth Estate.
So Joe saw NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew talk to Vea yesterday after the Bucs-Jets practice in New Jersey. That got Joe’s attention. Vea talked???
(So far this summer, Vea has been kept away from the local pen and mic club by the Bucs.)
MJD told NFL Network viewers of his conversation with Vea, who asked the Bucs for a trade:
“We spoke a little bit about kind of where he’s living,” MJD said. “He’s saying he’s staying in the Tampa area. He doesn’t want to go home [back to California] because he may get a little bit bigger. I was like, ‘How does that happen?’
“But he is excited. He’s hoping the talks continue there on his contract. He’s still coaching his guys. We saw the defensive line look really good with Reuben Bain, and [Vea is] excited.
“Hopefully, he gets a chance to get out there and play with him.”
Like Vea, MJD is a San Francisco Bay Area native.
Joe can confirm what MJD said about Vea coaching his current teammates. A couple of young Bucs defenders have told Joe that Vea taught them moves and techniques they now use in their arsenal.
it’s good that Vea is engaged with the younger guys. He may have demanded a trade but he apparently hasn’t thrown in the towel on the team. At least not yet.
NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo noted the Bucs and Vea’s agent are still engaged in talks. Garafolo didn’t detail whether the two parties are anywhere close.
Joe would really, really like to see what this newfangled Bucs defense looks like with Rueben Bain, Josiah Trotter and Vea on the field together.
Joe has a hunch if those three, healthy, can ever get on the same field again, you won’t read Joe typing about a soft Bucs defense.