Bucs OC Zac Robinson.
Zac Robinson comes across to Joe like a guy who is not triggered very easily.
The Bucs offensive coordinator comes across as a smooth, polished — maybe too smooth and polished — corporate guy. He likes to answer questions with wordy answers, which often turn into word salad.
Joe doesn’t think he has ever seen Robinson rattled. Joe has never heard him holler at practice — Joe did hear Liam Coen and Josh Grizzard get on Bucs offensive players in practice.
But apparently, the old-school football coach can come out of him.
Robinson yesterday in his weekly press conference was asked about Chris Godwin’s numbers on Sunday — yes, he had eight targets but just four catches for 37 yards.
Godwin’s numbers are really, really paltry this season, some of the worst of his career.
Robinson was surprised by the question as he thought Godwin was targeted several times — he was correct — but within his answer to the Godwin question, Robinson let it slip that in an offensive meeting earlier this week, it sounds like he either called some people out or tore into someone’s backside for sloppy play.
> “We’ve got to get all these guys going,” Robinson said. “I think it first starts with our level of detail across the board.
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> “You know, we’ve got to be a lot better. I mean, we had a pretty tough meeting, honestly, on Monday, just talking about the pass game and the missed opportunities and the lack of detail that we showed.”
Robinson brought up an uncharacteristic dropped third-down pass by Godwin that hit him in the hands against Pittsburgh. Robinson said not finishing plays like that when you’re trying to outscore a guy like Aaron Rodgers will doom teams.
Robinson isn’t wrong.
Baker Mayfield later admitted, as Silvio Dante might say, words were spoken.
> “We needed to have it,” Mayfield said of the “tough” meeting. “It’s one of those things that’s uncomfortable.
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> “You can’t be sensitive in that. Everybody \[has\] a hand in it. It was from, I mean, it wasn’t just about the last game. It was really more so talking about everything that we’ve done wrong.
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> “The O-Line is playing better and better now, that we need to be detailed in the right spots, quarterbacks have to go through the right reads, have the feet on time. So, just harping on the fact that we’re good when we do the right little things right, and so how consistent can we be and just see that thing come to life and go from there?”
Well, Joe isn’t sure the rest of the offense noticed but it is October 23. A third of the season is gone. They’re 1-5. They go on the road this week to the NFC South landfill leader Carolina.
If the offense is going to begin doing the little things right, now might be a good time to start. Going 1-6, Joe doesn’t know how even the biggest Bucs apologist can sugarcoat that.