Bucs coach Todd Bowles.
Hold up. Before people start throwing rocks at Joe, let’s be clear: The headline is sarcasm.
Sometimes, Joe has to point this out because not everyone’s sarcasm meter is fine-tuned. Joe’s included.
So yesterday, after underwear football practice at One Buc Palace, Todd Bowles was asked if he expected his entire team to show up for mandatory minicamp.
The keyword here is “mandatory.” OTAs this week are not mandatory. Minicamp is and it gets underway Tuesday.
“It’s mandatory,” Bowles said. “Everybody should be here.”
So that means Haason Reddick will be here? You know, the guy who signed as a free agent, the guy the Bucs hope solves their edge rushing woes. So far, he has been a no-show at OTAs.
“Minicamp is mandatory,” Bowles reiterated. “That’s about all I can tell you.”
Bowles was then asked if he has spoken to Reddick. Apparently, he has not. Instead, Bowles has given that assignment to Larry Foote, the Bucs’ outside linebackers coach, who is a big reason why Reddick signed with the Bucs.
Reddick and Foote go back to their Cardinals days where Foote was Reddick’s position coach in Phoenix as well.
“I keep in touch [with Reddick] through his position coach,” Bowles said.
No word on what the conversations between Bowles and Reddick, by way of Foote, have been.
So now the head coach isn’t on speaking terms with his big-money free agent edge rusher? Sarcasm, people. #Sarcasm
In another curious nugget: Bucs All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs was not participating in OTAs yesterday. No biggie. He’s taken off others. So too have Mike Evans and Vita Vea. It’s not mandatory, right?
Well, after practice, the Bucs held their annual event to help raise awareness for pediatric cancer known for players and some Bucs employees having their heads shaved or spray-painted by young cancer patients.
So who was at the event held in the Glazer Shed? Wirfs.