The face of NFL Network, Rich Eisen, can be quite smarmy as he tries to play nice with everyone and channel his inner Jon Gruden.
Gruden, aka Chucky, is fond of stating public love for nearly every player, which is dishonest. Joe loves Chucky, but candor isn’t his strong suit when he’s not coaching. Chucky even recently said he had no beef with Team Glazer for ripping him out of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.
Eisen ha a revealing slip this week while interviewing former Buccaneer Gerald McCoy, the six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle. The duo works together on NFL Network but this was during [_The Rich Eisen Show_](https://richeisenshow.com/).
McCoy talked about why he thinks the Bucs will threaten the Eagles’ NFC crown, and McCoy noted one reason is new Bucs edge rusher Haason Reddick, the former Eagles star, will be extra motivated to beat his old team.
That take seemed to peek Eisen out of his persona.
> “Oh, God. Listen, the Jets fan in me right now is like, ‘Gimme a break. Like he’s got to want to and he’s got to show it,'” Eisen said of Reddick.
And that’s the knock on Reddick that Bucs fans don’t want to hear.
After failing to report to the Jets last season until October, Reddick played in 10 games. Joe will say that in the first five games (with a bye week in between) Reddick shook off a lot of rust. But what about after that? Reddick came out for the final five games and looked sad.
Despite playing in a contract year with tens of millions on the line — alongside a Pro Bowl defensive tackle and opposite a 10-sack pass rusher — Reddick didn’t produce in his final five games with the Jets.
Reddick logged 231 snaps in those final five games, during which he found half a sack in the season finale. So it’s fair to wonder how much Reddick still has in the tank physically and mentally.
The Bucs believe in Reddick. They say their intel on him was strong and he is all-in with Tampa Bay and has been a model Bucs teammate.
It would be awesome if Reddick can make Eisen eat his words.