The off-season is officially over. Okay, maybe not. We have a long way until we get to September for the opening games of 2018 but the work to get off on the right foot begins today as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers arrive for their first batch of OTAs.
Of course, Tampa Bay started with some disappointing news as starting right tackle Demar Dotson apparently injured his meniscus in his knee, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine, he will miss all of the off-season program.
I can confirm reports that Bucs starting right tackle Demar Dotson had surgery last week to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. He is expected to miss the entire offseason program, which begins today, but the goal is to be back for training camp. https://t.co/qIpKM9Xbfw
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) April 16, 2018
It will be interesting to see who else may not be available on day one and if all healthy participants (Desean-COUGH-Jackson) show up. How will JPP look? Does Noah Spence’s shoulder and arm resemble the Full Metal Alchemist (google it)? Will J.R. Sweezy’s wallet cause another strain on his back? Who will have better hair? Joe Dirt (Riley Bullough) or Beau Allen or Ryan Jensen? And for the love of the football Gods, can the Bucs marketing team come up with a better slogan than Siege The Day?
Jameis will be there answering questions about how his off-season went and if he’s heard anything from the NFL concerning the Uber investigation (which he will pretty much say he doesn’t know anything).
We all know this season is crucial for the Bucs’ current regime, so, with some of the additions and a new focus on physicality it will be interesting to see if there will be a different mentality during these training sessions. The NFL prohibits padded practices at this point, you can’t even really use shells, so you’re talking glorified walkthroughs, workouts and conditioning drills at this point. Only so much can be done. Still, this is where the seeds are planted.
Today will be the beginning of a long journey to the post season or regime change for Tampa Bay. Let’s hope they get off on a good foot.
J.C. De La Torre
Want to give JC a piece of your mind? E-mail him at JC@whatthebuc.net JC De La Torre is formerly a columnist/blogger for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blog site BucsNation.com where in 2016, he was nominated as best sportswriter in Tampa Bay by Creative Loafing. Previously, he served as a featured columnist for Bleacher Report on Tampa Bay sports, an editor and featured columnist for SB Nation Tampa Bay covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Gators, wrote for NFL.com’s Blog Blitz and contributed to Pewter Report, one of the top magazines on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. JC is also a filmmaker, comic writer and rabid Whovian.
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