Buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles Having 'No Problems' With Devin White

The September Defensive Player of the Month has had a rapid fall from grace, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach says he sees no issues.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White was the September NFC Defensive Player of the Month. 

And as we sit just days away from the end of October, it's been quite a month since then. 

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At the time, the Bucs weren't necessarily blowing teams out of the water, but there were feisty. And winning. 

But then White's words started standing out more than his play. 

Then Tampa Bay started losing. 

And now, nobody is interested in hearing the proud linebacker talk about being bored while playing the lowly Atlanta Falcons - who may be first place in the NFC South by the end of the weekend, by the way.

Nobody is interested in seeing White play the way he did on Thursday night either. 

Except for Buccaneers head coach, Todd Bowles. 

"I don't think there's been a drop-off," Bowles said when asked about the team captain's play recently. "Defense is a team sport. You're not going to be a star by yourself - there are guys in front of you and guys behind you. To say that Devin has dropped off...the defense has dropped off, I would say...I have no problems with Devin."

The word 'laughable' comes to mind. 

1000000% inexcusable effort from #GoBucs LB Devin White on this play:
(📽️: @josh_queipo) pic.twitter.com/yM1J76qxkT

— Evan Winter (@evan_AtoZ) October 28, 2022

After you're done laughing or crying - or both - about this play by White, keep in mind coach Bowles' words. 

Defense is indeed a team sport. And there were, in fact, players in front of White and behind them. 

They're the guys seen making an effort here, even if they were mostly unsuccessful attempts to take down a receiver. 

The ones in front of him are talented, but fail to take down the receiver. They do, however, have him contained for a moment. 

A perfect situation for a hard-hitting linebacker to clean up the play for his team. Instead, White half-jogs towards the action, and the receiver breaks free of the traffic.

But then there are players behind White. 

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Guys like rookie defensive end Logan Hall, second-year linebacker Joe Tryon-Soyinka, and backup outside linebacker Anthony Nelson. 

You'll notice them because they're the ones running past White in an attempt to chase down the Ravens player now running down the sideline. 

Of course, White isn't the only player 'loafing' on this play. 

So is safety Keanu Neal. 

"We single out 'loafs' all the time - if they're loafing," Bowles said about the effort of White specifically, but referring to the defense as a whole. "Some guys are gassed, some guys are loafing, but we single everything out."

Want to know what's wrong with the Bucs? 

Well, apparently there are players identified as loafing, "all the time," and the head coach has no problem with his young defensive captain being one of them. 

Start there and work your way around the building.

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