Todd Bowles Comments on OC Byron Leftwich's Future with Buccaneers

Many expected the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to drop the hammer on Byron Leftwich on Tuesday, but head coach Todd Bowles' comments say it could be a bit before the final decision is made.

Considering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFC South Division with a losing record, and were subsequently embarrassed on national television in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs, it's no surprise there's a certain amount of negativity around the team right now. 

Not even two full years removed from winning Super Bowl LV, the Tom Brady-led Bucs were booed in the same stadium they last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in. 

It's a dramatic, yet accurate, depiction of just how ruthless NFL football is. 

They love you one year, and the next, they don't. 

Nobody is feeling that heat more than offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who many expected to be fired on Tuesday after Pewter Report published an inside-sourced article outlining that he was almost fired mid-season. 

"The Bucs okayed a plan to fire (Byron) Leftwich at midseason - either after the Ravens game on Thursday Night Football or after the bye week," wrote Pewter Report's Scott Reynolds. "Instead, (Todd) Bowles decided to trust his defense and Brady's heroics and hoped that Leftwich and the offensive staff could make some improvements along the way, which didn't happen."

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But the firing of Leftwich never came. 

At least, not on Tuesday. 

"I will meet with the staff at the end of the week, and we'll talk about everything then," Bowles said when asked about his assessment of Leftwich. "I don't want to sit here and say we are talking about things when I haven't even talked over things with my coaches. We do our yearly assessment just like we do with the players."

Players left the Buccaneers facility on Tuesday, cleaning out their lockers, getting physicals, and meeting with coaches along the way. 

Undoubtedly, there were plenty of questions asked to key offensive players about Leftwich, and those may or may not have a significant impact on what happens next. 

But if the team was looking to potentially fire Leftwich in-season, there's nothing to suggest they've seen reason to change that course of action now. 

Not after a thorough waxing at the hands of the Cowboys that featured three three-and-outs, and two drives killed on fourth-down conversion attempts.

It's not good enough for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

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Not good enough for a team with the greatest quarterback to ever play the game under center. 

And certainly not good enough for an offensive coordinator who this time last year was considered one of the hottest head coaching candidates around.

Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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