Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy watched last Sunday’s AFC Championship Game and noticed one big difference between his team and the two teams vying for a Super Bowl berth.
McCoy said the Jaguars and Patriots “never have to worry about whether a guy was going to do their job or where they were going to be,” which wasn’t the case for the Bucs during the 2017 season. McCoy said the accountability he saw in those teams is something that he wants for the Bucs and that it is incumbent on himself and other leaders on the team to make sure there’s more of it next season.
“Whether it was preparation. How guys prepared. How guys played,” McCoy said on WDAE, via the Tampa Bay Times. “We just shot ourselves in the foot a lot with penalties and mental errors. And then there were times where we just got beat as a team. The team was just better than us. That comes from experience. Guys have to band together. We’ve got to come together as a team and unit and get on the same page. We weren’t always on the same page. I think myself and Lavonte [David], we take a lot of blame for that. Not doing enough in the room or at practice. If this thing is going to change, we need to take this thing over and make sure it changes.”
The Buccaneers opted not to shake up the coaching staff or personnel department after a 5-11 season, but it seems McCoy believes there are some big changes to make inside the locker room if things are going to get better in 2018.