The Buccaneers have a very good team, full of good players. And this good players become confident. Some of them are willing to say so.
Fourth-year cornerback Carlton Davis, meeting with reporters on Sunday, spoke his mind about his skills and abilities. Although the team omitted the boasts from the quote sheet that it circulated, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times captured and reported the quotes.
“I’m just going to keep being me,” Davis said. “Keep locking it down. Keep doing what I do. Unfortunately, I can’t control what the media want to promote or who they like.”
With no one to promote Davis, Davis will wisely promote himself.
“If you take the numbers, if you take the stats, take the film?” Davis said. “I’m second to none. Second to none.”
The quote sheet included Davis explaining how the team’s incredibly deep and talented receiving corps has helped him improve his game.
“To be able to go against Mike [Evans], Chris [Godwin], then we added A.B., and all of the other receivers, we’ve just got so much diversity with our receivers as far as quick, big, possession, strong,” Davis explained. “Just going up against those guys was just great for me because they allowed me to work on my technique and just get some game-like plays and reps in during this time where you’re developing and you’re trying to get back in the groove of the season.
“Those guys take no plays off. They’re always the same. They’re always trying to compete. To be able to compete with them just really prepares me, and not just this year. Every year I’ve been here, I’ve been prepared by them to go up against these other receivers. It allows me to play fearless because like I’ve seen it all just in practice along with all of these guys we’ve got. I could name a bunch of them because our offense, we have so many weapons. I love it because it’s more competition for me and I can get better.”
That’s the best part of having a good offense and/or a good defense. One makes the other better. When they’re both good (as they are in Tampa), they get even better.
For Davis, who’ll make $2.4 million in the final year of his rookie deal, this is the ideal season to show what he can do. By March, he’ll be in position to turn that ability and performance into a big-money contract, from the Bucs or someone else.