Dirk Koetter disappointed in Bucs offense after practicing with Jaguars

After what he felt was a disappointing performance for the offense in the preseason opener, Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter was hoping two days of practice against another opponent would be a welcome endeavor.

The Bucs are in Jacksonville to practice with the Jaguars for two days before their game Saturday night.

Unfortunately, Koetter said the offense was not impressive on Wednesday, citing a lack enthusiasm as a primary concern.

“I just didn’t think we had much juice today on offense. It happens,” Koetter said.

The Bucs’ first-year coach didn’t want to elaborate on the reason, especially when quarterback Jameis Winston is considered a guy who is always enthusiastic to the point of it being contagious.

“Anything I say on that would be like we are making excuses,” Koetter said. “The bottom line is I just didn’t think we were crisp on offense as we have been our own practices. But again, it’s a different environment, so it was a good experience for us.”

The only guy Koetter singled out on offense for good play was tight end Cameron Brate, who already distinguished himself this camp by beating out Austin Seferian-Jenkins for the starting job.

“Man, I’m like a broken record, but Cam Brate shows up every day,” the coach said.

The offensive starters will play more this week after putting in about a quarter against Philadelphia in the preseason opener.

Koetter welcomes the game and said the opportunity to go against a different team in practice should pay dividends. Now, if only that offense would show more spark.

“They gave us some looks we haven’t seen, especially when we had a little third-down period there, they gave us some tricky looks. We’ll go back and look at them on tape this afternoon, and that’s always good learning,” Koetter said.

He was being a little coy in not wanting to mention names.

“About halfway through the practice, one of the our coaches said (about the offense), ‘The good players are playing good and the bad players are playing bad.’ I just didn’t think we had a great day offensively,” Koetter said.

The Bucs also have another goal in the preseason though it will not matter that much this season year unless a catastrophe happens and Winston gets hurt. They need to assess the play of quarterback Ryan Griffin and determine if he has a future with team, especially after backup Mike Glennon leaves as expected.

“It’s no secret, Mike Glennon’s going into the last year of his contract, so we’ve got to figure out if Griff is a good long-term answer as our No. 2,” Koetter said. “When you are going with the threes, many times you’re going with some guys that don’t know what they’re doing so that quarterback has a lot of traffic directing to do, so to speak, and he’s doing a good job with that.”

Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley was more than pleased with his players and the mental toughness he said they showed.

“Very good. I loved it. I thought it was great for our team, a lot that we can take away from this practice. Physically we showed up. Mentally you can see some guys had a little bit of anxiety. I think they had to work though that part, but as far as learning lessons from this and practice tempo and seeing different looks, outstanding,” Bradley said.

The Bucs’ defense, which Koetter praised so much for their performance against the Eagles, will get a stiffer challenge from the Jaguars who feature the rapidly improving play of quarterback Blake Bortles and his set of the twin-tower receivers: Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson (14 TDs and more than 1,400 receiving yards last season).

The running backs will present more of a problem with the acquisition of Chris Ivory, who joins T.J. Yeldon in the backfield.

The Jacksonville defense struggled last year, particularly with its front four finishing last in the NFL in generating pressure. The secondary also had its issues, which could make for Winston to have a good night.

Koetter has been pleased with Robert Ayers both as a defensive end and defensive tackle in the nickel packages and is looking for a good performance from him against Jacksonville.

“Robert Ayers is a very versatile player. We knew that when we got him when we got him and he’s definitely lived up to what we expected,” Koetter said. “What we didn’t know is what a good leader and good temp-setter he is. He’s exceeded expectations so far.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2016 at 12:22 AM with the headline "Dirk Koetter disappointed in Bucs offense after practicing with Jaguars."