Bucs know Cohen tough to contain
TAMPA — As much as Bears rookie Tarik Cohen surprised much of the NFL with a breakout debut Sunday, at least one Bucs player knew exactly what he’d be facing this week as Chicago comes to play Tampa Bay.
“When I saw what he did in his first game, I wasn’t shocked at all,” said cornerback Ryan Smith, who played at N.C. Central when Cohen played for rival N.C. A&T. “He’s a great player, a great athlete. I played him my last two years, and he gave us hell. We beat him, but he was a great player.”
Smith and Central won both meetings in close games — close enough to win by a single yard. In 2014, Cohen rushed for 203 yards with two touchdowns and was on his way to a tying score in the final five minutes when Central forced a fumble inside the 5-yard line. Smith recovered the loose ball at the 1-yard line to preserve the lead.
Smith had eight tackles in that win, and in 2015 Central won again, but the 5-foot-6 Cohen — nicknamed “The Human Joystick” for his video-game moves — went for 112 yards in a 21-16 loss.
Cohen, a fourth-round draft pick, may have caught the Falcons by surprise, but the Bucs have an advantage in that they were able to watch the Bears’ seasonopening loss. Defensive coordinator Mike Smith said it was clear that Chicago wanted to get Cohen involved. Cohen had five rushes for 66 yards, including a 46-yard run to set up a tying touchdown before halftime, and also caught eight passes, including a 19-yard touchdown.
“They obviously wanted to get that rookie the ball as much as possible,” Mike Smith said. “By the way, he’s a game-wrecker. He’s a guy that can really scoot. He’s got great speed. He’s not very tall. He’s going to create mismatch issues for our linebackers, and they want to get him the ball . ... He’s a talented guy and they definitely were wanting to have him be an integral part of what they want to do offensively.”
Bucs tight end Cameron Brate grew up an hour west of Chicago in Naperville, Ill., and for the third year in a row, he’s trying to convince friends and family back home to stop rooting for the Bears and pull for him against his childhood team.
“I’m not sure. It’s still early in the season, so they haven’t given up yet on the Bears,” Brate said. “Maybe if we get the win this week, they’ll convert over to Bucs fans this year.”
Brate has had good success against the Bears — he had a 46-yard catch against Chicago in 2015, and had a career-best seven catches for 84 yards and a touchdown in last year’s 36-10 win in Tampa. He watched the Bears on Sunday and saw Falcons tight end Austin Hooper have an 88-yard touchdown and a 40-yard catch against the defense he’ll face Sunday, though he said he expects them to address that problem in practice this week.
“Both of his catches, not to take anything away from him, but they just didn’t cover him,” Brate said of Hooper. “I’m sure they’re working to fix that. Last year we had some success down the middle of the field throwing the ball, so we think we’ll have some good looks, but I’m sure they’re focused on fixing the mistakes from last week.”