Defense’s lack of hustle draws ire from Arians

TAMPA — On the Bucs’ second day of padded practice, Bruce Arians fumed at his defense, his face an unmistakable shade of red underneath his face mask as he directed a firestorm of curse words at players he believed weren’t putting in enough effort.

Once the pads come on, practices intensify, as does the swagger as the offense and defense battle for bragging rights in 11-on-11 drills.

Arians is fine with that. He says he might talk more trash than anyone, but his players had better back it up with effort.

When his second-team defense didn’t run to the ball to Arians’ liking, the coach lit into the unit with an expletive-laced tirade.

“We corrected it, and two times becomes a habit,” Arians said. “So they’re still outside running and running to the ball. Whether you thought somebody tagged him or not, you’ve got to run to the ball.

“That’s what our defense is built on: hustle and speed. We’re going to break that habit real fast.”

Through most of practice, the defenders flew to the ball and made their aggressiveness known, especially working to make plays against quarterback Tom Brady. Linebacker Devin White yelled loudly when he penetrated the middle and thought he would have had Brady wrapped up. Safety Mike Edwards celebrated an interception of Brady with teammates, though Arians was quick to say the catch was out of bounds.

“Don’t get fooled by the hype of guys jumping around like they’re gonna get a hell of a job,” Arians said.

And receiver Mike Evans chirped back at the defense several times, including one time at Edwards when he dropped an interception.

“It’s essentially the same stuff,” Evans said. “You know I’m gonna talk a little bit of smack here and there just to make it fun. And they talked a little bit as well, but at the end of the day we’re just trying to get each other better … It’s been a highly competitive camp so far.”

Arians, however, has the final word and said it’s important to send the message early that loafing won’t be tolerated.

“I don’t expect to send that message once we corrected it on film, whether it’s a young group or not,” Arians said. “That’s what training camp’s all about.

“We could have done this back in the spring. We wouldn’t have had this conversation had we had spring and minicamp.”

Left tackle Donovan Smith, who expressed concern about the league’s health and safety protocols regarding COVID-19 in the offseason, said ultimately he decided to play this season because of the extra measures the Bucs took, including retaining a local hotel where players can isolate from their families.

“With the protocols and stuff, they’re pretty good at following them, spreading everybody out, hand-sanitizing stuff, masks everywhere,” said Smith, who is making $14.5 million this season. “With the daily testing and everything and having those results, for me it just boiled down to having the ability to go a different place from my lady or my child if anything was to happen.

“So that was the deciding factor there.”

Back in early July, Smith posted his concerns on social media, saying playing might be too risky, especially as he was expecting the birth of his first child — his daughter was born July 24 — and said, “I am not a lab rat or guinea pig to test theories on. I am a man, a son, a brother and a soon-to-be father, and I deserve to be safe at work.”

Smith said he is currently living at home with his family but would isolate himself in the Bucs’ hotel if he became exposed to the virus.

Only one Bucs player, reserve lineman Brad Seaton, has opted out.