It’s Practice
January 2nd, 2026
Talkin’ practice.
So how well will the Bucs play Saturday in their win-and-hope, don’t-and-die game with the Stinking Panthers?
After practice Thursday, Todd Bowles seemed to think the Bucs will be OK.
With Bowles the past few weeks all but suggesting players have quit on the team or at least not giving a “s(p)it” and/or not caring, Bowles was asked about the current mood of the locker room.
Bowles tried to paint a happy picture of unison and single-minded focus to win against the Stinking Panthers.
“[The] mood has been good all week,” Bowles said. “We had some good practices — probably some of the best we’ve had all year, but it’s got to translate to the game.”
And that’s just it. Will those practices translate to the field of play?
Joe remembers when former Bucs commander Greg Schiano was asked a similar question about the Bucs’ mindset at practice and if that will carry over into a game.
Schiano told a story of how Bear Bryant often said he could never tell if a good practice meant a good game or a bad practice meant a bad game. Schiano said if a guy like Bryant couldn’t identify a correlation, then he wasn’t going to try to guess.
So it sounds good that the Bucs had good practices this week. Let’s see if that means anything on Saturday.
Joe also will find out on Saturday how well most of the players respect their coaches. If the Bucs lay an egg Saturday and lose, Joe has to figure the players know their coaches are goners in the coming days.