TAMPA \u2014 Sean Murphy-Bunting isn\u2019t returning to Tampa Bay as the same player who left and that\u2019s kind of the point.<\/p>\n
A second-round draft pick in 2019, Murphy-Bunting found himself as a key figure in the Buccaneers\u2019 run to a Super Bowl 55 championship just a year later. He had an interception in each of his first three playoff games, becoming only the fourth player to do so, joining Aeneas Williams, Ed Reed and Jason Sehorn.<\/p>\n
Last week, he signed with the Bucs\u2019 practice squad, having been released by the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came in, there was Carlton Davis, M.J. Stewart, Vernon Hargreaves,\u201d said Murphy-Bunting, 29. \u201cIt\u2019s different, obviously, learning from those guys in that position. Carlton, obviously, was a big reason and mentor for me, too, just meshing. Same with Vernon and same with M.J. Everybody kind of gives you their two cents in many different ways. So, it was cool. Coming back, obviously being around Zyon (McCollum), my locker is right back next to Zyon. He was one of my young guys, so it\u2019s just been pretty cool to be around him again. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played in different systems. I\u2019ve been around different teams. I\u2019ve been in this system. I\u2019ve had success in this system. Everybody has had failures as well. I feel like I\u2019ve dealt with a lot, given the situation that I\u2019ve been in. I told them earlier today, however I can help them in that mindset, as far as being mentally strong for it, physically strong for it, whatever it may be. I\u2019m just a conversation away.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Murphy-Bunting wasn\u2019t brought to Tampa Bay to just be a mentor. His versatility \u2014 he can play cornerback, nickel or safety \u2014 provides the Bucs with a veteran presence in a plug-and-play role.<\/p>\n
The Bucs have a young secondary. McCollum is the graybeard entering only his fifth season and in the second year of a three-year, $48 million contract extension. Jacob Parrish, who is expected to start opposite McCollum, could become the nickel defender in certain situations. Second-year pro Benjamin Morrison struggled as a rookie and missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury. Ayden Garnes, who made the club as an undrafted rookie out of Arizona, is green but growing.<\/p>\n
Murphy-Bunting can play any position in the secondary without much fuss and retained most of head coach Todd Bowles\u2019 defense<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that\u2019s why we got him,\u201d Bowles said. \u201cHe\u2019s so versatile. He can play corner, he can play nickel, and he played some safety last year as well. He is extremely intelligent and a ball hawk, so I feel a little better from a depth standpoint having him here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rarely has a defensive back enjoyed the kind of impact in the postseason than Murphy-Bunting made with the Bucs in that Super Bowl season.<\/p>\n
He intercepted Drew Brees in an NFC division playoff game in New Orleans, then swiped another one against Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had (then-head coach) Bruce Arians, who challenged us every day,\u201d Murphy-Bunting said. \u201cSo, he didn\u2019t really let us be complacent. Same with Bowles. And we took that mentality every day, we took it from here to the field. So I felt like when I got out there, and obviously feeding off the guys that I played with, all of us were pretty talented and so we never wanted to be a weak link. Not me. Not (Jamel) Dean, not Carlton Davis. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just being a player. The ball found me.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, Murphy-Bunting\u2019s value is experience off the bench. He can affect the game at all three levels: as a blitzer, in the box as a nickel corner and outside the hash marks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a DB, so (whatever) you take that as, that\u2019s what I am,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I can play pretty much anywhere in the secondary. I\u2019m obviously most comfortable being closer to the line of scrimmage so corner, nickel. I did play a bit of safety in the role where I was in Arizona. So, like I said, whatever they need, I feel like I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowles was the Bucs\u2019 defensive coordinator and Arians a first-year Bucs coach when Murphy-Bunting arrived as a second-round pick from Central Michigan. Murphy-Bunting\u2019s first conversation with Bowles in his return to the team went about the way you\u2019d think it would.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started off saying, \u2018What\u2019s up, old man?\u2019\u201d Murphy-Bunting recalled. \u201cSo, I said it back to him because we\u2019re both \u2026 I guess we\u2019re both pretty old in this league. But, it was really natural. It felt like we picked up the conversation from the last time we spoke. Nothing was forced. He talked about how good this team is and how good of a position they\u2019re in and the players that they have and how I can just be a part of the puzzle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe relationships that I\u2019ve built here, obviously, are still going strong, so that\u2019s obviously a (testament) to them bringing me in and that\u2019s a (testament) to just myself of just being the person that I am all the time. Nothing has changed. No matter the circumstance or the situation so, like I said, blessed for those people in my corner and blessed to be a part of this program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Sean Murphy-Bunting isn\u2019t returning to Tampa Bay as the same player who left and that\u2019s kind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":994188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,113513,9,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":["post-994187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-buccaneers","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-social-sports","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabaybuccaneers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117229262206242181","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=994187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/994188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=994187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=994187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=994187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}