After the first week of training camp, coach Koetter and his staff have many players and situations to evaluate and improve on after a disaster of a season last year. During the offseason, the front office addressed one of the major areas of concern, and that was the defensive line.
With the veteran presence of Jason Pierre-Paul, Beau Allen, and Vinny Curry, the coach spoke highly of what he has witnessed on the practice field from his newest players and he came away impressed. Touching on the importance of experience and longevity, these 3 players bring a whole lot of experience not seen by this young Buccaneer team, as well as leadership and work ethic.
If you’ve kept up with training camp so far, Jason Pierre-Paul is basically putting on a school for his new teammates, and I can only hope they are paying attention. JPP understands what it takes to be successful in this league, and while he may like to let you know just how good he is and has been, he also let it be known that he has no problems showing the younger guys some tricks and things he didn’t know when he entered the league.
Also along that same note, Vinny Curry and Beau Allen, both former Eagles, spoke along the same lines as JPP. They understand their role on this team, they understand that while they may be new to this team, they will become leaders just because of their experience and knowledge during the game. Listening to Vinny speak about the importance of bonding and believing in one another is something this team needs. Yes, every year we say we are doing those things, but when it comes to each play on Sunday, have we been believing in the guy next to us while still giving it 110%?
It’s not fair for me to say that any players, past or present weren’t giving it their all, but when you listen to former players who all echo the same thing, believing in each other 100%, you’ve got to apply that to yourself. This new defensive line looks much improved, and with the new indoor facility really allowing the practices to stay on schedule, let’s hope for a much more disciplined unit that acts as one, or one heartbeat, as these guys put it.
