Healthy, motivated Devin White a good sign for Bucs as playoffs approach

TAMPA — Devin White was right. He’s not a rotational player. Spin the wheel if you’d like, but taking him off the field is platooning at your own peril.

He proved that on the Jaguars’ first possession last Sunday. Facing third and 15 near midfield, White lined up in the A gap and showed blitz before quickly retreating into zone coverage just outside the right hashmark.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence never anticipated that White could eat up that much ground, and then it was too late. White made a leaping interception that set the tone for the Bucs with the first of four takeaways in a 30-12 win.

White played 63 of the Bucs’ 66 snaps on defense with starter K.J. Britt getting the other three. The Pro Bowl linebacker finished with six tackles, two quarterback hits, a half sack and the interception.

For all the mystery surrounding White’s late scratch from the Green Bay game a couple weeks ago, coach this hard truth is evident: the Bucs are poised to sail as far as White will take them.

“That’s the type of plays I know I can make,” White said of the pick. “I study and I go out there and I play hard. Being able to just have a motor. Being a high-motor guy. When I was hurt, my motor was knocking. It needed to go into the shop and I will admit that. Obviously, I was out there and I’m not shying away from it.

“But just being healthy, just being able to have energy and fly around and make plays. I’m thankful to be back to that. Obviously, I can build off that and keep going.”

There’s no question that White’s foot injury limited his performance this season. The lowlight was getting beat for a 2-yard touchdown run by Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew in a loss at Indianapolis on Nov. 26.

White missed the next two games with the injury but practiced two days leading up to Tampa Bay’s trip to Lambeau Field. Coach Todd Bowles informed White that Britt would start against the Packers and he would be part of a rotation. But before kickoff, White was declared inactive. The NFL is investigating the Bucs’ handling of White’s injury status.

However it all went down, White has risen back up and given fans a reason to believe the Bucs can not only clinch their third straight NFC South title (with a win over New Orleans on Sunday), but do some damage once they get into the playoffs.

During 2020′s Super Bowl season, White missed the first wild-card win at Washington with COVID-19. But in three postseason games, he combined for 38 tackles, three tackles for loss, one interception, two passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.

How much could a healthy Devin White help the Bucs?

“He can help us a great deal — you saw that on Sunday,” Bowles said. “Obviously, we got up early, so some of the packages (the defense) would have had where (Britt) got more time didn’t materialize. It ended up being that type of ball game. That doesn’t mean we’re through using K.J. because we are going to use him some.

“A healthy Devin, a fast Devin, Devin flying around like he did Sunday, makes us a faster defense.”

Remember the biggest play of the Bucs’ Super Bowl 55 run? It also came against the Saints.

New Orleans had a 20-13 lead and the football with 4:41 left in the third quarter. Drew Brees completed a pass to tight end Jared Cook for a first down. But safety Antoine Winfield Jr. stripped him of the ball at the Tampa Bay 47-yard line and White recovered. The Bucs went on to score 17 unanswered points in a 30-20 win. Remember Super Bowl 55, when White sealed the victory with an interception in the end zone from the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes?

That’s why White’s play last weekend was bigger than what it meant to the outcome of the game.

“It just showed me that when I’m right, I can go make the plays as far as just speed-wise and braking and stopping on a dime,” White said. “It’s allowed me to put myself in position.”

The Bucs will need White to be at his best against the Saints. Typically, he is matched up against running back Alvin Kamara and he relishes that challenge.

“I just like playing against Alvin Kamara,” White said. “Coming in here, knowing he’s going to get the ball a lot. Knowing it’s a tough task.”

White and his defensive teammates celebrated last Sunday by rowing the boat in the end zone.

“It felt good to be the guy to make the plays for the team to be able to go celebrate,” White said. “You’re always celebrating when they make plays. Just for it to be your turn, it kind of felt good to kind of get to orchestrate what we were going to do.”

If White is rowing in the same direction as his teammates, if he is the healthy White who took over the playoffs in 2020, the Bucs are better off.

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