Three storylines from the three players that spoke at Bucs media on Monday
OTAs have officially started for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and as a result, players spoke to media as the team gets back to work for the upcoming season.
Three players — QB Kyle Trask, RB Rachaad White and RT Tristan Wirfs — all spoke about the season ahead, but each player had a different outlook regarding the situation around their position. Check out three different storylines for each of them based on some of the quotes they gave at media:
Consistency is key for Kyle Trask
(AP Photo/Wade Payne)
QB Kyle Trask was (as expected) asked about his upcoming quarterback competition with Baker Mayfield, and he believes there’s one crucial key to winning that competition: consistency.
“For me, I feel this time I just really need to hone in and be as consistent as I can,” Trask said. “At the end of the day, I’m just trying to do whatever I can to make this team succeed. Fortunately enough, I’ve had two years of prior experience with a very veteran quarterback room, and there’s a lot to take away from that.”
This time, the veteran he’s sharing the QB room with will be actively competing against him for the job. Armed with the knowledge of new OC Dave Canales’ offense and with the knowledge from the past quarterbacks he’s played under in Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert, Trask stressed to the media that as long as he retains his focus and plays consistently day in and day out, he believes he can help the team win.
“I guarantee you the job won’t be won if I’m thinking about outside things and different types of narratives,” he said. “That’s not going to translate to success on the football field. I need to narrow my focus and do my best to put the team in the most successful position possible. And at the end of the day, just have fun and lift the ones around you, because I think when you do that it ties the whole thing together and everybody plays better.”
Rachaad White plans to make the most of his opportunity
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Rachaad White played second fiddle to RB Leonard Fournette in 2022, but he’s looking forward to showcasing his skills as a lead back for the upcoming seasons.
“For me, it’s a blessing to be able to have an opportunity,” White said “For me, I think that’s how I go about things – to be ‘RB1.’”
That being said, though, he isn’t going into the year with the mentality that he doesn’t have to work for it. White acknowledged that there are numerous other running backs in the backfield that also have talent.
“I wouldn’t say I’m ‘RB1’ yet – we’ve got a lot of great guys in the room,” he said. “We’re all going to compete. I like the energy, the good vibes in the room right now [with] Chase [Edmonds] – meeting him earlier – plus ‘Sneak’ (Ke’Shawn Vaughn) and Pat [Laird]. It’s a good room. I’m pretty proud of that. But being able to compete and things like that – that’s all you can ask for: an opportunity in life.”
Tristan Wirfs is ready to be a leader
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
RT Tristan Wirfs has been a force to be reckoned with since he was drafted in 2020. After numerous departures on the offensive line during the offseason, he’s one of the older lineman in the room — and he’s ready to take on the leadership role that comes with it.
“I don’t want to say, ‘Take over the room,’ — that’s not the right phrasing —but I want to be somebody that the guys can turn to or is going to be the voice of the offensive line,” Wirfs said.”[Somebody] that’s going to stand up for us when need be and kind of take the brunt of things if things aren’t going so hot. I think I’m more than ready to do that. It kind of started last year and has been snowballing into where we are now. Yeah, I’m all for it. “
Wirfs will have to opportunity to work with what could be a new-looking offensive line, but there are a few familiar options for who could play beside him at the right guard spot. While he doesn’t know who that will be, he’s fairly high on all of them.
“[Offensive lineman Robert] Hainsey, [guard] Luke [Goedeke], [guard Aaron] Stinnie, [guard] Nick [Leverett] all those guys, they’re all great players,” Wirfs said.”I have 100 percent trust in them, I love them to death… I have 100 percent confidence in them so however it shakes out it shakes out. We’ve got a long way to go but it’ll be fun to see that whole thing shake out or whatever it comes down to.”
