Antonio Bryant Will Drop More Balls

October 14, 2009 at 02:35pm by Scott   •  1 Comment »

Antonio Bryant blamed about 100 different things for the Bucs’ failures on offense in this interview in the Times. And he doesn’t exempt himself. He says he hasn’t been able to practice because of his knee and that has not allowed him to develop any kind of chemistry with Josh Johnson.

“I mean, come on, man, a different quarterback, (different) system. . . there’s too much going on,” he said. “There’s no consistency yet. We’re trying to find some consistency. And that’s not going to be my last time dropping a ball.”

I guess there’s no right way to approach that. If he says he’s not going to drop any more balls and then does, he’s a lot like Michael Clayton. If he says he’s going to, he’s lowering the bar so no one is disappointed when he does drop one, which I don’t care for either. I guess this is why they invented coachspeak.

“How many balls have I got down the field?” he said. “I make all my big plays down the field. That’s how I eat. You have to take the shots, man.”

You, too, Antonio? HE’S WORKING ON IT. The first play of the game last week was down the field, and your boy didn’t care enough to go out for it. Plus the corners last week were pretty good. Carolina is starting Richard Marshall and Chris Gamble, who have three passes defensed and one pick between them. They should provide more opportunity for Johnson to find some holes downfield.

“If you have too much pressure, you can’t go down the field. That’s for starters. That’s how the game goes. We have to work some things out. We get Jeff Faine back this week. That’s big for our O-line. It can get the guys going.”

Translation: “Sean Mahan sucks chimp cock and no one would miss him if he were to get shoved into a cement mixer.”

“I’m a practice person. I work hard in order to get the results on Sunday, and I feel like I’m not doing my team any justice by not practicing.”

This is what I like about Bryant. He obviously has pride in his play and it bothers him when he doesn’t perform well. Remember last year’s loss to Oakland when he stayed on the field on one knee and mourned the end of the season?

He fucking cared. He’s vocal to the media, but I don’t know if he’s a vocal leader in the locker room. He needs to find a way to give some of that pride and heart to his teammates before Raheem Morris fills any more of the roster with other teams’ discarded receivers.