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One loss typically doesn’t prompt a team to make major changes. But the loss sustained by the Buccaneers last Sunday night felt like a lot more than just one loss.
And so the Bucs are making a major change on the offensive line. With guard Ali Marpet out this week due to a concussion, center Ryan Jensen moves to guard and AQ Shipley takes over as center.
“The hope is that communication increases across the line with a Bruce Arians favorite in Shipley,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Media tweets.
While Shipley may be a B.A. favorite, a change like this won’t be made unless TB12 wants it. And it’s entirely possible that Tom Brady has become disillusioned with Jensen. Remember when Brady was throwing a fit in the second half of the Thursday night loss to the Bears? The guy on the receiving end of Brady’s wrath was Jensen.
Lack of protection clearly impacted the Bucs last Sunday night, as explained by former NFL quarterback (and Brady understudy) Matt Cassel of NBC Sports Boston during a Friday visit to PFT PM. The Buccaneers, despite winning six of nine games, are taking significant steps to change that, nudging the starting center out of the way in the hopes of doing a better job of ensuring that defensive players don’t get to Brady before he can get rid of the ball.
