The Tampa Bay running backs only got the Washington Commanders for 3.88 yards per carry on Sunday, but the Week 1 loss still saw the Buccaneers a team rush for over 110 yards and quarterback Baker Mayfield was rather unbothered in the pocket as he threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns with just six incompletions on the day.
"The thing that's disappointing about it, is that going into the fourth quarter I think they had like 54 rushing yards," defensive tackle Jonathan Allen said during his weekly appearance Tuesday with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.
"Numbers-wise," Allen continued, "We weren't doing as bad as it may have looked. But in that last drive I think they broke off two long runs... things got out of hand at the very end. But I felt like, it wasn't like as clean as we [would have] liked.
"It's not like we're just getting over-manned, we're getting outmatched, you know what I mean? It's things that are all correctable."
Allen said the defense is looking forward to return to the field and "show the improvement that we've made" during the week against the New York Giants.
Overall, "Defensively it wasn't what we wanted," Allen told the Junkies. "But we're not gonna panic after one week, there's a lot of things that we can correct. And we're gonna correct 'em. I have the utmost faith in this staff and the players to make the necessary adjustments and changes. And we're gonna do that come Sunday."
Switching to the secondary issues, when asked about the struggles of the secondary against the Bucs and second-year cornerback Emmanuel Forbes specifically, Allen shifted the focus to himself: "I gotta make sure that I'm doing my job so the guys on the back-end's job easier."
Allen said that to the layperson, the mistakes of defensive backs are more easily identifiable compared to mistakes from a defensive lineman and that can lead to issues in perception in the fan's mind.
"That's why I think DBs gotta be the most psychologically unstable people in this world because they gotta have an unreal amount of confidence," Allen said. "They gotta be able to have a bad plan and shake back like nothing ever happened, you gotta be a little delusional to play defensive back, it's definitely not an easy position. I'm just gonna focus on what I gotta do to make everyone's job around me easier."
On the pass rush, Allen felt that the Commanders "got to" Mayfield – who was sacked once and hit four times, including once by Allen – but "we just didn't finish, and I think that's the most frustrating part."
"Once you get to the quarterback you gotta finish him, sacks are just too valuable, too game-changing," he continued, "and I know myself, I missed like three of 'em. Definitely something that's gonna be a point of emphasis this week for me. Gotta be better."
Allen pointed to Mayfield's footwork in the pocket as to his elusiveness in the pocket.
Jamin Davis, the former first-round pick who has transitioned into a different role on the defense, was the object of praise from Allen.
"People don't really understand how athletic he is, he's very athletic," Allen told the Junkies. "He's one of those guys you have to find a space for, and you have to find a way for him to use his athletic ability. And I think he found it. I'm really impressed with how he's been able to pick up the playbook, pick up the technique and trust the scheme that he's been taught. I'm really happy for him and that he's found a place where he can thrive and use his athletic ability. And I think he looks good. He looks really good."
He added: "I'm excited to see him develop into that role."
Across the other side of the ball, Allen said it was "exciting to see" the development of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels with him taking ownership of the offense. And, of course, it helps that "his speed is undeniable." But the next step will be translating that to the field in games that count.
"As a rookie quarterback there's gonna be bumps and pains and there's games when you wanna see more and there's gonna be games where there's this and there's that," he told the Junkies. "But that's just part of the NFL, every rookie has to go through it. It's not gonna be pretty adjusting to the speed of the game, the pace of the game, guys are gonna be scheming for him, finding how people are gonna be attacking you and what he can do to counteract.
"There's gonna be a lot of things that he has to learn this season, but I feel like the way he works and his mindset, I think he's the right guy to go out there and overcome the challenges."
Listen to the full conversation for talk about the new coaching staff – DC Joe Whitt Jr. and Dan Quinn's involvement in the defense and how they plan to "no let the past" return against Daniel Jones – and much more on the audio player above.
Local News
