Freeman’s Urgency Questioned?June 16th, 2013
When Joe hears of football coaches wanting a player to play with more “urgency,” Joe thinks that’s code for coaches believing a player takes plays off.
After all, every snap is critical in the NFL. Every snap can turn a game. Every snap is urgent. And when a quarterback is playing without urgency, that’s a terrible sign.
So Joe is troubled by Rick Stroud writing today that the Bucs want Freeman to up his urgency, so Stroud penned for TampaBay.com.
But coaches would like to see him demonstrate a greater sense of urgency in games from start to finish. What does that mean for the laid-back Freeman? Showing more fire while keeping his cool.
Stroud includes quotes from Bucs QB coach John McNulty praising Freeman’s authoritative demeanor and urgency during spring practices.
Joe’s not sure exactly where Stroud learned the Bucs want Freeman to “demonstrate a greater sense of urgency from start to finish.” That’s unclear in the story. So Joe hopes Stroud is mistaken.
If Freeman does have urgency issues, that would be awful. Frankly, Joe’s never heard anything like that out of One Buc Palace, players or coaches.
In fact, coaches and Freeman himself said pressing and forcing plays that aren’t there — essentially showing too much urgency — have hurt Freeman most.
Joe actually believes that Freeman’s serious but generally calm demeanor isn’t a bad thing. Joe very well remembers that incredible cool helping Freeman to some incredible fourth-quarter wins early in his career.