The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could really use a win in Week 15. Tampa is getting ready for a Thursday Night Football showdown with Atlanta that will have major implication on the NFC South playoff race. The Buccaneers will need their young playmakers, including rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, to ball out if they want to beat the Falcons.
Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard has not lost confidence in Egbuka despite his recent struggles.
“I don't even think it's really confidence – he's a very confident guy,” Grizzard said on Tuesday per NFL.com's Kevin Patra. “What we've asked him to do [as a] rookie gets taken for granted a lot – even from the coaching staff. It's not easy to do what he's done on playing all three positions. [He is] a guy that came in here from day one and has prepared the right way. He's played all three spots. He's won games for us. We have all the confidence in the world in him. We're going to try to get it to him early, often, with the game on the line – which he's proven he can do. No one's more upset with him than himself.”
Egbuka has 54 receptions for 806 yards and six touchdowns on the season.
The rookie out of Ohio State started the regular season on a hot streak, scoring five touchdowns during his first five starts. However, he's slowed down recently, failing to reach 50 yards in each of his last four outings.
Tampa is counting on Egbuka to bounce back because the plays he isn't making are harming the team. He had a huge drop during last week's loss to New Orleans that could have tied the game in the fourth quarter.
To his credit, Egbuka understands that he needs to play better. He didn't let himself off the hook after missing that big play on Sunday.
“I'm on this team for one reason, and that's to catch the ball, and I didn't,” Egbuka said.
It will be fascinating to see if Egbuka is a large part of Tampa's game plan on Thursday Night Football.
Buccaneers vs. Falcons kicks off at 8:15PM ET on Thursday.
