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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were dealt a painful blow Sunday by the Cincinnati Bengals, as they lost to Joe Burrow and company, 34-23, at home. There were plenty of things that did not go in the Bucs' favor for them to lose that game, given the fact that they were up by as many as 17 points at one point in the first half. Among those that didn't go their way was a fake punt attempt that was botched by running back Gio Bernard.
The veteran tailback had a weird moment in the locker room following the game, as he tried to leave the room without speaking to reporters. When the reporters finally got a hold of him, Bernard was obviously not in a good mood to talk to them, perhaps because he felt as though the sudden attention was not warranted after not hearing from the media for the most part of the season.
Bucs running back Giovani Bernard didn’t want to talk to the media about what happened on the botched fake punt. Here’s that interaction.
Note: As reporters, it is our job to seek clarity on what happened, especially on the most pivotal play of a game. pic.twitter.com/snQSvLE5mA
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) December 19, 2022
Jenna Laine of ESPN, however, would later help clarify what happened for a bit more context of the situation.
Since some are unfamiliar with player access and how it works here…Giovani said, “Oh now you guys want to talk to me.” Players on IR don’t speak to the media. Even players who aren’t on IR but are injured don’t talk until they’re close to playing. I was pointing that out to him
Bernard eventually answered the reporters and admitted that the entire fake play was “all on me.”
Bernard spent most of the year on the injured reserve, and he could atone for his mistake in the loss to the Bengals in the upcoming Week 16 showdown between the Buccaneers and the Arizona Cardinals.
