The Buccaneers easily beat the Eagles in their NFC wild card game, beating Philadelphia 31-15 to advance to the squads. But Tampa Bay’s all-round performance didn’t mean coach Bruce Arians got out of the game without criticism.
Early in the third half of Sunday’s game, the Buccaneers forced the ball from deep in their own territory, but Eagles receiver Jalen Reagor failed to catch the ball. Tampa Bay has found its clumsiness again near the midfield, a huge boost to Philadelphia’s chances of a comeback.
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The focus of the play quickly shifts from the Bucs’ recovery to the Arians’ response. One of Fox’s re-shoots shows Arians walking onto the field and smashing the Bucs Andrew Adams helmet.
“Bruce Arians is in. He’s pretty excited,” Fox analyst Troy Aikman said during the broadcast. “He attacked Adams. I don’t know if he did – not sure exactly what that is.”
The NFL and NFL Players Association has not released any statement regarding Arians’ actions, but a source to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk situation “under processing.” When asked during Monday’s press conference if he regretted coming into contact with Adams’ helmet, Arians gave a rather direct answer.
“No, and I’ve found it silly enough,” Arians said. “You can’t pull men out of a pile. We just had a big game, great position on the field and he was trying to pull a guy out of a pile. And I was trying to take down. knock him down so he doesn’t get punished.”
This incident comes just two weeks after the Arians’ sideline spat with former Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown, who was released after he exiting the team’s Week 17 game in a discordant manner. Brown took to social media to argue he was dealing with an ankle injury and physically made it impossible to play, leading to a tantrum when he ripped off his gear, went on dressing room and never returned. The Buccaneers claim that Brown is delete to play, adding that he never indicated to the medical staff that he could not compete.
“What happened was pretty clear. He left the field and that was it.” Arians said in the first day of this month. “We had a chat and he left the field.”
For now, it doesn’t appear that the Arians will face any disciplinary action from the NFL for the Adams incident. The Buccaneers next face the Rams on Sunday with a trip to the NFC championship game on the wire.
