Page 26 - Florida Sentinel 11-15-19

Sports
Saints Vs. Bucs Sunday At 1 P.M.
Bucs Claim Aaron Stinnie Off Waivers
AARON STINNIE
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have officially claimed offensive guard Aaron Stin- nie off waivers.
In the midst of the trans- action, the Bucs waived Nate Trewyn to make room on the team’s 53-man roster.
Stinnie joins the Bucca- neers after being released from the Titans earlier this week. His stint with the Titans includes seeing action in one game last year and three this year.
However, he hasn’t played the last six games.
The 6-foot-2, 312 pound powerhouse made Ten- nessee’s roster in 2018 after a successful college career at James Madison. He originally joined the league as an un- drafted free agent.
Stinnie has experience playing interior line and tackle which should hopefully ignite a spark in the Bucs of- fensive line.
Bucs Release Former
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have one of the NFL’s worst secondaries, and things aren’t going to get any easier for the Bucs defense in Sunday against the New Or- leans Saints.
Led by star quarterback Jameis Winston, the Bucs must try to outscore the Saints.
After beating the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday to stop their four-game losing- streak, the Bucs made the surprise decision Tuesday to waive former first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves, who was benched during Week 10’s win for lack of hustle.
Now, an already strug-
gling secondary will be with- out their struggling veteran with the Saints coming to town. The Saints are coming off a shocking home loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10, so you can be sure Drew Brees — who was out with a thumb injury when these two teams first met back in Week 5 — will look to try and stop top receiver Michael Thomas and Hall Of Fame quarterback Drew Bress. Go Bucs!
New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Kickoff: Sunday, Novem- ber 17, at 1:00 p.m. E.T.
Venue: Raymond James Stadium
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers announced Tuesday that they have released for- mer first-round draft pick Vernon Hargreaves, less than 48 hours after the cor- nerback was benched for a lack of hustle.
Buccaneers general man- ager Jason Licht described the decision as "difficult" but said in a statement that "we felt it was in the best interest of our team to part ways with Vernon at this time and allow him to explore other opportunities."
"We are disappointed that it did not work out here for Vernon and we wish him continued success moving forward," Licht said.
Texans Claim CB Vernon Hargreaves, III Off Waivers
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Texans have claimed CB Vernon Hargreaves, III off waivers.
Hargreaves became available after the Buccaneers waived him Tuesday.
The former first-round pick spent the first four sea- sons of his career in Tampa Bay, logging 164 tackles, two interceptions, and one defen- sive touchdown.
Hargreaves joins a sec-
VERNON HARGREAVES
ondary in desperate need of depth after injuries to Johnathan Joseph, Bradley Roby, Lonnie Johnson and Philip Gaines.
The Florida Gator is the third former first-rounder to join the Texans this season, joining Barkevious Mingo and Gareon Conley on that list.
This is a low-risk, high-re- ward move for the Texans. They add a piece to a depleted secondary with a lot of prom- ise, but there was a reason why the Bucs parted ways with Hargreaves.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians claimed Harg- reaves did not hustle follow- ing a tackle and was benched Sunday, which led to his im- pending release.
At worst, it’s a move that makes little impact for the Texans; at best, it’s a move that could add a talented cor- nerback to a group in need of another body.
First-Round Pick Vernon
Hargreaves, Who Was
Benched For Lack Of Hustle
Referee Did Not Get
Geno Smith’s Coin
Toss Call Wrong On
November 12, 2019
Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks have found themselves at the center of the latest NFL coin toss con- troversy, but a closer exami- nation of what transpired at the start of overtime on Mon- day night proves there really should be no controversy at all.
For the second time this month, Smith was the player the Seahawks sent out to call the toss when their game against the San Fran- cisco 49ers went to overtime. Seattle won and elected to re- ceive, but Twitter was ablaze with people who thought Smith called “tails” and watched the coin land on
Geno Smith (left) and Richard Sherman (right) at the overtime coin toss.
heads. That’s not what hap- pened.
It might sound like Smith said “tails” if that’s what you’re listening for, but both the referee and Richard Sherman were standing right next to him.
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