Page 26 - Florida Sentinel 10-19-18

Sports
Chemistry With Winston Key To Jackson's Future With Bucs; Bucs Vs Browns Sunday
The jump shot to Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide re- ceiver DeSean Jackson from teammate Mike Evans slipped right through Jackson's hands and out of bounds. Had he caught it at the 6-yard line, he might have faced only one defender -- Damontae Kazee -- be- fore reaching the end zone in the fourth quarter.
It was that kind of day for the Bucs' deep threat. And can you blame Jackson for ripping off his helmet in dis- gust, kicking his foot into the pylon and shouting when that desperation play came
JAMEIS WINSTON AND DESEAN JACKSON
He led the NFL with 275 re- ceiving yards and three touchdowns through the first two weeks. But now Jackson has to make things work with Jameis Win- ston, whom he struggled to connect with last season and again in a 34-29 road loss to theAtlanta Falcons on Sun- day."On my end, I try to put everything I have into preparing, coming out on Sundays or whenever it is we play, to just be successful and win games," Jackson said. "It's just frustrating. You can't do that.”
The Bucs signed Jack-
son before the 2017 season to a three-year deal worth $33.5 million and $20 mil- lion guaranteed in the first two years. His job was to take the top off of defenses. Winston has a big arm and isn't afraid to take chances downfield and Jackson has "game-wrecker" speed, as coach Dirk Koetter calls it. So on paper, Winston and Jackson looked like an ex- cellent pairing.
Winston and Jackson will try to hook up Sunday at Raymond James against the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m. on FOX.
up short? Especially after the way he started the season?
One month ago, Jack-
son was the hottest thing in the NFL next to Ryan "Fitzmagic" Fitzpatrick.
Mark Duffner Replaces
Mike Smith As Buccaneers'
Defensive Coordinator
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have chosen to make a major change on their coach- ing staff, elevating linebackers, coach Mark Duffner to de- fensive coordinator. Duffner replaces Mike Smith, who had served in that role since 2016.
Head Coach Dirk Koet- ter, who also previously worked with Smith in Atlanta while Smith was the Falcons' head coach, stressed that the Buccaneers' current rankings of 31st in yards allowed and 32nd in points allowed should not be blamed on any one per- son.
Duffner is in his 22nd NFL season, including his third in Tampa Bay. In each of his first two years with the
MIKE SMITH
team, a Buccaneers linebacker earned a Pro Bowl selection (Lavonte David-2016, Kwon Alexander-2017).
The Buccaneers are 2-3 and two games behind New Orleans in the NFC South race. Tampa Bay's offense ranks second in the league in yards per game, first in passing yards per game and seventh in points per game.
Devonta Freeman Being Placed On IR By Falcons
Devonta Freeman has not been able to stay healthy this year since he left the first game of the season with a knee injury, and it sounds like his 2018 campaign could be coming to an end.
The Falcons are placing Freeman on injured reserve. The Falcons later con- firmed the news, with head coach Dan Quinn saying they are “hopeful” Freeman can return later in the season. He’ll have to miss at least eight games now that he has
been placed on IR. Freeman has battled
DEVONTA FREEMAN
knee, foot and groin in- juries, and a recent re- portclaiming the Falcons were not concerned about his long-term health was
apparently premature. Atlanta will now be forced
to lean on Tevin Coleman more heavily for the remain- der of the season. Losing a star running back was the last thing a 2-4 team needed.
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