Bruce Arians Is Not Messing Around, Benches Vernon Hargreaves On First Day Of Practice

Accountability. That’s something the Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t had in awhile. It’s also something that Bruce Arians will certainly bring to the table. Tuesday was the first day that the Bucs opened up practice and one notable starter was seen on the sidelines, Vernon Hargreaves. The Bucs corner apparently was not permitted to practice. Arians kept him on the bench. Arians also wouldn’t tell us why Hargreaves was benched.

“You’ll have to talk to Vernon,” Arians told reporters, via Greg Auman of The Athletic. “He’s got to get his mind right for practice.”

I LOVE THIS. Hargreaves was a former first round pick from Florida that has done nothing except disappoint. Hargreaves has been in the NFL for 4 years and has 1 career interception. It’s unlikely that the Bucs will pick up the 5th year option either. Hargreaves has talent. This time someone in Tampa is there to hold him accountable. Bruce Arians is the guy to do that.

This just goes back to what Willie Colon said months ago. Bruce Arians is going to right the ship in Tampa. Let me link back to that post.

Colon played for Arians in Pittsburgh when Bruce was the offensive coordinator. Arians won two Super Bowls in Pittsburgh and was a big part of the development of Ben Roethlisberger. Especially with a defensive head coach in place (Mike Tomlin) Arians had a huge responsibility crafting the offense.

Hargreaves is a player I really liked in the 2016 Draft. He had super quick feet and broke on balls at Florida really well. Hargreaves was a tough proven corner in the SEC. With Tampa, he’s been a total flop. The Bucs secondary has been swiss cheese and Hargreaves hasn’t helped out much. He finished the 2018 season on IR. Now is the time that he puts it all together and Arians is going to make sure of it.