Captain Fear
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- Mar 20, 2019
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The Buccaneers shuffled their offensive line in the absence of guard Ali Marpet. It worked well, but it will last only until Marpet can return from a concussion.
On Sunday, the Bucs moved center Ryan Jensen to guard and elevated AQ Shipley (pictured) to starting center. On Monday, coach Bruce Arians praised Shipley’s work.
“Exactly what we brought him in for,” Arians told reporters, “to have a veteran guy that the quarterback would be comfortable with calling out the fronts, calling out the [middle] linebacker and identifications. [It was good] having Ryan [Jensen] on the left side to make sure, too. To have two veteran guys in there, I thought our communication was outstanding on the offensive line in that ballgame.”
Still, the arrangement is temporary.
“It’s just until Ali gets back because he’s been playing fantastic,” Arians said. “We do not want to hurry him back. I want to make sure he’s well.”
Marpet suffered the concussion two weeks ago, in a Monday night game against the Giants.
“He’s still in the protocol,” Arians said of Marpet. “Some minor stuff, but he’ll have individual workouts with the trainers while the rest of the guys are taking off. We’ll see if we can get through this and get him through the protocol.”
The Buccaneers host the Rams next Monday night, in Tampa Bay’s fourth prime-time game of the season.