The Buccaneers didn’t have offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford calling plays in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers because Tedford was still on the mend from having two stents place in his heart recently.
Quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo called the plays with Tedford offering some input and the Bucs offense failed to ignite until the second half of their 20-14 loss. It looks like Tedford will be back to the usual offensive coordinator duties in Week Two, however.
Coach Lovie Smith said that Tedford was at work early on Monday morning and “ready” to do everything on his plate.
“As we talked about Jeff last week, we mentioned about him being able to do a little bit more,’' Smith said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “He was able to do that last week. Friday’s practice he was here. Of course [Sunday], he was in the press box, giving a little bit of input. But we were really kind of gearing towards him being ready this week. He’s in the office. He was in here early this morning. Full-time, ready to go, leading the meetings and we hope we’re back on track. We need Jeff out there of course.”
Having Tedford back should allow the Bucs to turn their total focus back to fixing their problems on offense. Based on the opener, the offensive line would be a good place for Tedford and company to start.