Rondé Barber didn’t sugarcoat where things stand with the Buccaneers, and his read on the early-season mood matched the frustration hanging over Tampa Bay’s rough opening.
Speaking on his WFLA streaming show, the Tampa Bay legend said the energy around the team is off after two weeks of play.
“Look, the mood is not great,” Barber said on his streaming show for WFLA. ” There’s too many mistakes.
There’s a lack of urgency, if you will, in my mind when I look at them going onto the field. There’s got to be a little bit of a sense of a defining characteristic of your team through Week 2.
I don’t know what that is. It’s mistakes.
It’s busts. It’s lack of execution.”
That’s the heart of the problem for a Buccaneers team that has badly underwhelmed to start the 2026 season. After what was done in the offseason and what fans saw in training camp and the preseason, this opening stretch has landed as a major disappointment.
The offense hasn’t found any rhythm under Zac Robinson, and the defense has slipped well below the standard it set just a few years ago, even with youth and talent on the roster.
Barber’s comments lined up with what many around the team have already been feeling: too many errors, too little urgency, and not enough clean football. The Bucs don’t look like a team playing with the kind of edge needed to steady things.
If that mood really is carrying over inside the building, it only adds to the concern. The fix has to come from everywhere - players and coaches alike - and it has to come fast.
Tampa Bay now has to try to avoid an 0-3 start against the Minnesota Vikings. To do that, the Buccaneers will need to bury the first two weeks, take a hard look in the mirror, and decide what kind of team they’re going to be before the season gets away from them.
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