Wide Receiver Antonio Bryant has been a nice addition to the team thus far through the season. He had his fair share of dropped passes early on in the season, but he’s playing his best football now having finished his best game in a Bucs jersey with six catches for 115 yards and one touchdown against the Seahawks. It seemed like he could have had a bigger day had Gruden not be conscious about not embarrassing his mentor in Seahawks Head Coach Mike Holmgren. Here’s a couple quotes from Antonio Bryant’s on his performance this past weekend deliver by Joey Knight of the St. Pete Times:
Bryant on the longest passing play of the season (47 yards):
"It was a blitz, something that we had insight on all week during practice, and we were looking forward to it. And I think Jeff kind of wanted to go deep since we haven't had a completion over 40 yards and everyone's kind of antsy to make a big play down the field, so it all went together. " - St. Pete Times
Bryant on helping out QB Jeff Garcia and getting comfortable in Gruden’s offense:
"I felt really comfortable out there and I saw a lot of things on the run, the coverage breaking down, so I knew Jeff was probably getting blitzed or under pressure, so I just looked to come back toward him. I told Doug Williams after the game and (receivers) coach Richard Mann I felt real comfortable out there today. I felt like I broke a brand new car in." - St. Pete Times
Bryant on knowing his QB and getting into a rhythm:
"I just know Jeff. Jeff has something I saw in Tony Romo when I was with the Cowboys and it's something you can't coach in quarterbacks, and that's tenacity. He's got that knack to make a play. You saw him do that on that one play to Jameel Cook when he flicked the ball to him. I know what type of guy he is, so I try to stay alive and make plays for him when he's on the run." - St. Pete Times
How refreshing is it to hear this from a receiver finally. I feel like we’ve talked about this to exhaustion in terms of Jeff Garcia’s play and how the Receivers HAVE TO help him out when he breaks the pocket. Antonio Bryant understands that and its reassuring to hear it from him. It took a while but it appears the receivers are clicking with Jeff Garcia and that can only achieve greater things on the field of play.