Things have been spicy around One Buc Place this week, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the massive matchup on Sunday in Atlanta.
Chris Godwin found the endzone for the first time since Week 8 last Sunday in a 21-18 win over Carolina. That’s about all he found, though, as he was targeted just three times and finished the game with zero catches. His only action came on that 19-yard touchdown, which was a run play by design.
Godwin’s usage — or lack thereof — was a point of conversation after the game that Todd Bowles turned into a bit of a controversy. Bowles explained after the game that substitutions were to blame for Godwin not factoring into the offense and blamed his injuries for why the team didn’t lean on him.
Needless to say, this didn’t go over very well.
Bucs fans almost immedietly called Bowles out, citing snap counts from previous weeks that essentially matched Sunday and contradicted his comments. This extended beyond just the fans, as Godwin’s wife Mariah posted and deleted an Instagram story telling Bowles to ‘stop lying’.
On Thursday, Godwin broke his silence — which wound sway more dramatic than it needs to be — on the whole controversy involving his head coach’s comments.
Chris Godwin weighs in on controversial Todd Bowles comments
The Pro Bowler made it known he wants to be involved in the offense but didn’t throw anyone under the bus for what happened or what was said.
"I don't know if disrespected is the right term,” Godwin said. "You want to contribute, and obviously that didn't happen to the effect of what I'm hoping. I mean, it's a thing that you live and you learn from, right? At the end of the day I was still there. I was able to contribute in some capacity. And also, I don't think that coach had any malice in what he was saying."
He even went as far as to stick up for Bowles, who has been getting dragged pretty hard since he made the comments about Godwin’s usage.
“I don’t think Coach Bowles had any malice in what he was saying,” Godwin said.
The diplomacy extended beyond the field too, as Godwin made sure to defend his wife after she got involved by calling Bowles out on Instagram this week.
“She’s been my biggest supporter for through the whole thing,” Godwin said. "So naturally, there's some frustrations when things don't necessarily go how would you expect. I think her intent of like proving was simply like - it wasn't a play count thing, that wasn't the reason why things didn't play out how we had hoped.”
This is turning into a whole thing and it’s going to be a storyline heading into one of the most crucial games of the season. A win over Atlanta would propel Tampa Bay back into first place and create a wide-open race for the NFC South crown.
Godwin’s usage needs to go up, that much is abundantly clear, but the sideshow nature of the drama is something to keep an eye on. If the Bucs lose, essentially ending their season, everything that has happened this week will get painted in a whole new light.
A win solves a lot of issues, though, as does Godwin getting the ball more — two things that seem to go hand-in-hand.