Jason Pierre-Paul will be 37 on New Year’s Day, hasn’t played in an NFL game in two years or produced more than three sacks in any season since helping the Bucs win Super Bowl 55 following the 2020 season.

When Tampa Bay signed him to its practice squad on Dec. 9, it wasn’t just to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The team felt it could use him to put heat on some of its own players on defense.

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The Bucs didn’t just need an edge rusher. They needed an edge, someone whose passion might boil over into an opponent’s penalty. A teammate they would watch with a side-eye, never fully sure what he might do next. A player who made opponents uncomfortable and injected an attitude the locker room couldn’t manufacture.

In addition to an overall lack of consistent pressure from their defensive line and outside linebacker positions, the Bucs lack someone teammates are afraid to let down.

Think about the best Bucs teams from the past. The Super Bowl 37 champions were stuffed with those kinds of players on defense. Warren Sapp. Even safety John Lynch, who is about as even-tempered off the field as anyone you will ever meet, was borderline maniacal between the lines. He knocked his brother-in-law (Bears tight end John Allred) out cold in a 1997 game at Soldier Field.

Hardy Nickerson was that guy when Lynch, Sapp and Derrick Brooks arrived.

It also helps that Pierre-Paul has a resume. He owns 94 ½ career sacks and 21 forced fumbles. Outside linebacker Yaya Diaby leads the Bucs with only six sacks this season.

Less than two weeks after Pierre-Paul was signed to the practice squad, Diaby says he’s benefited from the two-time Super Bowl champion’s counsel.

“It’s been good so far, man,” Diaby said. “I can’t even lie. He’s very intentional with what he’s done and what he sees that we’ve been doing that he can improve upon. Even for me, he’ll come up and say, ‘This is what you can do to get off real faster. You could’ve done this or done that.’

“So, he’s been real intentional in trying to share whatever he can. Even (Wednesday), he was telling me, ‘I don’t know everything. But what I do know, I can help you with that.”

On Saturday, Pierre-Paul was elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game at Carolina. Head coach Todd Bowles had said earlier in the week that Pierre-Paul was “in play” for the NFC South showdown, even with no players forced to miss the game due to injury.

“I think he’s coming in and getting back acclimated systematically in some of the things we’re asking him to do,” defensive pass game coordinator George Edwards. “But I think he’s been very attentive. It’s bought into calling some of the plays he’s done in the past. He’s here working hard, so we’ll see how it goes. You never know when your number is called to be in those situations.”

Pierre-Paul’s energy and passion for the game is infectious, Diaby said.

“He loves it, and he’s still got some juice,” Diaby said. “He’s still got some juice.”

Why communication is a problem

There’s been far too many miscommunications on the Bucs defense this season. Much of it is on the players. Some of it is opponents going fast to prevent an of blitzes and coverages to be communicated before the snap.

It’s one of the reasons why there have been so many missed assignments, a player out of position here or there because the communication breaks down.

Bowles always has been known for the complexity of his defense and the ability to disguise an of blitzes. But those take time to communicate.

Consequently, opponents are getting to or staying on the ball quickly between snaps.

“On third down, they speed it up some,” Bowles said. “We expect that. We’ve been getting that for the last two years. We have to have calls ready. We understand that, and we do have calls ready. We expect to get sped up some.”

Bucs, Panthers are kings of close games

The Bucs and Panthers are both 5-1 in games decided by three points or less this season.

What makes them able to execute in pressure situations?

“it’s just playing smart football,” Bowles said. ”We have to play smart football, and you can’t beat yourselves and you’ve got to execute.”

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