at Georgia Dome on September 11, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Do you have something negative to say to Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy? Don’t hide behind your computer screen flexing your keyboard muscles. McCoy wants you to say it to his face.

Pro athletes are always open to receiving an onslaught of criticism from fans not happy about the local team’s performance on the field, and McCoy is no exception after the Bucs dropped a game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. McCoy has a simple request to those who have sent him critical and ill-advised messages online.

“There’s a bunch of people out there that say a lot of terrible things that I know they wouldn’t say to our face,” McCoy said. “These social media tough guys. I would love to meet them. Just being honest. … I would love to meet you. I work at One Buccaneer Place if you would like to talk to me. I’m not going to give you my home address, but I’ll meet you up here anytime you want to talk about it.”

[…]

“I’ll never put my hands on anybody. This is not a threat. But you know where I work,” McCoy later said. “There’s a front desk. Knock on the door. ‘I want to talk to Gerald about the game yesterday.’ I will see you out there. We can hold court.”

Essentially…

The Bucs have had an odd start to the season after having the season opener wiped off the schedule due to Hurricane Irma, so it can be understandable why the Bucs might not be quite in sync just yet. In fact, even teams that have not had an interruption to the regular routine yet are still feeling themselves out a bit and trying to form an identity.

It’s been just three weeks, so this is to be expected around the league. And it’s not as though the Bucs have been a horrible team. The Bucs played a rough game against the Vikings, but they are 1-1 to start their season. It’s not like they are the Chargers or 49ers.

“It’s one game. We just have to make sure it doesn’t consistently be like that,” he said. “Nobody’s happy about it. We will fix it, and we’ll move on.”

[Tampa Bay Times]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.