The transition from right tackle to left tackle created so much anxiety for Tampa Bay Buccaneers All-Pro Tristan Wirfs that he sought counsel from team sports psychologist Dr. Joe Carella.
Wirfs told reporters Friday that the move just feet down the line is a huge adjustment. He’ll be responsible for protecting his quarterback’s blind side and learning everything that goes with the shift — mentally and physically.
“It seems like so minuscule, like oh, you’re just flipping sides, but I was like having breakdowns about it,” Wirfs said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t sit here with these thoughts anymore. I’m just kind of setting myself up for failure.’ I would just think about, ‘I am going to [stink],’ or like, ‘I am not going to be able to do it,’ all day long.”
So he sought out Carella and now enters the season “just trying to keep those thoughts out as much as I can,” he said.
The move to the left side was necessitated when the Bucs cut Donovan Smith in March for financial reasons.
Tampa Bay selected Wirfs with the No. 13 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Iowa product played just four games at left tackle in college, and he’s started 46 NFL games at right tackle. He has been named to the Pro Bowl twice.
“I was in a really rough spot mentally,” Wirfs rold reporters. “I was really nervous. I was playing out the season in my head over and over again like, ‘Oh, what if it goes this way or what if it goes this way?’ So, I was like, ‘It is freaking May. You have to calm down.’ ”
The Bucs, who finished 8-9 in 2022, enter the season full of more changes than Wirfs’ spot. They are transitioning from the retired Tom Brady at quarterback to either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask.
Wirfs and the Buccaneers open the 2023 season on Sept. 10 on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.
–Field Level Media
