Johnthan Banks is not happy with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff. The Bucs traded him to the Detroit Lions for peanuts last week, after benching him for the entire season. The former second-round pick at one point looked like a promising young starter, but has struggled with consistency over the past years.

Banks did not hold back in his criticism of the Bucs coaching staff, now that he’s in Detroit. Here’s what he told MLive.

"What was holding me back in Tampa? Coaches. That's what was holding me back. Coaches," Banks told MLive after practice Thursday. "I mean, I can play. If you go and look at this year's preseason, nobody in that secondary made more plays than me. Every game in the preseason, I got a PBU or interception. I don't know if I had a ball caught on me all preseason.”

Well, sure, he played pretty well in preseason. That’s preseason. He should have played well in the regular season last year, but he didn’t. Or the year before, but he only did toward the end. Perhaps if there was evidence of Banks playing some good football when it counted, in the regular season, he would still be on this team’s roster.

That’s not to say that the coaches share no part of the blame. At minimum, Banks simply wasn’t the kind of cornerback the Bucs prefer now, as they’ve consistently gone with smaller, more nimble corners. Banks is more of a tall, lanky, and somewhat stiff outside cornerback. He doesn’t fit what they want.

Still, though, “the coaches” is far too easy a scapegoat. Especially so because Vernon Hargreaves seems to have less of an issue with them.