AP

The break-in period has ended for the new-look Buccaneers. On Sunday, it’s time to put the pads on. And new Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians is happy about that.

“Football is not played in shorts and it’s not fair to the big guys,” Arians told reporters on Saturday. “So many guys look bad in shorts and then they put the pads on and they’re football players. That was kind of my message when we broke — I am looking for the football players that show up now, not the soccer players. There are a lot of guys who are great in shorts and then the noise level goes up and they kind of disappear. We are going to look for football players now.”

And that’s Bruce Arians, folks. Great ready for plenty of additional quotes like it from the guy who retired in 2018 and who is back with a vengeance, putting his unique imprint on a team that has the talent but that needs the guidance and direction to get the most out of it. Arians, with his blunt, candid, authentic messages will get the Bucs to their maximize level of production, whatever it may be.