Bucs' Sean Murphy-Bunting needs to stay healthy to raise his game
TAMPA, Fla. - Through nearly the entire 2020 regular season, Buccaneers' Sean Murphy-Bunting was one of the most picked-on cornerbacks in the NFL, and for good reason.
He gave up a lot of receptions and touchdowns, but when the playoffs started, SMB became a shutdown corner, intercepting passes in three straight playoff games. He only had one during the regular season.
Bruce Arians says the difference for Bunting is to stay healthy.
"Stay away from those nit-picky injuries that bother you and you can’t perform," Arians said. "I think he’s done a better job of knowing how to take care of himself and sometimes freaky things are going to happen. He knows how to play through them now and that’s a huge part of it."
Murphy-Bunting is heading into his third season with the Bucs, looking to build on his playoff success and elevate his game.
Going up against three of some of the best wide receivers in the NFL every day in training camp will get him there.
"Oh no, I wouldn’t want it any other way," said Murphy-Bunting. "I see Mike a lot on the outside, I see Mike a lot in the slot, I see [Antonio Brown] a lot in the slot. I see Chris a lot and they’re all different… They give me different looks. [It] lets me test out my different techniques on these guys each and every day, see what works and see what doesn’t work for certain guys. Just learning how to execute those properly and what better way would you want than going against those guys with Tom [Brady] at quarterback?"
Murphy-Bunting says you have to have thick skin going against the Bucs potential Hall of Fame wide-outs, especially when facing Antonio Brown, who's a bit of a trash talker.
"I don't know if it was to me or who it was to," said Murphy-Bunting. "The other day he told somebody that he signed their birth certificate. He was telling them, like, 'You're my son.' Like, relax. That's the competitive nature of the game. That fires you up, makes you want to go at him, but it makes him go even harder when he sees that you're challenging him as well."
It's pushing Murphy-Bunting to be even tougher and better in year three.