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Bruce Arians using stricter COVID-19 rules than the NFL for Bucs

Jul 28, 2021; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians looks on at AdventHealth Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

TAMPA, FL – “I don’t give a crap if they’re vaccinated” said Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians to the COVIT-19 protocols that he is instituting for his team.

“There’s league rules, and then there’s my rules,” Arians said Wednesday, via ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “We ain’t going anywhere. We’re the same as last year.

After the Bucs coming on contact with the Tennessee Titans last week and finding out that Titans coach Mike Vrabel said Sunday that he tested positive, one day after they beat the Buccaneers 34-3 in a preseason game.

Tampa kicker Ryan Succop landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday, too, after Arians said he tested positive. Succop is fully vaccinated.

All contacts [with Vrabel] were outside. We had one guy that went to dinner with some guys that did test positive today,” Arians said Tuesday, via ESPN. “He went to dinner with some Titan friends. That was Ryan Succop.”

With Florida’s pandemic numbers racing out of control, Arians is taking no chances on a more relaxed NFL protocol and is going to run the team with more strict rules.

“For us, life is not normal,” Arians said, via ESPN. “We’re pretty much under the same protocol, we’re going to be under the same protocols as last year.

“Because that’s the way it is, especially living here [in Florida]. Tennessee coming in and going out to dinner — they found out the hard way. So did Ryan. You can only tell them so much. Once we get to 53 [players on our roster] — even this weekend [for our preseason game in Houston] — our guys are going to make a bunch of sacrifices that you have to make now. Families at the hotel, all those things, they’re all out the window.”

The Bucs head down to Houston on Saturday August 28th to face the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium at 8pm.

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