Todd Bowles Explains Jamel Dean's Absence vs. Saints

After a stellar performance in Week 11, Bucs rookie CB didn't see the field Sunday.

In Week 10, Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie cornerback Jamel Dean underwent a baptism by fire against Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Though he broke up four passes in the 40-34 overtime loss, he gave up plenty of big plays.

The following week, Dean bounced back in a big way, coming up with a game-changing interception and breaking up the game-winning pass on the final play. 

That made it all the more strange when the second-round pick out of Auburn was completely absent from the Bucs' defensive game plan in Sunday's 34-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles explained the reasons for Dean's absence when he met with the media Thursday (via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times):

#GoBucs DC Todd Bowles on playing Jamel Dean more: "Yeah, he could’ve played last week. We had some packages. The game didn’t dictate those to go, but it’s my job to play him more and he will play more with Vernon [Hargreaves] gone and [Mike] Edwards playing some nickel...''

— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) November 22, 2019

It was a puzzling development for a Tampa Bay secondary that has struggled all season, basically benching the player that had looked like he was making the most progress out of a young, inexperienced group.

The plan clearly didn't help the Bucs to another victory, so we'll see if they get Dean back in the game when they travel to Atlanta to face Julio Jones and the Falcons this week.