Buccaneers' Tristan Wirfs remaining brutally honest about position change

Tristan Wirfs of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continues to be his harshest critic regarding his ongoing switch from right tackle to left tackle. 

"Lots of stuff to correct still," Wirfs told the JoeBucsFan website shortly after Wednesday's joint practice with the New York Jets that featured multiple fights between opposing players. "I thought my sets were pretty good. I still got to be better at throwing my hands. My left hand is still, you know, still getting there. I can’t throw my inside hand, did that a couple of times. I don’t think it was too bad. It was great to see new moves, see new [opponents] and see new fronts. … It was a competitive day, an emotional day. It was awesome."

Wirfs, a 2020 first-round draft pick, earned two Pro Bowl selections and one first-team All-Pro nod while serving as Tampa Bay's first-choice right tackle over the past three seasons. 

However, an unfilled gap at left tackle caused head coach Todd Bowles to move Wirfs to that position, and the 24-year-old admitted earlier this month that he's been seeing the team sports psychologist to help deal with negative thoughts he's experienced since learning about the change. 

As Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' website explained, Wirfs did not play in the preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Friday. The fourth-year pro also lost an additional chance to work with the Jets after Gang Green canceled Thursday's scheduled joint practice.

"Yeah, it sucks not getting another day in pads against a different opponent, but with how many fights there were today, there probably would have been double tomorrow," Wirfs acknowledged. "So I don’t think it’s too bad. We’ll still get good work in pads against our own guys." 

Quarterback Baker Mayfield is on track to replace the retired Tom Brady atop the depth chart for a Buccaneers team expected by many to be downright bad without the future Hall of Famer guiding the offense. 

The harsh truth of the matter is that neither Mayfield nor 2021 second-round draft pick Kyle Trask will be in a position to succeed if Wirfs isn't fully ready to be the team's new Week 1 starting left tackle next month.