At halftime of their 37-20 season-opening win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday, second-year safety Christian Izien was approached first by Cornerbacks Coach Kevin Ross and then by Head Coach Todd Bowles with an interesting proposition. The Buccaneers had started the game with four active cornerbacks but saw two of them get knocked out by injuries in the first half, first Zyon McCollum with a concussion and then Josh Hayes with an ankle injury. They would start the second half with only Jamel Dean and Bryce Hall available, and they had to have an emergency plan if either went down.
Izien was that plan.
And unfortunately, that plan became necessary when Hall was carted off the field early in the second half with an ankle injury.
"It was a complete shock for me because I was prepared for free safety, strong safety and nickel," said Izien. "I mean, it was a bit of a shock. Todd came at my fast. It was in the back of my mind, and then when it actually happened, I looked at 'T.T.' – Tavierre Thomas – I looked at him and smiled like, 'Yeah, this is the time.'"
Izien had not played a single snap at outside cornerback since his sophomore year in high school. He had played nickel as a senior at Rutgers than won that job as an undrafted rookie with the Bucs last year. Bowles figured some of that work could translate and he leaned on the savvy second-year player to get the defense through the game.
"He was not lined up at corner one day in training camp," said Bowles. "But he plays nickel, so nickel and corner have the same job on certain things. It's just hearing it from a different angle and the safeties helped out a lot. The coaches, the DB coaches, did a good job getting him ready and he did a good job."
Izien had one of the key plays for Tampa Bay's defense in the second half, breaking up a sideline pass intended for wideout Olamides Zaccheaus on third-and-five. He also forced a fumble by quarterback Jayden Daniels that went out of bounds in the fourth quarter, and he added two tackles. Notably, he was never a liability in coverage as the Bucs held Daniels to 184 passing yards, most of them on short, quick throws.
"Coach [Bowles] did a good job of putting me in calls that I'm comfortable in, putting me in man because I've played man coverage, and putting me in calls that I know where my help is at in nickel, I know where my help is at in safety," said Izien. "Just playing within the defense."
It's been a long time, but Izien was able to rediscover some of the advantages to playing on the outside as opposed to in the slot, including the fact that the sideline can often be like an extra defender, as it was on the throw to Zaccheaus.
"I tell people all the time, at nickel you're in no-man's-land, you're on an island," he said. "It did feel good to have a sideline as my 12th defender. If guys want to run out there, I'm in for a footrace. When he ran a stop route it was kind of shocking that he just ran a stop route, but Coach did a good job of preparing us on third down. We knew they ran hitches to put their quarterback in comfortable positions."
The severity of the injuries to McCollum, Hall and Hayes wasn't immediately clear right after the game, but Hall's injury was significant enough for the trainers to put an air cast on him before loading him onto the cart. Izien obviously hopes his teammates recover as quickly as possible, but he's ready to fill in again next week in Detroit if necessary.
"Honestly, I was playing for those guys that were hurt," he said. "Just being out there, being prepared – not being prepared for corner but just having the help of my teammates on the field, the coaches on the sideline preparing me. Knowing my teammates' responsibilities, playing nickel, playing safety, I know where my help is at. I was comfortable doing my job."
