Tanard Jackson Cut Sets Clear Example, Standards from Bucs Organization

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik announced Tuesday morning that safety Tanard Jackson had been cut from the team after Jackson failed a physical.

Shortly after the news was made public, Jackson spoke with Mark Cook, of PewterReport.com, and said that the news hit him completely off guard.

“I can’t speak for everyone but myself. I was shocked, but I had to accept it and swallow it and take it, and move on in stride,” Jackson said. “Was I shocked? Yes. It is part of this business.”

New head coach Greg Schiano said, upon taking the job with Tampa Bay, that everyone would start with a clean slate. Jackson, who had shoulder surgery in January, was rehabbing the injury at One Buc Place, but apparently not frequently enough for Schiano's taste, at least in part.

“[Bucs general manager Mark Dominik] did mention that he didn’t like the way that I wasn’t there the first week of the opening offseason workouts,” Jackson said to PewterReport.com. “But it was more about going in a different direction. It wasn’t about the rehab thing. The way it was explained to me was they wanted to move in a different direction."

Jackson's injury wasn't the only strike against him.

Of all the safeties in the NFL last season, Jackson missed the most tackles, 24. If Jackson wasn't taking his rehabilitation seriously enough, or if his attendance at the practice facility to meet the new coaching staff wasn't frequent enough, Schiano just showed to everyone that he's not going to put up with it.

Quite possibly, Schiano made an example out of Jackson. Schiano laid down the law and showed to every other player on the Buccaneers' roster that he was in charge.