Bucs' Austin Seferian-Jenkins Upsets Coach by Posting Penalty Photo After Loss

This would probably qualify as a rookie mistake. Twice.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins gave his team a 17-16 lead in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons with a one-yard touchdown catch. However, he also drew a 15-yard penalty for his "Captain Morgan" celebration.

Atlanta's ensuing possession started at its 35-yard line after the 15-yard penalty pushed the kickoff back. The Falcons ended up scoring a go-ahead touchdown on that possession and never relinquished that lead on their way to a 27-17 victory.

Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith was not too pleased with his rookie tight end drawing a flag for the celebration. Smith discussed the penalty with the Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud:

"

It is a teaching moment, though, for a rookie. You hate...you know with rookies you want to have those teaching moments before something happens out there. We go over the rules, of course, you can't use a prop after a touchdown. But when you do it in that situation, it's just not good.

"

Well, Seferian-Jenkins didn't seem to think the penalty was a big deal. He wound up posting an Instagram photo of his Captain Morgan celebration.

Smith also told Stroud that he had a talk with Seferian-Jenkins after hearing about the Instagram photo. "When guys make mistakes, I confront them immediately, which happened this time," Smith said. "... The penalty of course, right away. And when I found out about the Instagram. ... Once it came to my attention, then I confronted him."

The Instagram post has since been deleted.

Something like this probably doesn't seem like a big deal to fans. Celebrating a touchdown should be fun. However, when it hurts a team, that's when a coach has to step in. Seferian-Jenkins' celebration Sunday was costly, so Smith had to step in and make sure that his first-year player understood his mistakes.

In a season in which Tampa Bay is 1-8, the coaching staff needs to make sure players don't form bad habits. This will just serve as a learning experience—on and off the field—for Seferian-Jenkins.

[Thomas Bassinger]