Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage Jr (17) works out during training camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Russell Gage: Buccaneers 'didn't show up at all' against 49ers

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 12/12/22

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage offered a brutal assessment of the team's 35-7 blowout loss at the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

"I mean that’s a good football team, for sure, but, you know, we didn’t show up at all," Gage remarked on the Buccaneers Radio Network, as shared by the Joe Bucs Fan website. "I think on both sides of the ball, I think we killed ourselves more than anything. For sure, that’s a good football team but, man, we gotta play a lot better than that. That’s just not us."

A seemingly frustrated Gage added that the Buccaneers "didn’t come out at all" at San Francisco.

The 49ers scored 35 unanswered points in fewer than two and a half quarters on Sunday. With 9:44 remaining in the game's third period, Fox saved non-local markets by shifting its coverage to the matchup between the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks which Carolina ultimately won 30-24.

Brady and the Bucs are being blown out so bad that the game has been switched off pic.twitter.com/X4cdmKv2QQ
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) December 11, 2022

Gage, who caught a meaningless touchdown later in the third quarter of Sunday's debacle, wasn't the only person associated with the Buccaneers who was disgusted over the loss. As Michael Silver explained for the San Francisco Chronicle, Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady didn't even bother to shower before he left Levi's Stadium for the team plane.

"Some things I don’t give a f--- about, at this point," Brady told Silver about that decision. "F--- that. I’m going home."

First-year Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles will need to do everything possible to make sure his 6-7 team "shows up" for this Sunday's home game versus the 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals. First-place Tampa Bay still controls its playoff destiny with the 5-8 Panthers, 5-8 Atlanta Falcons, and 4-9 New Orleans Saints all trailing the Bucs in the NFC South standings.

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