Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter had some questions to answer after he left running back Doug Martin off the active roster in what was the team’s biggest game of the season.
The Buccaneers lost to the New Orleans Saints, effectively ending their playoff hopes, but it didn’t mean Koetter had any regrets.
“As I said last week, we made a decision for the Saints game based on what I thought was best for our team that week and we’ll do the same thing this week,” Koetter said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “We’ll make the decision, not just at running back but at every position.”
Koetter was very vague as to what the benching means for Martin going forward.
“I’m not sure if it should cause [concern] or not,” Koetter said. “I really have no good answer for you on that. That decision was made. I’ll stand by it and at some point, it’ll be apparent what our decision is this week and I’ll stand by that.”
Koetter simply cited the roles of Peyton Barber and Charles Sims on special teams as justification for having both active instead of Martin. The only other explanation has been a “coach’s decision”, and it remains to be seen whether Martin returns for Week 17. He hasn’t exactly been great when he has played, averaging 52.6 rushing yards per game in eight games this season.
