It's been a tough week for residents of the west coast of Florida. Hurricane Milton blew through the area, leaving in its wake plenty of destruction and flooding throughout the Tampa Bay region and further south.
The Buccaneers managed to avoid getting caught up in the storm by leaving for New Orleans on Tuesday to conduct their game preparations there. However, the Tampa Bay area is still on their minds.
Wirfs was asked on Thursday about whether there is added pressure on two fronts on Sunday against the Saints: based on the importance of avoiding an 0-2 start in the division as well as carrying the weight of playing for the Tampa Bay area after Hurricane Milton. He acknowledged, while the next game is always the biggest and requires their focus, both of those as things on their minds.
"Yeah, I mean, everyone, all of Tampa has our back, and we try to have their back. But I think it's a must win because it's the next game, you know? The most important game is always the next one. But at the same time, yeah, you don't want to lose two division games.
"It's a pretty cool feeling seeing all of the support we have and seeing everyone rallying together. It's been really awesome to see through all the destruction and everything. People standing together, standing up, and coming together.
"I think that's the biggest takeaway is, you know, is it's important because it's the next one. We've got to get this win if we want to keep moving in the direction we want to move."
The Bucs shouldn't need much more motivation on Sunday against the Saints. Those two teams really don't like each other. Both are in desperation mode to avoid a second divisional loss before the middle of October.
But motivation comes from all kinds of places, and it surely doesn't hurt the Bucs' chances to have an additional bit of edge and motivation on their shoulder. A desire to leave it all out on the field for their community on Sunday inside the Superdome.
