Bucs' Devin White talks goals, not trash

TAMPA, Fla. - Buccaneers linebacker Devin White talks a good game and he backs it up with his play. After missing three games recovering from a knee injury in his first year, White showed the Bucs why they picked him fifth overall in the draft. 

He finished the last two months of the season earning two NFL Rookie of the Month honors. 

"He had a great understanding of what he was doing,” said Bruce Arians of White's late-season play. "He was playing extremely fast. Obviously making a bunch of splash plays with the fumble recoveries, the touchdown interception. The things he's capable of doing. I think he ran the show very well. Did a heck of a job of tackling, better the second half of the season than the first. The knee brace was really hard for him to play with. Once he got that off, we saw what we were looking for."

White is predicting he'll be more dominant in year two.

"I can play 10 times faster than what I did last year,” he said. “One, because I don't have that brace on...The new plays that they put in are built off last year. So I don't have a new playbook in front of me, so everything is just moving fine for me."

White believes having Tom Brady going against him every day in practice is elevating his game.

"And I'm able to go to him after practice and see the things he's seeing that we need to improve on,” said White. "'Hey man, I'm picking you all apart when you're on your toes a lot.’ Just any little thing that he picked up on. I'm going to him to get advice for it because he's seeing it every day. So I know another team is going to work for it on film and try to pick us apart with it in games.”

The Bucs are expecting big things from White this season. They've made him one of the eight faces on the side of Raymond James Stadium. 

White also has lofty expectations. Two goals, playing in RayJay come February in the Super Bowl with his Bucs and leading them there with five interceptions. 

"I don't know, I was the number-five pick, so it's a great number. Forty-five is my jersey number, so I see a lot of fives out there. There's something good about that number standing out. Five picks or five sacks; I'll take either one or both."