Leonard Fournette scored four touchdowns in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 38-31 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but he also provided a boost in the locker room.

Fournette gave an impassioned halftime speech that resonated with teammates after they were down 24-14 at the half.

"I was like, 'You have to have a will and a want,'" said Fournette, who rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries and added seven catches for 31 yards. "'You have to be willing to risk everything. Play by play, you have to want to win, you have to want to fight, each and every play.' I think they understood that message and played their lights out."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely would have selected Jonathan Taylor at No. 14 had Tristan Wires been selected before their turn in 2020.

Tampa Bay traded up from No. 14 to the San Francisco 49ers at No. 13 to select Wirfs. 

"I loved him," Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians told reporters this past week about Taylor. "He could do it all, and it was just a matter of time -- playing behind that offensive line -- that he was going to be the force that he is."

Tampa Bay nearly had the chance to draft Taylor at No. 45, but the Indianapolis Colts selected him at No. 41. The Buccaneers instead selected Antoine Winfield Jr. 

Taylor enters Sunday's game against the Buccaneers as the NFL leader in rushing yards (1,122) and touchdowns (15).

During Monday night's ManningCast of the New York Giants-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, Julian Edelman said he had the opportunity to join a team other than the New England Patriots.

Edelman retired this past offseason after 12 NFL seasons.

The wide receiver said Tom Brady tried to recruit him to the Buccaneers as soon as the quarterback moved to Tampa Bay in 2020. Seven years earlier, Edelman said he also had a chance to join Eli Manning with the Giants.

"(Tom) hit me up the first day he signed there, like, 'You wanna come down?'" Edelman said of a potential reunion with Brady and Rob Gronkowski in Tampa Bay. "I was like, 'Absolutely not.'"

Edelman was a free agent in 2013, when he flirted with the Giants before re-signing with New England on a one-year deal.

"It was pretty close," Edelman told the Manning brothers. "I went and visited down there in Jersey and met with (Tom) Coughlin and had nothing but respect for the organization ... but I looked at my choices of going back to the Pats ... (and) Peyton, thank you for taking (Wes) Welker off our hands ... and the rest is history. You guys are saying, 'Once a Giant, always a Giant.' Well, 'Almost a Giant, always a Patriot.'"

Antonio Brown has been accused of obtaining a fake COVID-19 vaccination card, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times.

The Times reported that, according to Steven Ruiz -- a former personal chef for the wide receiver -- Brown had his girlfriend, model Cydney Moreau, reach out to Ruiz over the summer to obtain a fake vaccination card that said Brown had received the Johnson & Johnson shot.

Ruiz said he was unable to acquire a fake card for Brown, according to the report, but he added that the wide receiver a few weeks later showed him ones he had for himself and Moreau that he said he had purchased.

Responding to the Times story, the Buccaneers released a statement saying they had "received completed vaccination cards from all Tampa Bay Buccaneers players."

"All vaccination cards were reviewed by Buccaneers personnel and no irregularities were observed," the team said.

Bruce Arians wasn't happy with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after their 29-19 loss to the Washington Football Team on Sunday afternoon.

The defending champions are 6-3 following two straight losses.

"It's very disappointing," Arians said. "It's very alarming to watch the energy at every practice and show up with a lack of execution and energy that it takes to win on Sunday. We've got a lot of soul-searching to do."

Washington entered the game with the NFL's worst pass defense and Tampa Bay was favored by 10 points.

"It has nothing to do with ability," Arians said. "It's about execution and being a smart football team. We're a very dumb football team. And that's a reflection on the coaches."

A few weeks ago Bruce Arians said there was no chance the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would trade Ronald Jones.

On Monday, Arians discussed the topic again but didn't seem as firm in his stance against trading the running back.

"It would have to be something really, really special, because I love the way he's running and it's just one nick on Leonard [Fournette] and RoJo is the guy again," Arians said. "It's still a great 1-2 punch. It would have to be something extraordinary."