Pat Yasinskas, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Gerald McCoy aiming for playoff berth

TAMPA, Fla. – He has been to the Pro Bowl and selected to the All-Pro team, but there’s one thing missing from the resumé of Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.

That’s an appearance in the postseason.

“Going into my sixth year and I haven’t been to the playoffs, it’s like enough is enough," McCoy said Saturday. “I definitely feel the urgency and it’s time to get things done."

That urgency is part of the reason why McCoy showed up at camp looking a little different. He said he dropped 12 pounds since the offseason program.

“One thing our D-line coach, coach [Joe] Cullen does is he breaks every player down and he tells us what we need to do to have a career year or what we need to do to help this team out," McCoy said. “He told me with who I am to this team and who I am to this defense, I have to be in the best shape of my life. I just took that to heart and tried to come in in the best shape I could."

McCoy said he reduced his body fat by two percent in the last five weeks in an attempt to become even quicker as a pass rusher. That’s because McCoy knows the clock is ticking on his career and he wants to get to the postseason.

‘When I was young, I was allowed to be young," McCoy said. “I’m not there anymore. I’m going into my sixth year and I truly believe this team will only go as far as I go. When you have a dominant guy in the middle, it helps everyone out around him. If you have a great defense, most of these teams that are winning, have a great defense. That’s another reason why I had to come in in great shape. There’s not any more talking that needs to be done."

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