Dashon Goldson may rack up some more fines this season, but his new head coach in Tampa is okay with the safety’s nasty style of play.
Although Goldson has been one of the NFL’s most penalized players, Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith said he doesn’t think the free safety needs to make major changes to his playing style.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations,” Smith said. “We’re not asking him to stop doing anything. Really, it’s pretty simple. We talk about a physical player, we want him to remain that. Just lower the target a little bit. It’s kind of as simple as that.”
Despite being flagged a league-high 16 times for personal fouls since 2009, Smith told ESPN.com that Goldson just needs to lower his target.
“You don’t have to change up your style or anything else,” Smith said. “As you aim, aim low. That’s all we’re going to ask Dashon to do. If he’s not playing, it doesn’t help us an awful lot. We don’t want to put [former Bucs linebacker and current NFL appeals officer] Derrick Brooks in a position where he has to fine him.”
