Former NFL vet rips Desmond Watson over conditioning: "He hasn't done anything!"

At least one former NFL player is not happy with Desmond Watson. Ian Beckles, who played for the Bucs, Eagles, Jets and Broncos, over a 10-year NFL career, ripped the 440-pound big man for not doing enough to get in shape for training camp.

Watson, who weighed 464 pounds at the UF pro day, was not medically cleared to participate in training camp.  He reportedly had lost 30 pounds by the time he arrived at the Bucs rookie camp, but he was listed at 449 pounds on the training camp roster. 

Right now, Watson is spending his time doing laps out on the field in the blazing sun barefoot. It's undetermined if Watson will be able to hit the weight number that the team has in store for him before the end of camp.

Beckles, a Tampa-area radio personality, appeared on the Jay Recher Podcast on Monday and did not mince his words when talking about Watson.

"They gave him a whole offseason to lose weight, stop eating all that [expletive] and you've got to work, that's it," Beckles said. "He's not in good enough shape. Personally, I just think he's soft and he's almost like a circus freak. How many guys have made it in the NFL that didn't have good film in college?

Beckles continued: "This guy, we talk about him every freakin' week and he hasn't done anything. Just because he's 400 and something pounds, we're going to keep on talking about this guy? For me, I know what I had to do to get to a training camp. He didn't do it. If I say, 'is Desmond Watson a dog?' Nobody at Florida is going to say he's a dog. He's not."

Most of the stories around Watson have been positive, from his former high school coach giving him encouragement to Vita Vea spending time with the rookie on the third field after practice.

But Beckles' comments should be a stark reminder that the NFL is an ultra-competitive league with a dog-eat-dog mentality among the players. Beckles is an old-school guy and, in his world, either you put in the work and get the job done, or you don't. There are no excuses. 

Maybe these are the words Watson needs to hear right now. So far, there have been mostly positive vibes around Watson, but his time to show the Bucs that he is worth developing long term is running out.