Contact is not allowed, though players don’t always play by the rules, and much of it is drill work. But the 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 play can be a little revealing.

*Interesting to see DaQuan Bowers lining up inside in what appeared to be several pass rush situations. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and Dekoda Watson were alongside him on the left end.

*Dave Wannstedt had a very vocal and animated presence as Bucs special teams coach early in practice. The loudest voice at practice? No, not Schiano, but Wannstedt, who was as intense as it can get working with special teams players. “Alright guys, listen to me,” he bellowed. How could they not? The priests over at nearby Jesuit High School were probably upset at Wannstedt’s volume.

*Both Josh Freeman and Mike Glennon looked pretty sharp, though Freeman did make a bad throw over the middle that was knocked down with two hands by Eric Wright.

*Wide receiver coach John Garrett continues to be very hands-on in drills and while teaching. Joe caught a time when Garrett essentially ran up to Tiquan Underwood and slapped him after a play, and the two then went over what appeared to be route details and technique. Garrett’s body language seemed to be saying, ‘I already taught you this.’ ALso interesting about Garrett, he was coaching up receivers on how to properly roll up on a fumble, and how to properly protect the ball once possession is gained.

*On the stone hands front, Vincent Jackson had a drop. Former Giants Pro Bowler Steve Smith, trying to snatch a roster spot, had a very bad drop of a Mike Glennon short pass.

“On the good hands front, 21-year-old wide receiver Eric Page, who was injured in training camp with the Denver Broncos last year, caught a lot of balls and appears very fluid. He’s 5-10, 180 pounds and was a legend at the University of Toledo.

*Punter Mike Koenen does a quality impression of veteran Bucs beat scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman.

*The defense played as if it was the final play of the Super Bowl in drills to start the session, which got Schiano all fired up. “Way to go defense, way to go. Way to get us started!”

*Though Joe may be mistaken, there sure seemed to be a lot of hollering to start the practice, more so than last year’s first OTA. There also seemed to be much more enthusiasm, almost like a college atmosphere. Of course, there wasn’t Sgt. Winslow around to drag everyone one down with his moping.

*How intense was practice in the early moments? Even the waterboys were busting their arse trying to keep up with all the players running around.

*In one drill, coaches had linebackers practice rolling up ballcarriers using a giant tackling dummy.

*With Darrelle Revis relegated to riding a stationary bike, Leonard Johnson was working with the first team defense.

*Good ol’ Doug Martin, still biting the football, still running the distance like a Buccaneer Man should.

That’s right. Real talk from real attorneys. You can even email your legal questions to Matt Dolman, matt@dolmanlaw.com. Dolman Law Group serves clients throughout Florida and the Tampa area from offices in Clearwater, Bradenton and Melbourne.

Just as Bucs coach Greg Schiano was determined to knock off all the quarterback controversy talk this afternoon after the Bucs’ first OTA practice of the calendar year, so too was Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman determined to dismiss the notion that he and Schiano don’t get along.

As he was mobbed on the practice fields of One Buc Palace on his way to the locker room, Freeman noted that instead of clashing with Schiano, the two have developed a close bond.

“Me and coach have a great relationship,” Schiano said. “I go up there [to Schiano's office] at least every week and sit down and talk about football, talk about the team, talk about life. I’ve gotten to know Coach Schiano real well. He is a guy I am proud to play for.”

Freeman also waved off talk that third-round pick Mike Glennon may unseat him as the Bucs starting signal-caller.

“You want the best possible option behind you,” Freeman said of Glennon. “Mike completely fits. Down the road if we are making a run and something happens to me, you want a guy who can come in and keep it going. I am excited about [having] Mike, glad to have him about. Ready to get this rolling.”

Partially ignited by a buried quote in a National Football Post story over the weekend, the chatter of a quarterback controversy between Bucs incumbent yet struggling starter Josh Freeman, drafted largely on the advice of a since fired coach, and the Bucs third round draft pick Mike Glennon, is a non-story, Bucs coach Greg Schiano said in a rather adamant tone this afternoon at One Buc Palace.

Following the first practice of OTAs, Schiano met with the local pen and mic club and reiterated that there is no quarterback controversy in Tampa Bay.

“We have a starting quarterback and it is Josh Freeman,” Schiano said in no uncertain terms.

Schiano, in rare, animated form, talked about how the NFL is “the most competitive league” in sports and that he craves competition to bring out the best in all players. “There is some guy out there that wants my job,” Schiano explained.

But that desire for competition does not mean the starting quarterback position is open, Schiano noted. Schiano explained, in theory, how a backup quarterback could win a starting job but slammed the door shut on Glennon being the Week 1 starter in New Jersey when the Bucs visit the Jets, barring injury of course.

“I guess I am too honest with them,” Schiano said of answering direct questions with national reporters.

Schiano also explained that the national perception that either Freeman isn’t his guy or that he doesn’t get along with Freeman is hogwash.

“We have a good relationship.”

It took a while to break up the pile up, as flags flew from the practice referees on the sun-drenched fields of One Buc Palace.

Spence told Joe after practice that it was his first snap of practice and he didn’t have a good grasp on how hard to explode off the ball — newsflash, there’s not supposed to be contact during these practices — and it seemed Jeremy Zuttah let the rookie know quickly what it’s like in the big leagues.

It took a while to resolve, Spence said, because “I’m never going to back down.”

“Hopefully [Zuttah] respects me for that because I want to be a part of the team,” Spence said. “It’s just me not knowing the speed. … Now I know I need to throttle it down a little bit but at the same time get my work.

“I’m not going to back down from nobody so I mean I had to let that be known here on the first day here. So, hey, there it is.”

Joe couldn’t pick a winner in the scrum, though it seems the Bucs have a rookie that will play hard until and unless somebody tells him to dial it back.

For a commander of Schiano’s intellect, surely his comments were a calculated media move — and Joe can only speculate it was done to light a raging fire under the buttocks of Josh Freeman.

The only problem is the notion of Glennon starting “if he wins the job” (Schiano’s words) is utter nonsense. Freeman knows it and thinking fans know it, too.

Glennon has zero chance of winning the QB job out of the preseason, and barring injury to Freeman he’ll only get to start if, in Schiano’s mind, Freeman has lost the job during the regular season and the organization wants to move on from No. 5.

Freeman will earn $8.4 million, plus incentives, this season. There’s absolutely zero chance he’s riding the bench out of training camp unless Schiano has completely lost his mind.

So why did Schiano invite a writer to spread baloney about Glennon winning the job?

It’s a great question and one the head coach surely would chalk up to craving competition at all positions and simply expressing his philosophy on team sports. That’s nice, but it’s misleading. Freeman has as much chance of starting the season on the bench as DaQuan Bowers or Adrian Clayborn.

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Maligned Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has had a more productive NFL career thus far than Josh Freeman.

In recent months, Joe has heard former NFL coach and player personnel man Pat Kirwan, who co-hosts “Movin’ the Chains” with Tim Ryan on SiriusXM NFL Radio, harp a few times on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.

In Kirwan’s eyes, Dalton still has a lot to prove and is not an established NFL quarterback. Kirwan believes this year is a do-or-die season for Dalton as a starter and the Bengals likely will go quarterback shopping after this season if Dalton does not improve.

Why does Kirwan believe this? Kirwan specifically cites Dalton’s record as a starter against teams with winning records, a paltry 3-12.

Why does Joe write this? Because Kirwan is a firm supporter of Josh Freeman, yet Freeman’s record against teams with winning records isn’t much better than Dalton’s.

In three and a half years, roughly, as a starting quarterback, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Freeman’s record against opponents with a winning record is 6-15.

If one was to nitpick, two of those wins came in the final week of a season after the opponent (New Orleans in 2010 and Atlanta last season) had already secured their postseason positions.

Ironically Sunday morning, Evan Silva, the superb NFL analyst for both NBC Sports and Rotoworld.com, was Twitteringlike a man who just slugged down an Americano Grande about Freeman and Silva linked both Dalton and Freeman.

@evansilva: Buccaneers playing serious mind games with Freeman. Response will be critical to his career. Seems mentally fragile based on on-field play. … 2 most deceiving QB stat lines in 2012 were Josh Freeman & Andy Dalton. Neither played remotely that well. In fairness, Free has big issues.

Before Joe’s readers starting furiously typing that Joe is a Freeman hater, slow down! As Joe has written several times before, the absolute best chance for the Bucs to make the playoffs is for Freeman to not just start (ahead of rookie Mike Glennon), but to play well.

To Joe, it is very telling that Freeman struggles more often than not against good teams. Yes, yes, players should struggle against good teams. But upper echelon players rise to the occasion and don’t wilt under the pressure of, or vanish in the face of, a tough opponent.

No, Dalton’s numbers are not good at all against winning teams. But to his credit, Dalton has done more in his two seasons than Freeman has in four: Dalton has led his team to the playoffs twice.

And like the NFC South during Freeman’s career, the AFC North is annually dominated by two teams often battling for a Super Bowl, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Today is the first OTA practice of 2013 for the Bucs. And yes, Joe will have loads of content from this morning’s practice.

Today is the day for Freeman to begin playing on Dalton’s level. The level of a playoff quarterback.

For Freeman, that trek begins this morning.

Bucs news forthcoming.

You’d soil yourself too if you ate six steaks, shrimp, a birthday cake, drank a few beers and inhaled 57 cans of Reddi Whip. [WAVE]

Joe doesn’t watch music award shows, but if more people in attendance get leg-dropped like this, Joe might start. [Deadspin]

A drunk in a bar couldn’t butcher the National Anthem this badly. Carl Lewis is outraged. [YouTube]

NASCAR won the weekend with this ad. [TheBigLead]

So Buffalo’s offense (the Bills, that is) is easier than Florida State’s? No wonder the Bills have been so miserable! [PFT]

It seems Wil Myers has just a bit of an attitude problem. [RaysIndex]

Joe sees that the story linked below has gone viral on the interwebs today after good guy Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune got a hold of Greg Schiano, who said rookie QB Mike Glennon could start for the Bucs this year.

But Schiano qualified his statement saying, “If he’s needed.”

Translation? Glennon starts if Freeman gets hurt or is Trent Dilfer-like miserable beyond words, which no one really expects, as Pompei wrote for National Football Post.

Schiano, who also recruited Flacco years ago, sees the comparisons. “Their body types are similar,” he said. “Joe is probably a little more mobile. Both are kind of deadpan guys, not screamers. They are kind of flat line that way, but in a good way. Intense competitors, both of them. Glennon has a heck of a lot of playing and production to do before he can compare to Joe in that way, but coming out of college there are some similarities.”

What will matter for Glennon moving forward isn’t how he compares to Flacco. It’s how he compares to Freeman. No one expects Glennon to beat out Freeman this year. But it’s not out of the question.

Schiano said he believes Glennon “can play quickly” if he is needed. “But our situation will be only if he’s needed,” he said. “Or if he wins the job. Look, I’m not against that. We have a starting quarterback. It’s not like we’re looking to find a starter. But competition is competition. Mike Glennon is a fierce competitor. I knew that when he was coming out of high school. Now being able to work with him a little, you can see it on the practice field.”

It’s the final paragraph (the third-last paragraph of the story) of the quote above that has many abuzz on the interwebs. Even Pompei knows that Freeman will be the starter this year, barring injury or a complete and total meltdown by Freeman.

Look, the absolute best chance for the Bucs to have a winning season much less a playoff appearance is for Freeman to shine. He has all the toys he needs. It is now in his lap; no more excuses, no more pointing to bloated stats. Win games. Now. Period.

If the Bucs rely on Glennon this season, it’s a very good bet the Bucs are in a world of trouble.

And that philosophy is part of what has the Bucs all jacked up about the potential of fourth-round pick William Gholston.

The big defensive end is listed at 6-7, 285 pounds, and Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik thinks his college success rushing inside could translate well to the pro game, even if it doesn’t equal sacks. Dominik explained on a recent NFL.com podcast.

“Coach Schiano is a great head coach for a guy like Gholston,” Dominik said. “I think the versatility of him, too, is what’s going to make him become a better player and have a chance to be dressed and start playing more and more early in his career. I feel like he can certainly play left end. He can give you some snaps at right end, but he also did a good job at moving inside. And I think a big guy like that, that can be inside, can disrupt the passing game whether you’re sacking your quarterback or just getting your hands up and making the quarterback moving his launching point, even a half and inch to an inch ends up being a foot down the field. And so I think Gholston has a chance to do really do a lot of different things. And that’s what makes him attractive, and that’s why we’re excited we drafted him.”

Sure, Gholston’s got potential, but in a league that worships pass rushers, there’s not a huge likelihood of a great one slipping to the fourth-round out of a big program like Michigan State.

Gholston seems like a project a project-type investment that is more likely to pay dividends in 2014 and beyond.

Joe would love Gerald McCoy and the Bucs in the playoffs, but even with an improved secondary, there is much work to do for a playoff berth given how strong the NFC should be this fall.

With the revamped Bucs defensive backfield, the Bucs should have their strongest team since the flirtation with the playoffs in 2010, and quite possibly the Bucs could have their best team since Chucky roamed the sidelines and cursed at everyone.

Some national football types are smitten.

Saturday, beat writer eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune noted some think the Bucs are a playoff team because of a suddenly stacked roster, so he said on ”The End Zone,” co-hosted by Howard Balzer and Zig Fracassi, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

eye-RAH! Kaufman: There are a lot of Bucs fans down here thinking that this is a playoff team. And you know what? I’m not so sure they are wrong right now.

Howard Balzer: Well the thing was Ira, last year, at whatever point of the season it was, they were in position to at least be there in the playoff hunt and then, I think, they lost five in a row and the bottom just fell out and then [Josh] Freeman had a couple of bad games, a couple of four-interception games and all of a sudden the season ended badly. Obviously, they showed something there that first half of the season to get themselves into that [playoff hunt] and now they just have to be able to finish and be consistent the whole season.

Kaufman: No question. Greg Schiano had his share, guys, of growing pains in Year 1 after 11 years in the college circuit at Rutgers. They were missing two Pro Bowl guards. They have nine players guys – nine! – on this roster that have made the Pro Bowl. Now, one of them is [wide receiver] Steve Smith from the Giants and he is probably not going to make an impact this year but the others, Carl Nicks, David Joseph, Vincent Jackson, Doug Martin, Gerald McCoy, [Dashon] Goldson, [Darrelle] Revis. There is talent here guys.

There is talent but Joe’s not talking playoffs. Not yet. Why? Just look at the NFC landscape.

The conference is as top-heavy and loaded as Joe can remember in this century. Only six teams qualify for the playoffs; four division winners and two wild cards.

San Francisco, Green Bay, Seattle, New York, Atlanta, Minnesota, Washington and New Orleans are teams Joe believes will be the strongest in the conference. Yes, the Bucs beat Minnesota last year, but it was the Vikings, not the Bucs, who played in January.

Then throw in a few teams with enough talent to challenge for a playoff spot, like Chicago, Dallas and Detroit (which has dangerous weapons), and it’s easy to see how the Bucs could be vastly improved but watching playoff games on the couch.

On paper, the Bucs sure are improved. But to expect a playoff berth, Joe isn’t going there. That’s too much of a leap to predict with the NFC so packed with strong teams.