He threw an interception on his first pass.

Again.

Given the interception machine he had turned into and the vows from Raheem the Dream to scale back the playbook, when Bucs rookie quarterback Josh Freeman threw an interception Sunday in his first attempt, Joe wondered if Rudy Carpenter had warmed up.

Yes, Joe felt that bad, thought maybe it was time for the rookie to sit down and watch again.

But something funny happened on the way to being demoted: Freeman rallied.

His first win in his first start, Freeman rallied the Bucs from behind to beat the Packers. But it was this win Sunday that Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times called Freeman’s best comeback.

On a misty Sunday afternoon a long way from home, Freeman came back from the questions and the doubts. He came back from the insults and the scorn. He came from two weeks of being scatter-armed and scatter-brained.

Mostly, Freeman came back from questionable play so hard that by the time the game ended, he looked like an answer once again.

Call him the re-chosen one.

Yes, it’s a bumpy road for rookie quarterbacks. Joe will be very interested to see what the kid does at New Orleans next week. The Cajuns will not be kind to young Freeman.

How he will muster against the Saints in a crazy dome will speak volumes to Joe.