Mike James says he understands the writing on the wall

The Bucs are loaded at running back, and second-year RB Mike James knows he’s gone from shining Schiano Man to a guy fighting hard for a job.

James is battling for a role complementing Doug Martin, and Charles Sims, Bobby Rainey and Jeff Demps want the same thing. (more…)

Josh McCown explains why he must be at one with his offensive coordinator — in a hurry.

Lord X-factor of the Bucs 2014 season, offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford, has a tall order.

He’s new to the NFL and he sort of has to become the next Marc Trestman in a hurry. (more…)

Bucs defensive line coach Joe Cullen has a new fan

The biggest prerequisite for a Lovie Smith assistant coach is to be an astute, effective teacher of the game.

Teaching is No. 1 on Lovie’s list. But Lovie does not seek quiet clones of himself. (more…)

Joe’s pulling for former Bucs captain Davin Joseph to revive his once strong career, but not during Week 2 of this season.

That’s when the Rams come to Tampa. (more…)

The heat is already on Bucs offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford, says a local columnist.

Joe gets a chuckle from the neanderthal Bucs fans — the type who have this twisted notion that the Bucs would be just as well off with hobbled Carl Nicks at quarterback than a highly drafted or highly successful signal-caller.

These knuckledraggers jump up and down with glee claiming the Seahawks won the Super Bowl with defense-only, as if talented quarterback Russell Wilson is some second-coming of Deiter Brock. Defense wins championships, they claim. (more…)

No pressure, Lovie. .

Your old comrade is calling your team Super Bowl-bound on national television. (more…)

“Dr. Smith”

You have heard the cliche by now, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” Yes, it started with a TV ad.

Bucs coach Lovie Smith is a football coach, a family man, a dad, a husband, and as he self-confessed yesterday after Tuesday’s OTA, not much else. That is, until he plays “Dr. Smith,” whose specialty is hamstrings. (more…)

Here are photos Joe took at Bucs practice today during the opening 30-minute window that permits photography. Joe was using a Galaxy 4. Most photos are cropped. Joe can only get so close to the fields (yes, the Bucs use up to four fields at a time during practice) without violating boundaries. (more…)

Bucs wide receiver Chris Owusu has turned into a bit of a practice phenom the past couple of years.

The guy runs crisp routes, catches everything, has plenty of speed, and he looks the part. (more…)

Lovie is not fond of controlled scrimmages.

Some coaches are big believers that practicing against another team or, at least, someone with a different color jersey, not only gives a team a chance to see how players fare against fresh opposition, but it mentally breaks up the monotony of training camp.

It is sort of like having a fifth preseason game. (more…)

Lovie Smith offered detail on his cornerbacks position today

Leonard Johnson might not sleep well tonight.

Lovie Smith, who doesn’t talk too much about players that impress him during “underwear football,” shed light on his cornerback thoughts today. (more…)

Your beloved Bucccaneers were back on the sunny practice fields of One Buc Palace today!

Spring workouts are in full swing. Joe, as always, brings you the sights and sounds, sans the sweat on Joe’s brow. (more…)

Big news over Memorial Day weekend claimed Bucs general manager Jason Licht reached out to Gerald McCoy’s agent to talk about a new contract. Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud broke the news.

Well, today McCoy threw cold water on the notion. (more…)

Joe can’t really translate body language reliably, but Joe’s pretty confident Lovie Smith was frustrated by the absence of Carl Nicks today.

Joe asked Lovie about Nicks’ absence today — and at last Tuesday’s OTA session open to media. (more…)

The x-factor of the Bucs’ season is pretty clear for one Buccaneer.

Cornerback D.J. Moore has spent enough years around Lovie Smith in Chicago to know the key to the 2014 Tampa Bay season and beyond. (more…)

Rookie Bucs manbeast tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins

A prominent NFL voice is a Seattle local who watched plenty of new Bucs rookie tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins at the University of Washintgon.

And in this case, familiarity has bred extreme optimism for manbeast Seferian-Jenkins’ future. (more…)

Monday afternoon, Bucs center Evan Dietrich-Smith appeared with Vic Carucci and Brad Hopkins on “The Blitz,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio. EDS had a lot to say about the Bucs, Lovie Smith and quarterbacks, and Joe will bring you bits and pieces the next couple of days.

Excitement filled EDS when he was asked to explain Lovie’s defense. Few on the Bucs roster know Lovie’s defense better than EDS because the former Green Bay Packers center had to battle it twice a year in the NFC North. (more…)

The stat nerds at Pro Football Focus are winding down their Top 101 players in the NFL, based on stats of course. Three teams had two players in the top-10. One was the Super Bowl champs. The other was the NFC East champs.

The third team was the woeful Bucs. (more…)

The way things are going around One Buc Palace, Joe is starting to smell something, and no, it’s not just the sweat from some of the best football players in the world working hard. No, Joe is smelling quarterback competition.

Yes, Bucs coach Lovie Smith has called Josh McCown his starter. Last Joe checked, it’s May. Lovie detailed why All-World cornerback Darrelle Revis would play on his defense, and hours after mattress-in-the-front-yard receiver Mike Williams took a blade to the thigh, Lovie also said he wouldn’t move Williams for being a victim.

How did those proclamations work out? (more…)

An ESPN blogger believes banking on Josh McCown is the Bucs’ riskiest offseason move

The old saying goes, ‘if you don’t have a franchise quarterback, then you will always be looking for one.’

As much as many Bucs fans will have you believe a linebacker can play quarterback; that a quarterback is not necessary to win a Super Bowl in the 21st Century, that simply is bunk.

(Spare Joe the Russell Wilson lines. It’s not like this guy is Dieter Brock. Besides, Wilson is a damn fine quarterback). (more…)

Your beloved Bucs are back on the practice fields of One Buc Palace tomorrow! So that means Joe will be your eyes and ears, sharing all kinds of stuff through the day and through the week.

Training camp is just 60 days away!

One of the more cerebral ex-Buccaneer greats, a former Pro Bowl wide receiver himself, is very high on the Bucs’ chances for a revived passing game. (more…)