The Bucs’ Pro Bowl corner weighs in

Having Alterraun Verner play like Alterraun Verner the Pro Bowler of the Titans is not enough for Lovie Smith.

No way. Verner himself said today that just won’t be satisfactory. (more…)

Bucs coach Lovie Smith talked up TE Tim Wright and noted how successful NFL teams need to be able to pass proficiently.

Many folks have branded Bucs coach Lovie Smith as a stout disciple of Father Dungy: defenses win championships and a backup linebacker can play quarterback, as the quarterback is only good for handing the ball off and shot-putting passes when desperate, so a wide receiver can out volleyball a defensive back.

Well, Lovie put this notion to bed. (more…)

Yeah, Lovie Smith long ago said he wanted to take four quarterbacks to training camp. Yes, Lovie also was clear he’s a two-quarterbacks-on-the-final-roster kind of guy.

But you never know. So the signing of Alex Tanney yesterday is no “trick shot” novelty. (more…)

The Bucs are loaded at tight end, talented and deep at running back, plus they’ve got two gifted wide receivers who, together, present huge matchup problems for defenses.

Gone are the 2008 days, when the head coach couldn’t figure out how to put his two best wide receivers on the field together. Gone are the 2009 days of banged up Antonio Bryant, Maurice Stovall and Sammie Stroughter in place for the rookie quarterback. (more…)

Bucs coach Lovie Smith loves DE Steven Means’ speed off the edge.

Last year, the Bucs had hopes they found pass rush gems late in the draft with rookie defensive ends Steven Means and Will Gholston.

Means didn’t light the world on fire, but he didn’t really stink, either. But as the season wore on, it was Gholston who took the proverbial bull by the horns and rallied from a bubble player mired on the inactive list to a starter who actually could breathe on opposing quarterbacks sometimes. (more…)

Just two days ago, Bucs general manager referred to first round draft pick Mike Evans as “a Godzilla” in practice. The wide receiver very well may breathe fire on defenses and stomp on defensive backs in his path to the end zone.

Joe has only seen significant Evans practice time against camp meat — future bartenders, insurance claims adjusters and longshoremen. And yes, he terrorized them just like the reptile in the hit movie does mortals. (more…)

It’s Joe’s high-energy, weekly hour of all-things-Bucs talk with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620. Enjoy the audio below of Wednesday’s action. Joe’s gets after it again next Wednesday with Duemig, too.

Bucs G Jamon Meredith was working with the first team offense yesterday in OTA practice.

Yesterday at practice, working with the first team offense, was a pair of guys who give Bucs fans chills down their spines, and not in a good way.

Since starting left guard/MRSA victim/ugly toe on the line Carl Nicks was nowhere in sight, not even with Joe’s binoculars, the guards working with the first team offense were Oneil Cousins on the left, and Jamon Meredith at right. (more…)

There is a bit, well, a lot more access given to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club than in recent years past. Of course, the tradeoff is no Twittering during practice. It’s a fair scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours swap.

Joe is happy with the open society that has enveloped One Buc Palace. (more…)

One of the more bizarre sights at Bucs practice yesterday was hard to see.

But you sure could hear it. (more…)

Rookie Mike Evans has plenty in common with a former Bucs receiver taken in the first round

There’s no diva in 20-year-old rookie receiver Mike Evans. Not yet, anyway.

Evans even said he’d be proud to be known as a blocking icon. (more…)

Yes, the Bucs have a quarterback. No, he’s not Josh McCown. No, he’s not the future. He’s not even Mike Kafka nor is he linguine-armed Brett Smith. He is Alex Tanney, pride of Monmouth College, a small school located in west-central Illinois, surrounded by cornfields, as virtually everything in Illinois is south of Chicago.

While Tanney, who has spent time on the rosters of the Chiefs, Cowboys and Browns the past three years, may never make the Bucs roster, accuracy should never be an issue with him as evidenced by this trick shot video he did three years ago while in college. (more…)

Former Bucs DE Steve White

Hours after taking the Buccaneers head coaching gig, Lovie Smith said he was eager to get former Glory Days Bucs into the mix of his regime. They’d be welcome with open arms to mingle, mentor, or motivate, Lovie said.

Well, Lovie was true to his word. (more…)

The Bucs signed the “trick shot quarterback”

Apparently, the Bucs’ hierarchy saw what Joe saw over the past five days: Wyoming QB Brett Smith looked like a noodle-armed college quarterback.

Quickly signed by the Bucs as an undrafted free agent, and a guy many fans believed was a “quarterback of the future,” Smith was cut today in a flurry of roster moves. (more…)

A fantastic charity event will be held this evening at Plant High School, 2415 South Himes Ave., Tampa.

Dozens of ex-NFL players, including Mike Alstott, Earnest Graham, Jack Youngblood and many former Bucs, will play in a “Tribute to Heroes” flag football game versus the undefeated Wounded Warrior Amputee football team.

Tickets are $10 for adults. Kids 9-17 are $5. Children 8 years old and younger are free. The first 1,000 military members get in free.

The Wounded Warrior Amputee Football Team is made up of dedicated former and active service members who lost a limb or limbs in combats tours in Iraq, Afghanistan & Vietnam.  These guys and gals (yes, there are two women on the team) are incredibly athletic and their record over the last year is 6-0.

Buy tickets now and get more information at http://www.wwaft.org, or you can purchase at the game. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Joe would like to issue a special thanks to Joe’s friends at Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa for being a major sponsor of this wonderful charity event. Here’s a Tampa Bay Times story about the game and the cause.

Lovie Smith has been talking up “The Fastest Man In The NFL” for months. The Bucs head coach said he couldn’t wait to get Olympian Jeff Demps on the practice field and, based on Lovie’s chatter yesterday, Demps has lived up to the hype. (more…)

Blade-in-the-back rookie Chaz Sutton has impressed the Bucs heirarchy

It appeared the last straw for receiver Mike Williams under the new Bucs regime was the blade he took in the leg from his brother. The gall of Williams to get sliced by a sibling!

This came on top of the nerve of Williams to burn food on his stove, dabble in rap music, drive his car too fast, and allegedly have a Tempur-Pedic on his front lawn and a stripper pole in his living room. (more…)

Bucs GM Jason Licht described WR Mike Evans as “a Godzilla.”

Joe must give Bucs general manager props for being up on pop culture.

Either that, or he has impeccable timing and is a stickler for research.

There are all sorts of superlatives to use to describe rookie wide receiver Mike Evans. Big, physical, quick, strong, athletic. But leave it to Licht to tab the No. 1 movie at the box office last weekend. (more…)

The Bucs GM weighed in last night

Mike Glennon is the “quarterback of the future” for the Bucs. Joe is going to guess you heard that somewhere before.

Now, when future becomes present, that’s anyone’s guess. But Glennon is the future. Bank on it. Write it down. Bookmark it. Don’t believe Joe? Just ask Jason Licht. (more…)

So who taught manbeast Gerald McCoy how to tackle at a Pro Bowl level? Greg Schiano, of course.

Please don’t tell you Joe forgot that critical nugget of Bucs history. Ask Mason Foster and Johnthan Banks about their tackling skills, and they’ll talk about their Schiano transformation, too. (more…)

“Trust your team leaders, my son.”

One reason Bucs coach Lovie Smith has fallen in love with Josh McCown isn’t because he will confuse Bucs fans with Joe Montana. But Lovie believes what McCown does off the field is as important as what he does on it.

Lovie always gushes about McCown. And one of the reasons he brought McCown to Tampa Bay, aside from to be the starting quarterback, of course, was to be a big brother of sorts to backup quarterback Mike Glennon. Try to be Glennon’s unofficial coach. (more…)