The time is now.

Regular listeners of the “Ira Kaufman Podcast,” know the Sage of Tampa Bay Sports, Ira Kaufman, has a subject stuck in his craw — not craw, craw!

Antoine Winfield, since he had two touchdowns stolen from him at the slimy Saints last year, has been virtually invisible. He even started a habit last year — though not every game — of bolting the postgame locker room early before its doors are flung open for the pen and mic club.

Ira keeps asking KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles what’s going on. Bowles often answers that he has to use Winfield more. The simplistic answer seems to be Bowles has Winfield often playing so deep in center field that he’s Willie Mays at the Polo Grounds.

(For those born after the Eisenhower Administration, that’s an Ira-like reference to playing so deep in the secondary, it takes Winfield out of plays; therefore, he can’t make an impact.)

“We just gotta use him more,” Bowles replied to Ira on Wednesday. “We hadn’t put in everything to access his talents. And we’re working on that right now.”

Joe isn’t sure what Bowles has been waiting on. Does he need the Bucs to go 0-6 before unleashing Winfield? To be fair to Bowles and Winfield, the secondary through three games has played a whole lot better than just about anyone guessed entering the season (at least those not employed by the Bucs).

Yesterday, Bowles again was asked what’s going on with Winfield. Why has an All-Pro safety become the latest version of the Bucs’ Space Ghost?

Winfield has gone 17 games without a forced fumble or a sack, and 8 games without an interception. Also in the past 17 games, Winfield has 2 quarterback and just 2 tackles for loss.

Bowles vowed to change this.

“We’ve got to call his number more,” Bowles said. “We haven’t called his number as much based on certain things we were doing on defense.

“I’ve got to call his number a little bit more.”

“I’ve got to call his number more.” There you go! Bowles, after all, is not just head coach; he’s the defensive coordinator. His word is law when it comes to the defense.

Winfield making impact plays lies at the feet of two people: Winfield and Bowles.

Needing a win Sunday to stop the entire Tampa Bay community from looking at the draft and researching potential new coaches might be the time to get Winfield involved.

Tomorrow is a must-win game in so many ways, one with far-reaching ramifications.