Even if Blount escapes a serious injury, Joe’s confident Bucs fans won’t see him for the rest of the preseason.

Quite a scary moment when LeGarrette Blount was drilled in the left knee late in the first half tonight. Blount was on the ground for a solid minute and gingerly walked off the field.

Blount was seen limping on the sidelines in the second half in full uniform, and the Bucs will update his condition in the coming days.

But regardless of how the Bucs list Blount’s injury, Joe’s confident Blount is done for the preseason. There’s no reason to play him next week against New England if he’s not 100 percent. And there likely won’t be any first-teamers playing in Washington five days later.

Doug Martin has quite an opportunity to shine next week and possibly earn bell-cow status.

Titans 30, Bucs 7

The preseason is the best time for stinkers, right?

Well, the long-awaited home opener of the New Schiano Order sure had an ugly odor to it.

While lousy for the fans, this is probably a good thing for the Bucs. Schiano is sure to give the team a verbal humbling and a huge reality check this week in the film room. Bill Belicheat and the Patriot Way coming to One Buc Palace this week to practice with the Bucs couldn’t come at a better time.

OK boys and girls, here is the open thread to discuss, banter and scream and holler about the Bucs first preseason game of the 2012 season, hosting the Titans.

Always remember and never forget: Pasting links to pirated video feeds will result in banishment, no questions asked. However, you may share via e-mail any links.

Have fun and behave!

Preseason Week 2

Titans at Bucs

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.

TV: WTSP Channel 10. The game is blacked out in the Tampa and Orlando TV markets, but will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis tonight at 11:30 p.m. on WTSP-TV Channel 10 locally. The game also will air Saturday at noon on Ch. 10. The NFL Network will replay it Sunday, Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m. The game is also available at NFL.com and on Apple/Android tablets with a subscription to NFL Preseason Live.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM, 103.5 and WDAE-AM, 620); SiriusXM Channel 93.

Weather: Per AccuWeather.com, expect a good chance of thunderstorms early but those should disperse by the end of the first quarter. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 83 and will only drop slightly to 80 by game’s end.

Odds: Per Sportsbook.com, Bucs -2.5.

Outlook: This will be Bucs fans’ first look at the team under game conditions at home for the 2012 campaign. Here are a few things Joe would like to see and/or monitor:

Will scatback Michael Smith get a chance to play with on the first-team offense and against a first-team defense? Smith showed against future insurance salesmen and beer truck drivers he is lethal in the return game. Can he do the same against NFL regulars? Also, Smith had a rough go of it in the backfield with bouncers blocking for him. Joe would love to see what Smith can do with his wheels with the big boys blocking for him.

Don’t put the ball on the ground. Yes, Joe is looking at Preston Parker, who had an ugly game at Miami. If he fumbles again and gets another stupid 15-yard penalty, Joe’s not sure how much longer he sticks with the team. Those two offenses are cardinal sins in the New Schiano Order.

Can the Bucs offense repeat last week? The Bucs moved the ball well against the putrid Dolphins. The Titans are a little bit better. Mounting clock-killing drives again would be comforting.

Stopping Jake Locker. Joe has been on record that the Bucs defense still scares him. Jake Locker, the second-year Titans quarterback, is starting tonight. If he moves the ball on the Bucs, along with running back Chris Johnson, this may be a harbinger of the season.

Mark Barron. If his toe is healthy, he will start tonight and promises to show Bucs fans his physical play which has been dialed down in training camp because Greg Schiano doesn’t want his offensive players visiting a hospital.

Bucs linebacker Najee Goode blasts Miami wide receiver Roberto Wallace in both teams’ preseason opener last week.

Having just finished his first NFL training camp, rookie linebacker Najee Goode has noticed how the Bucs came together under the brutal Florida sun and new coach Greg Schiano.

“It has been fun,” Goode said. “It was a learning experience. They say the first training camp used to be a lot tougher, but with Coach Schiano, we came together as a family. The heat made it hard but we are better for it.”

Goode explained how he had no shortage of help from other players into learning the New Schiano Order.

“I learned a lot from the veterans, guys at my position like Quincy [Black] and Adam [Hayward],” Goode said. “I even learned from guys not at my position like Ronde [Barber].”

Goode explained that whoever the Mike-linebacker is, calls the defensive plays, with a caveat.

“Coach Sheridan calls the plays, we just have to execute them,” Goode joked.

But it was second-year linebacker Mason Foster who Goode believes he may have learned the most from. Goode talked about how he roomed with Foster in Miami during last week’s first preseason game of the season and the two rarely left the hotel room, choosing instead to cram for the game like a final exam.

“It was really cool,” Goode said of Foster’s help. “We just going over plays and relaxing.”

One reason some believe the in-home experience of enjoying NFL games is superior to the in-game environment is missing the long lines just to get into the stadium.

That can be brutal on Florida last-summer and early-fall days with the sun beating on fans while they stand on blistering concrete with no shade to speak of.

Long lines are due, in part, to safety measures the NFL enacted to keep fans from harm’s way. The lines developed because fans were fondled patted down and, in some cases, frisked.

Well, no more pat-downs. Hello scanners.

Fans attending the Bucs game tonight will be wanded, much like when you forget your car keys are in your pocket when you walk through security at an airport, so reports a nameless typist at TBO.com.

“We’re optimistic that as fans get accustomed to this procedure, it will result in less time in line and smaller crowds at the gate prior to kickoff,” said Mickey Farrell, operations director at Raymond James Stadium.

Fans will need to have keys, phones and other metal items in their hands during the wand screening.

Bag searches will still take place, and prohibited items may be confiscated.

Joe hopes this lessens the wait in line for fans, which is the reason the wands were broken out. Thunderstorms are expected right around kickoff. The last thing needed is a line waiting to get into the stadium clogged by security checks when there is lightning in the air.

“Just being perfectly honest, there’s not a whole lot next to him,” John Lynch says of Gerald McCoy.

Count Joe among those who get hives thinking about the Bucs’ defensive line depth and overall talent level.

It seems right now that Wallace Gilberry and George Johnson are the backups at defensive end. Then on the interior line, a significantly banged up Amobi Okoye and Gary Gibson are sitting behind Roy Miller on the depth chart. Joe’s feeling more hope than confidence.

Speaking of Miller, it seems John Lynch is depressed by the Bucs’ crop of nose tackles. Lynch had hefty praise for Gerald McCoy this morning during an interview WDAE-AM 620, but the Bucs icon is concerned McCoy will not benefit much from the guy next to him.

“What would concern me is, Does he get worn out?” Lynch said of McCoy. “Because you’re going to ask a lot of him because he’s the best you have. Just being perfectly honest, there’s not a whole lot next to him. So I think he’s going to be the guy getting doubled all the time.”

Lynch went on to say he’d like to see whether a defensive end emerges to rush inside to take pressure of McCoy on passing downs.

Hopefully, Lynch’s study of the Miami game film was off the mark and the Bucs’ D-line is a shining star, as longtime NFL personnel guru Bill Polian recently claimed. This is definitely another thing to zero in on tonight.

Below is the full Lynch interview: He drops a great story about how Bill Belicheat tried to turn him into a linebacker.

This time of the year, anything can happen in west-central Florida. So Joe always trusts the weather crew at WTSP-TV for accurate information on what can be really dicey conditions that develop quickly in the late summer.

With that in mind, cool cat meteorologist Bobby Deskins, a hardcore Bucs fan himself, advises fans that go to the game tonight to expect thunderstorms early and a muggy night when it isn’t raining.

Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is a happy guy these days. Happy to be playing.

In his first two seasons in the NFL, GMC has missed 13 games. That’s bad for him and bad for the Bucs as the Bucs have won just three games the past two seasons when GMC was not in the starting lineup.

In the eyes of many Bucs fans, GMC is the new Barrett Ruud, the favorite player to hate. It seems Bucs fans always have to have a player to hate.

Even GMC knows he has to stay healthy for the Bucs to turn things around this season, that’s why he is not worried about getting injured because GMC explains, it is out of his hands, so the Associated Press quoted GMC.

”I truly believe if I was supposed to be injured, I was supposed to be injured so there’s not really anything I could do different,” he said. ”I know each offseason I prepare harder and harder for the upcoming seasons because I know I’m already two steps back. I have to prepare that much harder so I don’t miss a beat, and I think I did that.”

Bucs coach Greg Schiano is satisfied with what little he has seen of the former Oklahoma All-American.

”I think he’s got some elite ability,” Schiano said, ”but it’s important for everybody to stay healthy. If he can’t stay healthy, he can’t play. He’s had a bad stretch, a bad run. I’m hoping that’s all behind him because he’s a key to our defense. “

This will be a critical year for GMC, and the Bucs. History shows the Bucs play well with GMC in the lineup. NFL insiders rave about GMC’s talent and moves.

But for some Bucs fans, it just isn’t — and won’t be — enough. GMC is the target of hate.

Veteran sportscaster Dave Wirth, who works for Joe’s TV partners at 10 NEWS, WTSP-TV, has churned out this quality preview video of tomorrow’s Bucs-Titans preseason game. Ch. 10 will air the blacked out game tape-delayed at 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Wirth offers observations from Bucs practices, what to expect Friday, and more. Enjoy.

Ronde Barber explained one of the sideline rules under the New Schiano Order during a radio interview today.

During his annual cozy chat with Steve Duemig, the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Bucs icon Ronde Barber explained today that the image of him holding a clipboard on the sidelines Friday was nothing out of the ordinary under the New Schiano Order.

When you play for Greg Schiano and come off the field, you must keep working.

“That’s another one of coach’s requirements,” Barber said. “Everybody on the sideline is involved. There’s no spectators on our sideline.

“Whether you’re in the game actively, or whether you’re just kind of playing a part, you’re going to play some kind of part. When the veterans get off the field, or when the starters got off the field in the first part of that [Miami] game, he expects us to, you know, help coach up your position. I wasn’t the only one doing that. It was everybody.”

This is an interesting tactic by Schiano. Keeping players’ minds completely engaged in the game can only help every player to develop and perform.

Check out the entire excellent interview below. Joe enjoyed Barber relaying how Jon Gruden would tell players how to address him. “Don’t call me Chucky.” And Barber explains his mentality entering this season, that 2010 was no fluke and this is a season to build on that success.

Virtually all the news about Bucs receivers in the offseason was based on two players: the addition of stud receiver Vincent Jackson and the jettison of Kellen Winslow, Jr., who didn’t believe in toes on the line.

But easily forgotten is the addition of Kid ‘n Play-styling Tiquan Underwood.

Largely seen as nearly a favor to a journeyman who played for Greg Schiano at Rutgers, Underwood is perhaps the surprise of the just-concluded training camp. Day in and day out, Underwood has made play after play.

It’s one thing to make plays in practice and in underwear. Quite another to do the same in the heat of battled against guys with different colored jerseys, and Underwood has done just that. In the preseason opener at Miami last week, Underwood hauled in a 44-yard pass while sandwiched in traffic and should have been picked off if not for Underwood’s solid play.

Joe’s of the mind that Underwood, with the injury to Arrelious Benn, could very well be the Bucs No. 3 receiver.

It seems that Patrick Southern of CBSSports.com isn’t as sold. He breaks down the battle for the 53-man roster position by position with the Bucs and he believes Underwood just makes the team.

The top end of the depth chart looks far better than it did in 2011, with free agent Jackson providing an anchor and a deep threat. If Underwood continues to impress as he did during training camp, he should be on the right side of the cut line.

Right side of the cut line? Unless Underwood falls totally flat on his face in the next two weeks or is injured, he’s a lock for the roster and again, is making a serious run at the No. 3 position.

If Joe were Preston Parker or Sammie Stroughter, he’d be very concerned the way Underwood is playing.

With less than a month to go before the start of the 2012 regular season, Joe is loathe to write another beatdown piece of shamed former Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson.

So Joe will try, yet he has to confess the will power is not there.

It seems eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune caught up with bruising offensive guard Davin Joseph, who all but predicted opposing linebackers will still taste the sweat of LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin with their breakfasts on Monday mornings.

“When you have backs like Martin and Blount, you have the talent in the backfield to have explosive plays,” Joseph said after Wednesday’s practice. “We have backs who can be home-run hitters.

“Having a good, solid running game gives you more options,” Joseph said. “It gives you a versatile offense. A good run game, when you really get it rolling, makes a defense a little timid. It puts them on their heels. When you’re able to dominate the line of scrimmage and get positive run after positive run, you wear teams down for four quarters. And with weather like this, it can make things very easy in the fourth quarter. We have the guys to be like that and we have the coach to push us in that direction to be a tough, physical team.”

Kaufman goes on to remind readers that the Bucs — despite having a running back on the roster who ran for five yards a carry the previous season — had the fewest rush attempts of any team in the NFL last season.

It wasn’t just that the ill-prepared Bucs defense found itself underwater in the first half so much the Bucs had to force the ball to Kellen Winslow throw the ball to catch up, it was that Olson had little to no desire to run the ball in the first place, which was part of the reason the Bucs were swimming up stream week after week.

Thankfully, with more than one talented running back, the Bucs seem to crave ramming the ball down a defense’s throat on a regular basis.

It’s impossible to dislike Adrian Clayborn. Aside from being half-man half-dog, a “BoyDog,” as Raheem Morris called him, even the most casual football fan can see that Clayborn is a driven player on the field. A real lunch pail, high-motor guy with plenty of raw ability.

Bucs beat writer eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune has penned a nice feature story on Clayborn, and a quote that really struck Joe came from Clayborn’s older more experienced linemate, Michael Bennett.

“He’s ferocious. … Being an older guy (26), I still look up to Adrian for his tenacity and strength. The man’s work ethic is second to none,” Bennett said.

There’s plenty of other takes and quotes on Clayborn in the story, but Bennett saying he looks up to Clayborn is quite a tribute.

Isn’t it amazing that Clayborn can be such a tireless worker yet still be so busy Twittering? 

Those who followed Clayborn on Twitter this offseason were able to follow his constant battle to eat right and fight food cravings, and Clayborn spent time in Arizona going through to some grueling workouts with a soft-on-the-eyes personal trainer.

There’s no reason to think he won’t be a better player this season. The Bucs desperately need him to be a double-digit sack guy and take a step up in his run defense.

The leader of the New Schiano Order wants plenty of what he calls “execution” penalties

The leader of the New Schiano Order doesn’t want some pansy-ass soft football team that doesn’t commit penalties.

Being an aggressive Buccaneer Man means you’re going to drill skulls unintentionally at times, explained Schiano on WDAE-AM 620 Tuesday.

Schiano said he puts penalties in three categories: Selfish, Silly And Execution.

“Where you’re playing hard and you happen to fly over the top and hit somebody out of the hit zone” is how Schiano described “execution” penalties. “I don’t want to slow our guys too much down that way. Right? It’s a fine line between being physical aggressive football team and, you know, getting a flag. You gotta be careful. I don’t ever want to be the least penalized team in the league, because I don’t think you’re trying hard enough then,” Schiano said.

Well, what Bucs fan in his right mind wouldn’t get fired up if the Bucs had the kind of physical defense to draw those kinds of flags. Raheem Morris used to talk about being “violent,” but Schiano painted a much better picture with his definition.

During the interview, Schiano went on to talk about running when the defense puts eight guys in the box and how he defines “commitment to running the ball.” He also shared his philosophy on developing pass rushers. Take a listen below.

It’s easy to forget that Vincent Jackson and Josh Freeman are still building their chemistry and communication, and it’s easy to forget that the Bucs are running a brand new offense with loads of fresh elements under a first-time offensive coordinator.

But that newness was top of mind at one point in practice today. During an 11-on-11 drill, Freeman eyeballed Jackson on the left flank, and then Jackson turned back for the football while Freeman threw about 15 yards away from him to nothingness down the field. Freeman slapped his thigh. It was one of those moments that seemed to be all about a couple of guys still feeling things out.

On Friday in Miami, Vincent Jackson didn’t catch a pass. And Joe doesn’t recall a ball thrown his way.

There’s plenty of time for Freeman and Jackson to connect before opening day, but Joe would sleep better if Jackson was at least targeted a few times against Tennessee on Friday.

Greg Schiano has talked about using preseason games to “tick mark” things he wants to see individual players and the Bucs do against other teams. Hopefully, one of those ticks is Freeman throwing a good handful of routes to No. 83.

Earnest Graham talks all things Bucs

There was quite an intelligent converstation with Earnest Graham on WDAE-AM 620 this morning.

Graham talked all things Bucs, and he broke down LeGarrette Blount’s skill set and explained why he believes Blount is in Adrian Peterson’s class when he’s playing well.”LeGarrette’s competition is himself,” Graham said.

Graham also gets into Josh Freeman’s weight loss and Greg Schiano. Enjoy.

Troy Aikman weighed in today on Josh Freeman. Aikman is scheduled to call the Bucs’ first two road games.

Troy Aikman took in Bucs practice today, and he wasn’t in town for a good sweat or a quality lap dance on Dale Mabry Highway. Aikman was taking notes and talking to players and coaches to be prepared for calling two early-season Bucs games.

That’s right, the FOX Sports A-crew of Joe Buck and Aikman will work the Bucs’ first two road games, at the Giants and Cowboys. Of course, most of the country will see those games, and combined with the Bucs-Panthers opener being a featured 4:25 p.m. start on FOX, the Bucs are coming away with a hell of a lot of national television exposure for the first three games of the New Schiano Order.

It’s a great and uncommon spotlight for a team coming off a 10-game losing streak. Hopefully, the Bucs will rise to it.

Aikman believes great things lie ahead for Josh Freeman, so he told Joe after practice.

“I liked Josh a lot when he was coming into the league,” Aikman said. ” We had a chance to do a preseason game of his. And then I think we’ve had him just one other time against Green Bay last year. I think he’s a really talented player. Obviously he was exceptional a couple of years ago and I think his play last year was pretty reflective of the team’s. High expectations and just didn’t play with the same kind of efficiency. There’s a lot of reasons for that. And I think that some of the things they’re going to be doing within this offense and the way that Greg Schiano wants to approach this thing, I think it’s going to help him. I expect him to go on and continue to have a great career. I really do. I think a lot of him.”

Writing this really got Joe thinking more about the Bucs’ first three games. Man, these tough, high-profile games are going to set quite a tone for the season.

Joe believes the Bucs will be ready. Whether they’re good enough to hang with any of these teams is the real question.

Two years ago it seemed the Bucs found a major hidden gem in Michael Bennett. Now in his fourth NFL season, Bennett is the Bucs starting left defensive lineman.

While Bennett may not have topped his 2010 play last season — who on the defense did? — Bucs fans may be pleased with what they see from the Texas A&M product this campaign.

“I feel I understand the game better,” Bennett said after the final training camp practice of 2012 this morning. “I’m in my fourth year now so I recognize plays quicker and digest them faster. So it feels way better this [camp] than last year.”

Bennett should get ample time to match his play with his intelligence. With Da’Quan Bowers likely out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury, Bennett will have the lion’s share of snaps at left defensive end.

Many Bucs fans who have come out to training camp have seen Bucs first round pick Mark Barron practice.

But that is not the real Mark Barron, so Mark Barron says.

One reason Barron was drafted was that he lays the wood to opponents. He hasn’t done much of that yet, Barron said, because the Bucs don’t want him hurting others.

“In practice, we are limited because we have to keep each other healthy,” Barron said. “You can’t really strip because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s shoulder. So yeah, most of the time, a safety won’t stand out unless a day in practice when a safety has a lot of interceptions.”

Barron noted that his real self will be displayed in games, and Bucs fans are still waiting. Barron was hobbled by a bum toe last weekend and was a game time scratch at Miami to open the preseason slate.

Provided Barron’s toe is healthy, he will play Friday against the Titans, and show NFL fans how punishing he can be.

Wallace Gilberry was very active on defense for the Bucs on Friday, and former Bucs defensive end Steve White came away impressed and said he’d likely stick on the final roster. 

Count Greg Schiano among those who like what they see from the former Chiefs defensive end, who recorded seven sacks in 2010.

Today, Joe asked the leader of the New Schiano Order to talk about Gilberry’s impact and any history he had with him before the Bucs signed him as a free agent this winter. Here’s Schiano’s response:.

“I knew nothing of him before he got here. Mark [Dominik] and Dennis [Hickey] brought him in to me,” Schiano said. “I watched the tape . He flashed and did some things. You loved his effort. He’s a hard effort player. I think he’s been a good addition out there. He’s a positive guy. He works his tail off. It’s going to be interesting to see how this thing shakes out inside, but he’s definitely right in the middle of the mix. He’s a guy that can go inside and outside, too. That helpes his cause a little bit.”

Joe had a chance to chat with Gilberry, 27, who wants Bucs fans to know he’ll deliver for them in all ways. “High energy, I want to work hard. I’m definitely going to be an on-the field and off-the-field kind type of person they can get behind and cheer for,” Gilberry said.

As for rushing inside, Gilberry said he did plenty of that in Kansas City and has no preference as to how the Bucs choose to use him.

“Whatever I was told to do, I just do it,” Gilberry said. “You don’t really have a choice in this league, whatever you’re built for and whatever you’re good at, you hope the coaches bring it out of you, and that’s what happened for me in Kansas City and that’s what’s going on here. God blessed me with this talent and I’m just hoping to be able to use it.”

The battle for roster spots on the defensive line is intriguing. If the Bucs deem Gilberry capable of delivering as a reserve inside and outside, he might make banged up Amobi Okoye or Gary Gibson expendable. Or he just sticks as a backup defensive end. There’s not much to speak of behind Michael Bennett and Adrian Clayborn.