Bucs defensive operative/senior advisor Butch Davis, known for his defensive genius, and defensive line coaching during the Cowboys’ dynasty of the 1990s, was spotted by the watchful eye of FOXSports.com writer Pete Schrager recently.

Davis isn’t “coaching,” per his agreement with the Bucs, but he is scrutinizing the action. Schrager penned a strong piece on all things Bucs that included Davis and zeroed in on the impact of Bryan Cox. Here’s a snippet: 

A play after being bullied to the ground by free-agent acquisition Carl Nicks, McCoy responds to Cox’s pleas with a swift and powerful swim move on the former New Orleans Saints star. McCoy gets past the highest-paid offensive guard in all of football and angrily attacks a tackling dummy serving as an opposing quarterback.

Cox explodes.

“Thattaboy, Gerald! We do not stop until we get to that quarterback. We do not stop! See what happens when we don’t stop?!”

Cox, who once saluted Bills fans with two middle fingers before a game in Buffalo, then hurries over to McCoy and slaps him hard on his shoulder pads. “We do not stop, gentlemen!”

Cox is clearly the voice and face during this particular drill; the “hype man” for a brand-new coaching staff in Tampa Bay that’s gotten little to no hype at all this offseason.

But the former Miami Dolphins linebacker is far from the most recognizable name on the call sheet. Looming a few paces away, in a visor behind the defenseless tackling dummy, is Butch Davis — a onetime coach of the Miami Hurricanes and Cleveland Browns and, most recently, North Carolina Tar Heels. Davis, who has nearly four decades of coaching experience on his resume, is serving as an adviser in Tampa Bay this season.

Joe loves this whole concept of Davis gazing and glaring at the Bucs defense and reporting back to the leader of the New Schiano Order and conferring with coaches.

Joe can only imagine what goes through players’ heads when they have a miscue and Davis walks over and whispers in a coach’s ear.

Four years ago Joe hit the go button on this website and never turned back.

Today is Joe’s fourth birthday, as Joe embarks on his fifth season of publicly obsessing about all things Bucs on these here pages.

About two years before JoeBucsFan.com was born, Joe hatched a plan to cover the Buccaneers in a way that would entertain and interest Joe, nothing like anything that was out there in the traditional and stale media. A defunct site called JoeNetsFan.com was the inspiration for the name and the spirit. But Joe decided to bring a different angle, the whole third-person “Joe” thing.

For many months Joe was grinding and pounding on these pages writing passionately for almost nobody, only hundreds per day. Traffic grew while Joe endured endless personal attacks, the result of rattling the cages of Bucs fans, the Bucs organization, and Joe’s media brethren.

But Joe pressed on, confident that fans were buying into Joe’s unique brand of journalism, a hybrid news/commentary blog that continues to be like no other.

Thankfully, the fans kept coming, and yesterday JoeBucsFan.com enjoyed about 16,000 actual visits, a rather typical day.

Joe’s traffic continues to rise and has reached the point where Joe now is the No. 1 destination for legions of Bucs fans. In fact, multiple independent surveys of Internet traffic place Joe as the most popular Bucs-only site around.

It’s been a fun ride (Joe could write a book about all the bizarre sh*t he’s experienced), and Joe appreciates all his readers. While Joe has his share of wacky daily commenters, the typical reader around here only comes once a week or so, and Joe is thankful to all of you.

In the birthday spirit, Joe is seeking donations to help fund his obsessions with the Bucs, babes and beer. Thanks in advance for those who choose to give Joe a birthday gift. Your cash will help drive Joe to new heights, or new lows, depending on your perspective.

Now Joe has no medical degree, and Joe didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but Joe knows enough to sniff out a somewhat fishy medical diagnosis.

So when Gerald McCoy told SiriusXM NFL Radio today that tight back muscles led to his two torn biceps in consecutive seasons, Joe was left feeling suspicious.

“What we found out, you know, I got examined more, they looked over my body a little bit more and they found a lot of tight muscles in my back,” McCoy said. “There was a lot of restricted movement … which led to the problem in my arms, stemming down all the way down to my bicep tendon, which was insane, crazy how your muscles are attached.”

Joe couldn’t find a Bucs official that would confirm that a mysteriously tight back led to McCoy landing on injured reserve twice. Frankly, this sounds to Joe more like a chatty, busty massage therapist using her feminine wiles to convince McCoy to buy more offseason rub downs, or perhaps an aggressive physical therapist trying to get in McCoy’s head and score some more expensive stretching sesssions.

Regardless, if McCoy’s feeling like his now loose back is going to keep him healthy, Joe’s happy to go with it.

Go get’em, Gerald.

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So what’s different in Greg Schiano’s defense for Gerald McCoy?

There’s a ton different overall defensively, explained Ronde Barber on Sirius NFL Radio today, but McCoy made it clear on NFL Radio he’s just going to be his old disruptive self playing the way he has been. McCoy also told Justin “The Commish” Pawlowski the same thing in an interview for 98.7 FM. “I just do me,” McCoy said of his role in the New Schiano Order.

Below is The Commish’s full interview from Saturday night.

Bucs icon Ronde Barber took to the SiriusXM NFL Radio airwaves this afternoon and touched on many topics with hosts Alex Marvez and former NFL personnel guru Bill Polian. Some interesting highlights are below, including Mark Barron’s brain, a bold prediction for Aqib Talib, Xs and Os on the new Bucs defense, and life under the New Schiano Order.

*Barber didn’t discount the challenges of moving to safety. “It’s a whole new world for me,” Barber said. He said he’s learning the “new footwoork” taking his time and learning that “plays are going to come to me” versus what happens at cornerback. The last line of defense concept is one Barber is balancing versus his first instincts. 

*Forget about Mark Barron’s physical presence for a minute, Barron’s brain has impressed Barber. And it’s not easy to impress one of the sharpest guys in the NFL with your intelligence. “Smart guy too, man,” Barber said of Barron. “Coach Schiano’s defense is not easy to pick up. Lot of terminology for the safeties. [Barron’s] picked it up.”

*Asked about “revolutionary” changes on the Bucs defense, Barber said “for Bucs Fans it is [revolutionary]. If you’re watching us, it’ll look a whole lot different.”  … Barber says to look for a lot of Cover 4s and a lot of pressure and more aggression. 

*Barber agreed that rule changes to make the game safer hurt the Cover 2 defense, which relied on safeties to separate the ball from the ball carrier.

*Barber hesitated to reveal much of the New Schiano Order defense. “How can I say this without giving away our defense?” Barber asked rhetorically. “We’re trying to be more aggressive on the outside with the corners. Back in the day corners funneled everything inside. Now they’re just as active, just as invovled … big dfference for us this season.

*Lots of love for Aqib Talib. “Aqib makes me look like I’m unathletic,” Barber said. “If he doesn’t have a breakout year where eveyrbody is talking about him, I’ll be shocked.” … Barber also praised Talib off the field.

*Asked about Eric Wright, Barber didn’t have much specific to say when compared to his love for Talib.

*Barber likes the New Schiano Order because it reminds him of the Father Dungy days. “I grade everyone against Dungy,” Barber said. “He’s as close to Tony and the way he runs his program as anyone.” Barber explained that Dungy and Schiano share having every moment of practice planned out. Barber laughed and said it translated into his longest days at work. Barber said Schiano has talked to him about his days coming to watch the Bucs’ old training camps at [University of Tampa] and working to remake that atmosphere and order.

Joe had a chance to chat with all-around good guy Bucs receiver Mike Williams after practice this morning. Williams talked about the talent among the Bucs receivers, how receivers coach P.J. Fleck motivates him, and why that nasty Grady Wilson-like shrubbery on his face likely isn’t going to get shredded any time soon.

JoeBucsFan: From the times spent out here at training camp, it seems the passing game is so much more improved. Is the Bucs passing unit really that much better?

Mike Williams: When you add Vincent Jackson and Dallas Clark on the field, you can spread the field now. And you add (Mossis) Madu as a compliment coming out of the backfield, it feels good to spread the field and [have the defense] pick the poison.

Joe: Tiquan Underwood is having an amazing camp. He makes plays out here every day. Clearly he is giving guys perceived to be on the bubble motivation and competition, but can Underwood’s play elevate the play of receivers believed to be ahead of him on the depth chart like you?

Williams: Oh, yeah. You go out there and see Tiquan making a lot of plays, that means everyone can make plays. That is our mindset. We [the receivers] are one. We go by P.J. Fleck’s rules. We cannot be stopped. Fleck has that attitude and he keeps us pumped up.

Joe: What’s up with the beard?

Williams: It’s something new. I didn’t have it last year and I am kind of superstitious. We didn’t win last year. I will shave it when we win the Super Bowl.

No dancing around the leadership question for the leader of the New Schiano Order.  

Asked on Sirius XM NFL Radio today, “Who has emerged as leaders?” Schiano didn’t hesitate.

Schiano first named Davin Joseph citing “he works so hard.” Vincent Jackson got a nod for being “incredible,” for his work ethic and mentoring, and Dallas Clark for being a “consummate pro.”

“He brings a professionalism and a maturity to our team,” said Schiano of Clark, struggling for the right words “to describe his impact.”

Interestingly, Schiano said “Josh Freeman is slowly becoming that guy.” And among defensive players, Schiano only mentioned Barber as a leader.

So there’s what’s in Schiano’s head when it comes to leadership.

Pressed on SiriusXM NFL Radio to talk about some of the challenges presented by the new labor agreement, Greg Schiano seemed to have one detail really eating at him today.

Players, when not in an official team practice, can’t be on team fields unless they’re working solo.

“Not more than one player can run on the football field in their time off,” Schiano said. “They have to go to a high school [to work together].”

Schiano then stated that when players do work out off site, they cannot take advantage of team trainers, “some of the best trainers in the world,” suggesting forcing players off site for voluntary workouts could be dangerous.

Mike Williams, Josh Freeman, Vincent Jackson and other Bucs were seen on the football field at Plant High School working out days before training camp. Of course, this is rather ridiculous when One Buc Palace is a short drive away.

Likely the only way this rule changes is after a player gets hurt on some second-rate turf because he couldn’t play catch at a team facility.

Schiano didn’t talk much more about the challenging CBA, other than to say he gets that players need time off and he thought rules were fair and fine when he was coaching in the NFL back in the late 1990s.

Schiano also joked, “If I were the guys making the rules, I don’t know if the players would be real happy.”

Longtime Colts GM/architect Bill Polian is an incredibly stout, detailed and candid analyst on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Joe can’t express how insightful this guy is. He’s just made for radio.

Polian was out at today at One Buc Palace, as NFL Radio made its training camp stop in Tampa. Polian watched practice and spent about 20 minutes with rockstar general manager Mark Dominik on the sidelines. Interestingly, Polian told his radio audience this afternoon that the Bucs’ defense stood out most to him.

“I saw a lot of really aggressive fronts by the front seven,” Polian said. “I was surprised by how well they handled things and how well they flowed. I think the front-4 is the strongest part of this football team.”

Joe’s not sure if that’s scary or not.

It’s great that a trained eye like Polian thinks the Bucs’ defensive line has what it takes — yes, Michael Bennett was back practicing today — but the offense is most likely to carry the Bucs and needs to be a top-10 unit in the NFL for the Bucs to have a winning season.

Regardless, Joe will take it. If Gerald McCoy, Adrian Clayborn, Roy Miller and Michael Bennett are going to carry the Bucs, Joe’s all for it.

One of the feel good stories of the past few months was how former Largo and Iowa State standout cornerback Leonard Johnson fell through the cracks of the draft, enabling the Bucs to sign him as a rookie free agent.

Now it’s too early to tell if Johnson will make the final roster come September. There’s a lot of practices and preseason games to play for Johnson to leave his mark. Even he admits to Joe there’s work to accomplish before he can think of being a Bucs cornerback this fall.

Rest assured Johnson is leaving his mark in training camp. And those marks are bruises and welts on Bucs receivers.

From time to time, a receiver will make a play on Johnson. But that play will come with a price. Punishment.

Johnson is nothing if not a physical player. He just doesn’t tackle receivers, he lays them out. It’s an attribute that fans enjoy and Johnson admits he has cultivated.

“I kind of developed that mentality in college,” Johnson said. “I was pretty tough [in high school] but back then, I was picking and choosing my battles. Now, it is only right that I bring it to the table each and every time.”

Many defensive backs try to blast receivers, partly because they are trying to get in a receiver’s head, making him think more about the coming hit more than concentrating on the ball. Johnson said that’s not why he tries to distribute pain.

“Not really, it’s just playing football,” Johnson said.

Johnson confesses he’s been thrown some obstacles in training camp, but just as much he has opportunities as well.

“I just have to be consistent,” Johnson said.

Here are Joe’s impressions from another practice in full pads today at One Buc Palace.

*Tiquan Underwood continues to impress. A practice hasn’t gone by that he hasn’t made plays. Just might push Preston Parker/Arrelious Benn for No. 3 receiver. Really.

*Uh, oh. Preston Parker dropped a punt and drew the ire of special teams coach Bob Ligashesky. And then Michael Smith dropped a punt. Punts were no problem for Sammie Stroughter, who caught punts higher and tighter than the others.

*Ligashesky was on TE Zach Pianalto on his blocking technique on punt return, “Stay on this [block] until the other one shows up!”

*Bucs practicing two-minute drill and piping in simulated crowd noise. Sounds like a jet taking off. The giant speaker followed the Bucs down the field, usually parked for each play at the line of scrimmage.

*Freeman took a planned knee in a 2-minute drill and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan was immediately all over him on what appeared to be a ball security issue. Sullivan and Freeman continued the conversation on the sideline for a good 10 seconds.

*Joe knows he has written this before, but it bears repeating: Either the Bucs passing unit significantly improved or Bucs secondary needs some work. Anthony Gaitor covering Vincent Jackson doesn’t look like a fair fight. Gaitor was flagged for interference.

*Joe isn’t sure yet if Leonard Johnson will make the team — and even he admits he needs to improve — but the kid can flipping hit people. Receivers may make a play on him, but there is a price to pay.

*Tiquan Underwood hauls in a nice pass over middle and hangs on after getting belted by Ahmad Black, who is having a very nice camp thus far.

*Greg Schiano is in midseason form. He upbraided a running back for  not “holding the ball to your chin” then later barked at someone, “pay attention!”

*Keith Tandy recovers to break up what should have been a 30-yard Josh Freeman pass to Preston Parker. Tandy was toasted on the play but to his credit did a nice job of recovering.

*Michael Smith and Ahmad Black exchange words along the sideline after a nice little gain by Smith. Black no longer a rookie. He sure looks like a different player.

*Last year’s preseason favorite WR Ed Gant made a few nice catches, underneath and a long ball from Brett Ratliff.

*Derrick Brooks had a long chat with Donald Penn after practice.

*Gerald McCoy had a very minor limp walking off the field.

Yes, Joe is alarmed.

Small muscle tweaks aren’t really significant in training camp, but when Joe hears hamstring and Aqib Talib in the same sentence, Joe gets alarmed.

Talib has battled hamstring issues his entire career. Heck, two years ago the Bucs went outside standard procedure and had Talib doing offseason sprints to try and prevent future hamstring injuries.

Per Greg Schiano, Talib walked off the practice Saturday night with a “tweaked ham” and was largely on the sidelines at practice today as a “precautionary” measure.

Joe sincerely hopes Talib’s issue isn’t serious. While Myron Lewis has had a strong camp, Schiano said today that Lewis has “a couple of little bad habits” to correct before he becomes a dependable cornerback.

Regular readers of Joe know how much he loves SiriusXM NFL Radio, and today is one of the days that pays a year’s subscription for itself.

Beginning at noon and lasting until 3 p.m., Alex Marvez and Bill Polian will host a Bucs-dedicated show, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Expect guests from Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to Greg Schiano to many players to drop in as the duo broadcast live from One Buc Palace (Joe was in the room talking with producer Nick Kostos) as part of the SiriusXM NFL Radio training camp tour.

Marvez and Polian will also field your calls. Bucs calls of course.

Joe had a treat last week when long-time NFL scribe for Sports Illustrated, Peter King, the author of the must-read “Monday Morning Quarterback” column was gracious enough to give Joe a few moments between his hectic training camp hopping and coffee slurping (yes, when Joe met King prior to a Bucs practice, he was armed with a cup of Starbucks fuel).

King spoke with Joe about Josh Freeman’s interceptions, Gerald McCoy’s future, and Greg Schiano’s dining preferences, after spending an entire day at One Buc Palace talking to many Bucs from rock star general manager Mark Dominik to dozens of players.

JoeBucsFan: First impressions. Reading some of your articles in the past, it seems you have some concerns over the perceived heavy-handedness of Schiano?

Peter King: I think that of all the coaches who are getting jobs this year for the first time, I think Schiano has the best chance to be a really good coach in the NFL. He’s been around it for a long time before he was a head coach at Rutgers and then he was a head coach at Rutgers who turned an absolutely moribund team into a competent, contending team every year and to me, the thing I really like about Schiano and the way he goes about his business is that he tells everybody in the building, “Here is what is to be expected.” There are no surprises. If you are not going to want to be here, let’s talk about it. I’m a little surprised that there wasn’t more of a housecleaning. That, for whatever reason, guys like Aqib Talib have bought in. If Aqib Talib hadn’t bought in he wouldn’t be here. He bought in; Winslow obviously didn’t. I think that in a lot of ways I just get the impression from talking to these players and from being around here, that this is something they felt was needed and that they wanted under Raheem Morris and never got.

Joe: Given Schiano’s no BS attitude, is it necessary for the players to buy in, to win games early or will it create doubt among the players if they struggle early?

King: Here is what happens: If you run a very tight ship — Bill Belichick ran a very tight ship in Cleveland and lost and was ridiculed. So if the Bucs, in the first year, almost no matter what happens — nobody really expects the Bucs to be any good this year, very good, playoff contending. So this year is not really important. If they are 1-5 in the middle of October next year, then you are going to have people who are going to start to say “Schiano has stupid rules.” It is the same thing — if you win you can make whatever rules you want and you are a genius and you are smart. I think so much of this comes down to how Josh Freeman plays. How, whether they can find someone on their defense to rush the passer along with Adrian Clayborn, whether Da’Quan Bowers is — looks like he is out for the year or close. Greg Schiano has to take a bunch of players he didn’t draft and do the best he can with them. Some of them are very good players, obviously, because a couple of years ago this was a good team. I think that — the one thing I would caution people about this team is, I wouldn’t take this year as a be all, end all because when you are installing a new program I think it takes a little bit of time and I think this program will take some time. Plus, he is trying to get a whole bunch of new players to play well, trying to get his quarterback to come in and play well after not playing well last year, in a new offense. There will be an adjustment period.

Joe: Josh Freeman, two years ago, had a fantastic touchdown-to-interception ratio. Last year, just the opposite. What do you perceive him to be, somewhere in the middle or closer to 2010 or 2011?

King: I just think he has to learn to not force the ball so much. I think he knows. He self-scouted himself after the season and looked at his tape and thought he was forcing it too much, which he was. When Greg Schiano met with Mark Dominik and the Bucs owners, that is one of the observations he made: the quarterback forces the ball to Kellen Winslow too much. And I think part of that was due to the fact that Kellen Winslow has such a strong personality. But, whatever, I think he learned from that and will be better. I think I am right in saying he has two years left on his contract. You usually don’t like to have your quarterback enter the last year of his contract so I am sure the Bucs — this is an important season for Josh Freeman because the Bucs want to look at him and they still think he is the long-term future of the franchise, but, if he throws 13 touchdowns and 22 interceptions, they are obviously going to have second thoughts. So I think it is an important year for Freeman to resume his climb to be one of the best quarterbacks in football

Joe: Make or break year for Gerald McCoy?

King: Ah… (sighs), boy, you know, I think he is a real talented player who I haven’t seen as much as I would have liked to have seen yet, but I don’t know if I am at a point where if he plays ineffectively, I’m going to say it is a make or break year. I believe in this defense, if you look at Schiano’s history at Rutgers, he really had a lot of good defensive tackles on that team, and good defensive linemen. I think they know how to isolate good players and make them play better than maybe they have had in other systems. If he doesn’t play well this year, I would be very discouraged for him and for Bucs people, but I wouldn’t call it make or break because even if he plays poorly, I don’t think they will cut him at the end of the year.

Joe: Earlier this year you wrote in one of your examples of some peculiarities of Greg Schiano and his personality, that once he had one of his minions dress down a caterer for serving the wrong type of pasta at a function. You used to be a Jersey guy. Schiano is an Italian Jersey guy. Wouldn’t you come to expect that an Italian from New Jersey would be pretty particular about his pasta?

King: (laughs) One of the things I was talking with Greg here that we talked about was how, in his mind, everybody says we have to eat together, they want us to eat together, that he said he loves the dining area with the circular tables so that everybody can be looking at each other. He said, “I’m from a big Italian family and we all sat down together and talked at dinner.” And I think he is a little bit of an old fashioned guy. Because, and I don’t say that he doesn’t believe in text messaging and cell phones and things like that. But he believes in old fashioned communication. Sitting down and talking to somebody. If you have some messages, just don’t do it by e-mail and text. Sit across from each other and talk about it. I think even though that stuff has been played up and I am one of the ones who played it up, I think a lot of times guys in this business, they want to be talked to, they want a clear set of rules delineated to them. So I don’t sense a whole bunch of players gritting their teeth and saying, “what a bunch of idiotic rules.” At least, that’s not really what I heard while I’ve been here. I think it will work out.

Yesterday afternoon, longtime beat writer Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune popped in “The Todd and Booger Show,” co-hosted by Todd Wright and Booger McFarland, heard locally on WHFS-FM 98.7.

McFarland spoke about how he played for a strong disciplinarian coach under Father Dungy and asked Cummings what his perspective was about how new Bucs coach Greg Schiano was running the ship.

Cummings minced no words.

“I have never seen a disciplinarian like this,” Cummings said of Schiano. “Tony Dungy was very structured in the way he ran a practice and a training camp. Jon Gruden had his way in how he ran a training camp, Raheem Morris was something different than those two. But I have never seen anything quite like this — extremely disciplined.

“You know, there are no benches out there at training camp. There are no places to sit down at training camp and that is by design. That may give you an idea. That’s more of a college-type ploy. The whole goal is you are out here for maybe two hours and 45 minutes in the heat practicing and you want these guys to be ready and that is part of his discipline. It’s not just the stuff about the toes on the line and things like that, but it’s about the fundamentals of the game, which he is really adamant about. Booger, it is amazing. They are doing some of the most basic things.”

Joe has noticed that, too. The biggest thing is how offensive players — not just running backs — are constantly biting the football.

Joe has also seen Schiano, after the offense put the ball on the ground a couple of times, blow the whistle and have the entire team gather around him for what is either a tongue-lashing or a lecture about the value of taking care of the ball.

Joe has seen drills he has never seen before, and one tackling drill that Joe remembers doing in high school, which is to foster would-be tacklers to wrap-up. instinctively.

Little things add up to big things and Joe hopes the results can be seen in a few weeks on NFL Sundays.

Schiano is nothing if not detailed.

Holy Manchester United! Bite your shameful Glazers-are-cheap tongues.

ESPN.com’s team of statistical gremlins has dissected NFL player payrolls and determined that the Buccaneers are slated to pay the fifth-biggest salary totals to players this season.

It seems the Bucs’ rollover cap room from 2011 is being used.

The Bucs have $130.8 million of cap space committed to their top 51 players (only the top 51 cap figures count until the regular season begins). That’s well over the $121 million salary cap, but the Bucs are allowed to spend over the cap because they carried over room from last season. They actually still have $15.232 million in available cap space because their cap is just over $146 million.

Click through above to read more of the spreadsheet details.

Cue the legions of Bucs fans that believe Raheem Morris got a raw deal when it came to purchasing talent. Joe never quite got that argument. The collective quit in the team and the complete collapse last season had nothing to do with payroll.

Update 12:40 p.m.: The NFL can be brutal. Huggins was cut this afternoon.

The driving force” of the 2009 Buccaneers (in case you forgot, that was Kareem Huggins) is now a member of Bill Belicheat’s New England Patriots. Huggins was signed yesterday.

What a battler this Huggins kid is. He was out of football undrafted in 2008, then caught on with the Bucs in 2009, and is now coming back from a horrific knee injury in 2010, following another season out of football in 2011. Huggins had worked out with teams last fall but didn’t catch on.

It says a lot for him that Belicheat sees him as a possibility, even if he doesn’t make the Pats roster. Joe wishes Huggins well.

Definitely watch this video and/or shop online at Ed Morse Auto Plaza. Joe bought his pre-owned Ford at Ed Morse and had a fantastic experience. Not a peep of trouble with the vehicle in 18 months. You’ll be amazed by the selection, price and service at Ed Morse. Check out this pickup from the Ed Morse Truck Team.

Former Bucs DT Booger McFarland says Jeremy Trueblood should be smiling despte a seven-figure pay cut

Joe really finds the reported 11th-hour forced pay cut for Jeremy Trueblood very interesting.

Why give Trueblood an ultimatum if you’re willing to let him go? If you’re prepared to cut Trueblood, then what is he doing on the roster?

Per Team Glazer, money will never be an issue when building the Buccaneers. Of course, the reported ultimatum could have been a simple negotiation tactic and rockstar general manager Mark Dominik never planned to cut Trueblood.

As for Trueblood’s seven-figure salary loss, former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland thinks Trueblood got a great deal, so McFarland said on 98.7 FM yesterday.

“He wouldn’t get $4 million+ incentives anywhere else,” McFarland said. “[even if you] go back six months” to free agency.

McFarland said right tackles are devalued in the league with a right handed quarterback and most teams like the Bucs are “right handed” and line up with a tight end on that side.

Joe just hopes Trueblood, in his seventh year, can make the most of a final shot with the Bucs. In 2013, at 30 years old, Joe suspects the league and the Bucs will force his retirement unless he can shine this season.

A lot has been made of the speed of Bucs rookie running back Michael Smith. It’s not crazy to think the Bucs might design a play or two to use that speed.

One such play happened Friday morning at Bucs practice. Smith raced to his left and appeared to get into the open field.

Problem was, Bucs second-year safety Ahmad Black came racing in like a missile, and leveled Smith for just a short gain.

Black said later that physical style is all about him.

“I have to be [physical], especially with my size,” Black said. “I don’t bring a lot of size to the table so I try to be physical.”

It’s a style that never really got on track last year as Black had a high ankle sprain in training camp, a nasty injury to bounce back from, and was hobbled all of last summer before getting cut and landing on the Bucs’ practice squad.

Black admits that injury set him back.

“I was hampered with an injury the beginning of last year,” Black said. “But I feel like I got better. This is my second year so I feel I’ve gotten better. I know what to expect now. I played the last four or five games [in 2011] and it helped me to play this year.”

It shows. Black has been laying the wood to the Bucs’ offensive, and even had an interception in 11-on-11 drills at the night practice last night.

Still, Black admits, he is nowhere near a finished product. “I am still learning, learning to get everything down pat and get ready for the season.”

The weather-delayed, steamy night practice at the New Sombrero drew a solid crowd tonight. Many left early, but Joe estimates there were still at least 10,000 or so in the house when practice resumed following the delay.

Here are some of Joe’s impressions:

*Plenty of 11-on-11 work with contact, in first-team offense versus first team defense, Dallas Clark beat rookie hopeful Leonard Johnson for long gain, and Johnson showed some bad tackling form.

*Keith Tandy and Cody Grimm were the second-team safeties. Tandy and Ahmad Black ran with the first team, as did Larry Asante a bit. Mark Barron and Ronde Barber sat out scrimmaging.

*Doug Martin wowed with a sharp cutback run against the second-team D. He went left, saw no daylight and broke it back right for a big gain. Overall, LeGarrette Blount and Martin appeared to have an even split of first-team work. Mossis Madu got his fair share of time with the first team, as well. Madu looks very comfortable in a third-down back role.

*The second-team offense worked against the first-team defense. Michael Smith was stuffed twice on run plays, and wide receiver Wallace Wright made a stunning catch with Aqib Talib all over him. But a toss soon after to Wright was not handled well and was picked off by Ahmad Black after a deflection.

*When the first teams squared off, Blount broke a tackle in the hole (perhaps the first great helmet crack of the night) and Black appeared lucky the whistle was blown before Blount reached him in the second level.

*Eric Wright was a very vocal presence on defense. Clearly getting guys in position.

*Blount was late releasing for a check down and Freeman threw the ball away at Blount’s feet. Not pretty.

*That drive ended with a Preston Parker drop, but Connor Barth nailed a 53-yard field goal — with plenty of distance to spare — to cap it. Greg Schiano really liked that kick.

*In more first-team on first-team work, Myron Lewis really held his own against Vincent Jackson and nicely batted down a pass over the middle. With the Bucs’ depth depleted, Lewis got plenty of first-team reps.

*Lavonte David does a lot of blitzing. The dude is extraordinarily quick.

*Undrafted rookie cornerback Marquese Wheaton had lots of trouble with Tiquan Underwood, who ran with the second team.

*Anthony Gaitor, with the second-team defense, had a bad pass interference penalty covering Sammie Stroughter.

*In full line pass rush drills, Gerald McCoy seemed to be the only guy getting through. Not much off the edge from first-team defense.

*Michael Bennett was still on the sidelines, and Donald Penn was seen riding a stationary bike through a good portion of practice.

*Aqib Talib did more work than usual on a variety of special teams units.

*Luke Stocker’s route running really left Joe shaking his head. Didn’t look good. Not crisp. Stocker’s either slow, or was not working at full speed tonight.

*During a 7-on-7 drill while working with the offense, Greg Schiano called timeout right before a snap. Details!

*Also in 7-on-7, Dallas Clark dropped a TD pass in the back of the end zone. Eric Wright blanketed Vincent Jackson on a fade route but the Josh Freeman throw was too low regardless. Sammie Strougther easily broke free from rookie CB Keith Tandy for a TD.

Many Bucs fans were giddy when the Bucs became the lone team in the NFL to agree to accept new blackout rules that permit local broadcasts of home games if 85 percent of the non-premium seats are sold 72 hours prior to kickoff.

As Joe wrote at the time, that did not automatically mean Bucs games would be televised locally again. It seems Joe’s first inclination was accurate.

Speaking before a gaggle of reports at tonight’s night practice at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway, Bucs co-chairman Bryan Glazer noted ticket sales are good; just not good enough to prevent blackouts (yet), so reports Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times.

Speaking with reporters at a well-attended open practice Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium, Glazer said sales are brisker but televised games “not a slam dunk.”

“We want to give our fans every opportunity to win as many games as they can this year,” he said. “But I cannot stand here today and predict how many there will be. But we’re hopeful there will be more games on television than last year.”

Glazer went on to add he is not disappointed in ticket sales because he understands how the downturn in the economy — which shows no immediate signs of rebounding — has ravaged the Tampa Bay area, thus meaning people have far less expendable income.

Add to that Joe’s long contention that technology has made the in-game experience secondary in a large, growing number of NFL fans’ eyes. Joe wouldn’t be shocked if many home games are still blacked out.

People just don’t have the cash they once did.