The Bucs have gambled big time on Da’Quan Bowers’ ability to be a stout every-down defensive end.

In fact, Greg Schiano’s on record expecting Bowers to record double-digit sacks. Asked about Bowers today after practice, Schiano said he wants No. 91 to play with more drive. It was clear that Schiano is somewhat disappointed in what he’s seen from Bowers to date.

“I want to see him play hard, play after play, after play, after play,” Schiano said.

Schiano went on to say Bowers has been performing “on and off” in training camp and Bowers playing hard in the every-down role “needs to be better.”

The move from situational pass rusher to an every down player, Schiano said, is as challenging as transitioning in baseball from reliever to starting pitcher.

As Joe wrote last week, the Bucs have not been wowed by Bowers in training camp. That’s not to say they’re down on his ability, more like he’s gotten a disappointing grade of C- versus the A- they might have been expecting.

For the Bucs to be a playoff team, they need high grades — consistently — from Bowers.

Yes, the Bucs play their first preseason game Thursday night. Locals not going to the game can watch the game on tape-delay Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on WFLA-TV Channel 8.

Joe knows many Bucs players, both rookies and veterans, are looking forward to hitting someone that’s not a teammate. Schiano seems to be trying to temper such expectations, as he noted his players have a long way to go on bettering themselves rather than battering an enemy.

“I’m trying to not let us go there,” Schiano said. “Right now, we got to work on ourselves. I think they’re tired of hitting, period. They’re getting tired of going as hard as we’re going. What happens with the preseason game is you have a day that breaks it up; you have a day before the game where you don’t do a whole lot. Then, the day after the game you don’t do so much, depending, some guys may do more than others. So really what it builds in is it breaks up the monotony of going day after day after day, so I’m sure they’re looking forward to that.”

The normal drudgery of training camp ends today. As Schiano noted, things change tomorrow and after a couple of practices following Thursday’s game, the Bucs fly to New England to practice a few days and then play Bill Belicheat and the Patriots.

Before the Bucs know it, training camp will be over. That doesn’t mean Schiano and the coaching staff won’t still have many tough decisions — who to keep on the roster, and who to send packing.

Joe’s almost always up for sharing national media types’ prognostications for the Bucs. Are they worth much? No. But it’s interesting to gauge the outsiders’ views collectively.

While there are lots of Schiano fans out there, Josh Freeman doesn’t have as many.

His consistency, along with the Bucs’ pass rush, is questioned by former defensive tackle turned BSPN radio voice Mike Golic. Speaking on his Mike and Mike show, Golic has called a 7-9 season for the Bucs — and an 8-8 mark for the Panthers. (You can listen to the audio here.)

It’s going to be a common theme: analysts not down on the Bucs but not willing to rank them as a winner in the tough NFC South. The Vegas oddsmakers, the guys who really do their homework, feel the same way.

Fans took a deep breath at Bucs practice Monday morning, and it wasn’t from the stifling heat (when the sun was out, it was easily the hottest practice of training camp). No, that deep breath was of relief. Carl Nicks was taking snaps in 11-on-11 drills.

But it seems the toe of Nicks, the turf toe, has Bucs fans worried, and maybe with some merit.

Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune was the first to report Nicks had his toe “heavily bandaged” when he reported for training camp. The Bucs and Nicks waved off the bandage, saying it was precautionary.

But Nicks has hardly practiced with the first team and Schiano hinted that the initial fears of Nicks’ toe being an issue were valid, as Schiano talked about Nicks’ toe Monday.  WDAE-AM 620 Bucs beat reporter Tom Krasniqi documented .

LG Carl Nicks (toe) saw more action in during team drills. Schiano says Nicks still feels some “discomfort” but that he’s battling through it. That big toe bears watching

That sure doesn’t sound like Nicks is healthy at all. This should be very concerning. Nicks has had many months for that toe to heal after surgery and before the Bucs play their first preseason game he is experiencing “discomfort.” That’s not reassuring.

The Bucs have a chance of having the best offensive line in the NFL to road grade the way for running back Doug Martin. A big part of that is banking on Nicks to return.

Joe can never remember when a toe was such a key part of the anatomy for Bucs fans.

Whoa!

Former 10-year NFL fullback Heath Evans, now a talking head on NFL Network, dropped a bomb on Bucs fans during an NFC South preview tonight.

Evans said he loves Greg Schiano’s disciplined approach and says the Bucs can win the division if “the college mentality doesn’t bury this team.” Per Evans, players in the New Schiano Order spoke of a burned out Bucs roster in 2012.

“When you started talking to the older vets on this team last year, they were all complaining about one thing. It came about Week 10, ‘We’re tired. We’re exhausted. We’re beat down,'” Evans said. “And everyone blamed Josh Freeman. But all in all, the film told the story. This team was fatigued and beat-down tired.”

You can catch the full video breakdown here. Darren Sharper also is in the analyst mix, and he dropped a solid nickname on Josh Freeman, “Six Flags,” for his rollercoaster ways.

Now Joe can’t speak to Evans’ sources. He did win a ring with Carl Nicks in New Orleans. Joe’s merely speculating there.

Regardless, it’s a strong claim, and one that Joe has a hard time buying. Fatigue didn’t hurt the Bucs when they pasted the Falcons in the season finale, and surely fatigue didn’t make Danny Gorrer (who joined the Bucs midseason) drop a game-winning interception against the Eagles. Were the Bucs tired when the Rams came to Tampa and punched them in the mouth on Dec. 23?

If the Bucs were tired, well, Joe suspects that won’t be the case this season after players have adjusted to the demands of the regime. Joe was up close and personal with Donald Penn today. The guy almost looks slim. When it comes to conditioning, there’s been a real change of attitude and approach from this time last year.

The Bucs began their third week of training camp today with Vincent Jackson putting on a show, Josh Freeman continuing to throw accurately and wide receiver Chris Owusu and cornerback Rashaan Melvin showing they belong on the final 53-man roster.

Joe’s good friends at WDAE-AM 620 have all sorts of audio as usual. Cornerback Darrelle Revis talked about his continuing rehab, offensive tackle Donald Penn talked about the strength of the line, and rookie defensive tackle Steven Means talks about how he is adapting to the NFL.

And of course, there is the daily post-practice press conference by Bucs coach Greg Schiano.

Rookie defensive end Steven Means, right, gets past Pro Bowl left tackle Donald Penn in a recent Bucs practice.

Last week Joe noted a right defensive end getting pressure a decent amount of time on Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. Naturally ,with the Bucs franchise quarterback wearing the troublesome green jersey, defenders were not allow to touch him, or risk catching the wrath of Greg Schiano.

With starting right defensive end Adrian Clayborn on the shelf due to the ever problematic groin injury, rookie Steven Means has been getting a lot of reps with the first team defense.

And Means has been giving Bucs left tackle Donald Penn a battle. So much so that Penn raved about Means to Joe and others this morning after practice.

“That dude is coming along real well,” Penn said. “I think he can be a great pass rusher. Me and him are going back and forth; we have been going at it since Clayborn has been down. [Means] has stepped in and we have been battling. He is real good. I feel like he is getting better and better every day. He is hitting me with new moves each day.

“I sit down and talk to him in-between practices to critique him on some stuff and tell him what I saw and the good thing about that is he wants to listen. He wants to learn. There are a lot of guys you have to force them to [listen]. He wants to listen, he wants to learn. I have been on him and [William] Gholston. I have been talking to them. Gholston is coming. He just has to get his head a little more focused. But Means, I am really liking what I am seeing.

“When you stop the first move, you have to be ready for the second. that is all I tell my man. He’s working and to tell you the truth, I really like what he is doing.”

Schiano, when asked about means, was a bit more guarded and a tad less effusive than Penn. But he believes Means is making quality headway in learning the NFL ropes.

“He’s getting better,” Schiano said. “He needs to go out there and play Thursday night at a high energy level and let it go. I can still see a guy who’s thinking too much. I’m sure he’s gaining information. Usually there’s that spike you see right away, just pure ability when they come in in rookie mini-camp, and then, as they learn, it kind of slows them down. Now I hope he’s coming out of it, and I can see that, but just how far out will he come and how fast? That’s usually the rookie struggle. That d-line game is such a right now, bam bam, in your face [thing], at this level, you learn a lot of tricks as you go, especially when you’ve got a guy like [tackle] Donald Penn, who has been doing it for a long time. I’m sure Donald has taught him a few things.”

Joe knows pass rush is a major area of concentration for the Bucs. If Means is as good as advertised, and with William Gholston coming along and when Clayborn gets healthy, along with the secret rushing skills of rookie tackle Akeem Spence, and of course, Gerald McCoy, perhaps the Bucs could dirty a quarterback’s jersey say, oh, at least twice a game?

When there’s an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers working with the first-team Bucs offense, that’s always worth noting under the New Schiano Order.

TE Tim Wright lined up as a fourth receiver in a four-receiver set during the Bucs’ first-team vs. first team, 2-minute drill to close practice today at One Buc Palace. The Bucs are converting Wright from wide receiver (39 catches, 449 yards at Rutgers last season) to tight end. He’s 6-4, 220 pounds and trying to bulk up.

Schiano said after practice today that Wright’s nod with the first team is meaningful but more about injuries to Luke Stocker and Erik Lorig(?).

“I’ve been reppin’ with the first team a few times. You know, I bring that receiver aspect to the tight end position,” Wright told Joe. “Today I got a little feel for how the 2-minute should be operating.”

Schiano said Wright has been “doing some good things” but “has a long way to go.”

“He’s got to play in games,” Schiano said. “We’ve got to see him do that.”

Joe agrees. Joe, too, has a load of guys he’s like to see play in preseason games. Practice performance is nice, but game performance is far more important to determining the roster.

Three days prior to the Bucs’ first preseason game and 34 days prior to the Bucs’ opening day game at the New Jersey Swamplands against the Jets, star cornerback Darrelle Revis isn’t ready to say, without hesitation, he will start when the Bucs face Gang Green.

“I think that’s still too far down the road,” Revis said after practice today. “Right now just going day by day, but that is the goal and we’ve talked about that. I want to be there, first day, first game, with my teammates.’’

Revis has participated in drills and walkthroughs but has yet to face live bullets in 11-on-11 drills or scrimmages. Today when the Bucs were in their two-minute drill to close practice, Revis stood on the sideline, helmet in hand.

“I’ve been doing one on ones with a couple receivers and just getting back into it,” Revis said. “I did some DB drills today, got back into a little bit, got aggressive, fell to the ground a few times. Just getting back into the football phase of hitting the ground hard and getting back up and just getting back in that mode. I’m reacting to the everything they’re giving me. Just reacting and trying to cover the routes.”

Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports and his new fancy, yet mostly tedious and stuffy website, theMMQB.com, interviewed rock star general manager Mark Dominik, who told King he is “almost certain’’ Revis will start against the Jets.

“I don’t care how great a player you have been,’’ Greg Schiano told King. “Confidence is a funny thing. When you’re talking about a guy as good as Darrelle, you don’t think a guy needs to feel confident. But we just got [Pro Bowl guard] Carl Nicks back in live drills [from a serious 2012 toe injury], and he just stoned a defensive guy rushing hard. And you could see the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. I mean, this is his livelihood. It’s the same with Darrelle. He needs to know he’ll be good when he gets into a game.”

So the intrigue and drama continues.

Will Revis soon go full speed and make receivers pay to step on his island, or will Revis still be a man without an island come Sept. 8?

Here are news, notes and sights Joe noticed at Bucs training camp 2013 Day 10.

Final two-minute drill, first-teams face off.

* Kevin Ogletree is the No. 3 receiver in the three-wide set

* Freeman pass high for Mike Williams

* Ogletree has a tough 15-yard catch (but catchable) on the sidelines go through his hands

* First down! Freeman throws a rope to V-Jax. Johnthan Banks was on V-Jax’s back and hit him. VJax a little slow to get up.

* Freeman overthrow to Ogletree

* Tight end Tim Wright (undrafted rookie) lines up as fourth receiver in set.

* Freeman to Ogletree. Complete!

* Freeman spikes ball to kill clock.

* Freeman incomplete to Ogletree over the middle. Ahmad Black blanketed him.

Further notes on practice:

* Really good turnout of fans this morning for a steamy Monday. Bleachers are pretty packed. Open only to season ticket holders, but still.

* Crowd is worked up watching WRs run through dummies and catch sideline passes.

* Really cool how Mike Glennon snaps his chin strap. Josh Freeman should be looking over his shoulder as a result. #Sarcasm

* Greg Schiano birddogging linebackers and defensive backs working on side field.

* Glennon back shoulder throw to Mike Williams on left sideline sails high and out of Williams’ reach.

* It is early, but Josh Freeman drilling receivers in the numbers. Continuation (so far) of his solid week last week.

* Beautiful bomb from JF5 to Tiquan Underwood down left sideline for TD. Nice over-the-shoulder catch. Ball just dropped into Underwood’s arms.

* Mike Glennon hits Kevin Ogletree in stride down left sideline for bomb.

* Freeman hits Williams along left sideline w/ good coverage from Leonard Johnson. JF5 put ball where only WR could get it & MW19 did.

* Major tease: Darrelle Revis takes field w/ 1st team defense guarding VJax & crowd freaks out chanting “Revis… Island” [clap/clap… clapclapclap]) alas, he is only going through walkthroughs

* Freeman with a laser to VJax. JF5 is in a zone the past week.

* Rashaan Melvin made an excellent play on Chris Owusu over middle to break up a pass. Because Melvin wasn’t able to haul in the ball for a pick, he dropped to the ground and gave Greg Schiano 10.

* JF5 and VJax putting on a show.

* Freeman is totally on his game this morning.

* Carl Nicks is practicing and is one of few humans to make Donald Penn look average-sized.

* Rashaan Melvin like a second skin on Derek Hagan.

* Tiquan Underwood goes high and nearly hauls in on-handed catch along left sideline. Anthony Gaitor with good coverage.

* Chris Owusu working with first team offense.

* First bad throw (?) JF5 had thus far: overthrew Kevin Ogletree on a bomb.

* VJax with a circus catch in corner of end zone in two-minute drill but he only got one foot in.

* Doug Martin accelerates through the line and breaks free. Man, when this dude sees a hole, he throws open the booster rockets!

* Rejection! Martin tries to run up middle and Mason Foster nearly flattens him, knocking Martin backwards.

* Sean Baker with a pick off a tipped Glennon pass.

* Mike James getting work with first team offense (again). Haven’t had a Michael Smith sighting in some time. (Just as Joe typed that, Smith gets a carry).

* Steven Means with very good penetration from right side. Would have had a sack if JF5 wasn’t wearing the jersey of green.

* JF5 to Ogletree off his hands left sideline.

* VJax with sick catch on right hashmarks.

* Ogletree catch over middle. Good pressure from Steven Means.

* Long pass just past Ogletree’s fingers. He was targeted a lot in that drive.

It is extremely unlikely the Bucs will sell out the first preseason game Thursday against the Baltimore Crows (the 72-hour deadline to sell 85 percent of non-premium seats to prevent an NFL blackout is this evening). For all practical reasons, if you want to see the game live, there will be ample tickets available both at the box office and via the secondary market.

Barring the unforeseen, the Bucs’ local TV home of preseason football, WFLA-TV Channel 8, will broadcast the game on a tape-delayed basis Friday with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m., so Joe was told by a longtime trusted source at WFLA-TV.

The broadcast of the final home preseason game against the Redskins has not been determined, partially because of a very, very, very scant chance the game could sell out.

NFL Network will have tape-delayed broadcast of the Bucs-Crows game at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, and 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

Boydog Adrian Clayborn and his tweaked groin returned to practice today ready for physical action.

Clayborn didn’t last long. After engaging early, he was sent to work on conditioning.

Greg Schiano, during his post-practice engagement with media, said it was an unplanned setback.

Injuries are part of the business. It’s just troublesome that the Bucs are feeling it at a seemingly thin position: defensive end.

Projected starting tight end Luke Stocker and his bad calf were removed from the physically unable to perform list today and he took part in his first padded practice of 2013.

The Buccaneers, and Bucs fans, are exhaling. Stocker feels good and expects to be at full steam on Tuesday.

“Practice was good. They kind of eased me in a little bit. It felt good,” Stocker said. “So tomorrow I should be wide open.”

So what happened to your calf, Luke?

“It was just training up to leading in to training camp, a couple of days before we reported back, I was running some sprints and I just strained my calf. It was one of those things that came back and I couldn’t quite get into the zone,” Stocker said.

There’s loads of competition in Bucs camp at tight end, but it’s a unit that has generates far more questions than answers. The Bucs surely need Stocker healthy and performing well, like he did in the season finale in Atlanta — three catches for 50 yards and helping Doug Martin to a 142-yard day on the ground.

Yes, Joe realizes a faction of wacky fans will blame Greg Schiano’s camp-opening conditioning test — 16 110-yard sprints — for Stocker’s injury, but that’s just stupid talk.

Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles says Rod Marinelli was hurt by Warren Sapp on Saturday

Flying on Team Glazer’s chartered plane to Warren Sapp’s Hall of Fame ceremonies, former Buccaneers guard and Sapp teammate Ian Beckles (1990-1996) joined many fellow ex-Bucs in a strong show of solidarity by the organization for Sapp.

Sapp thanked and mentioned many former teammates and coaches during his Saturday speech, but he did not breathe the names Monte Kiffin or Rod Marinelli.

Speaking as co-host on his radio show this morning, Ron and Ian on WDAE-AM 620, Beckles said he ran into Marinelli in Canton and shared that Marinelli was hurt.

“I know for a fact he was broke up over that,” Beckles said. (You can hear Beckles’ full take on his Marinelli encounter and the Marinelli-Kiffin omission below.)

Joe can’t speak to Sapp’s personal relationships, and Sapp can thank — or not thank — whoever he wants publicly. On the surface, however, it seems Sapp intentionally blew off two guys who had big impacts on his career, especially considering Sapp praised Marinelli to ESPN hours earlier.

Last week, Josh Freeman may have had the best four days of practice Joe has ever seen from No. 5. The first day in the stretch, after a really erratic, rough start to training camp, Freeman was much better. The second day, he took another step. Third practice, it was as if Drew Brees was playing in Freeman’s jersey, the Bucs signal-caller was so hot.

Pass after pass after pass hit receivers in the hands, in the numbers, placed where only a receiver had a chance at the ball and the defensive back was helpless. It was beautiful and Joe was floored by Freemans accuracy.

Well, if one is to believe Olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame, if Freeman doesn’t have the same degree of accuracy to start the regular season, Freeman’s job with the Bucs is in “jeopardy,” so King typed on his fancy new yet mostly tedious and stuffy website, theMMQB.com.

5. I think if I’m Josh Freeman, I know I have to impress my coach and GM in camp—and early in this season—to have a good chance to be the Bucs’ quarterback long-term. GM Mark Dominik says the team won’t address Freeman’s contract situation until after the season, which is smart. They need time to make a complete judgment. If he’s shaky early, his job will be in jeopardy, and he’ll never get an extension then.

Joe understands King’s take, but if Freeman has a marginal or perhaps a below-average season and the Bucs make the playoffs, Joe doesn’t believe Freeman’s days are done in Tampa Bay. If anything, it gives Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik leverage for a team-friendly contract.

If Freeman struggles, just what team will throw a bag of cash at him? Likely none, so Dominik will have all the bargaining. For Freeman not to return, he would have to have a positively horrid year and the Bucs would have to greatly regress.

Last year, the Bucs’ opening-day nickel back, Brandon McDonald, was walking the streets when Tampa Bay signed him Sept. 5.

Also, the Bucs cut defensive end Wallace Gilberry shortly after opening day, and he proceeded to be signed by the Bengals and rack up 6 1/2 sacks and a fat new contract.

The point is players that can help your football team will soon hit the market.

Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik acknowledged during a WDAE-AM 620 interview Saturday that the Bucs could very well land a key contributor in the coming days and are scouring the NFL to do just that. The Bucs, per Dominik, had two scouts at the Dolphins-Cowboys Hall of Fame Game last night.

“A thousand players are going to get cut in less than a month,” Dominik said.

In addition to possible returner help, Joe suspects the Bucs will have a keen eye out for a pass rusher, perhaps a Gilberry clone.

Rashaan Melvin battles Mike Williams for a pass in a recent Bucs training camp practice.

Joe remembers after rookie minicamp this spring Joe got a text from a trusted Bucs source to look out for a rookie from Northern Illinois, a cornerback by the name of Rashaan Melvin.

What? Joe texted back “thanks,” but wondered why he was being told to keep an eye on Melvin. Melvin was an undrafted free agent, much like Leonard Johnson the previous season. Then, no one told Joe to monitor Johnson, perhaps because he was a well-known player who grew up in Largo.

During OTAs and minicamp, Melvin didn’t do much if anything that jumped out. No, no, the same source told Joe in July. You will want to watch him, Joe was told again.

Now Joe knows why. Melvin has completely blown up in training camp. Will he unseat Darrelle Revis? No. Will he usurp Johnthan Banks for a starting gig? Maybe not. But if the Bucs need to call on Melvin, there will not be a steep drop off.

Last week, Melvin, who has seen considerable snaps with the first team defense with Revis being limited and Johnthan Banks slowed by a mild hamstring, talked about defending Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams.

“Going against V-Jack and Mike, they’re both different,” Melvin said. “Mike has very good hands, and V-Jack runs great routes and they’re able to get over. They’re known around the league and I’m just trying to focus on what I can control, and being disciplined in my routes and coming out of my breaks. So going against those guys has really helped me improve my talent and my technique.”

This is what Bucs coach Greg Schiano talks about when he mentions competition. Good players bring out the best in good players. This creates good team depth.

In retrospect, Joe can see why Melvin may have slipped through the cracks. He played in the MAC. Then again, the Huskies made it to the Orange Bowl last year. They had to have some decent players to accomplish that feat.

Training camp is all about opportunities. When given a chance, make the most of it.

With Mike Williams and Tiquan Underwood out with minor injuries, reserve wide receiver Chris Owusu has blown up and is making a serious run to secure the No. 3 wide receiver position.

Same with undrafted free agent corner Rashaan Melvin. With Darrelle Revis still in a very limited role as he rehabs his knee and Johnthan Banks with a very minor hamstring issue, a lot of corners have been getting more snaps than usual. Melvin has made the most of those snaps, reinforcing to Bucs coaches and front office types what they thought about Melvin: a hidden gem.

Now comes tight end Tom Crabtree. It was a toss-up whether he would start. A career backup at Green Bay in a log jam at tight end, the Bucs held Crabtree in high regard both for his receiving skills and his good blocking.

It appears Crabtree is going to be a hard man to keep out of the starting lineup. With fellow tight end Luke Stocker out with calf trouble, Crabtree has done just about everything Bucs coaches have wanted.

“They are leaning on me to do whatever they ask,” Crabtree said after practice Saturday.

Crabtree is still a novice in Mike Sullivan’s offense; he freely admits this. But Crabtree gave Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman a shoutout for doing whatever he can to help Crabtree master Sullivan’s playbook.

“With me learning the offense, he has done a good job of talking to me after a play or if I have a question after the play, he will talk to me about it,” Crabtree said of Freeman. “I am still learning and he is helping me along the way.”

This is just another example to the anti-Josh Freeman faction that their psychotic dreams of backup Mike Glennon starting over Freeman in the New Jersey Swamplands on opening day against the Jets are ludicrous.

It would be a helluva trick for Glennon to help Crabtree learn the offense when Glennon has stated publicly, three times by Joe’s count, that he is not ready to start.

Right now, if there are two training camp stars Joe could point to, they would be wide receiver Chris Owusu and cornerback Rashaan Melvin.

An undrafted free agent out of Northern Illinois, Melvin has had a few snaps with the first team defense and, going aginst the likes of Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, has not embarrassed himself at all.

But Melvin hasn’t had near as many snaps with the first team defense as Owusu has had with the first team offense. One thing is clear, Owusu is going to make Bucs coach Greg Schiano’s job of making the final cuts at receiver all the more difficult.

Owusu simply makes plays. Hard catches, easy catches, short catches, bombs. Doesn’t matter. He’s getting the job done. He’s even caught the attention of Schiano, which is not a bad thing.

“He did make some plays,” Schiano said of Owuso at the daily post-practice press conference Saturday. “I wasn’t studying Chris, but he jumped out to me a few times as well, so that was good.”

Owusu was pressed into playing mostly with the first team yesterday as Schiano held Mike Williams out of practice with a sore hamstring, despite protests from Williams.

Now there is no way that Owusu, barring a major injury, will unseat Williams or Jackson. But if Owusu keeps up this kind of play for the next month (yes, the regular season is still a long month away) and continues to shine in preseason games, it’s hard to see how Owusu won’t be the Bucs No. 3 receiver.

Yes, Joe’s been curious about the actions LeGarrette Blount and helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib in Patriots camp, especially with the Bucs heading to New England next week and in Week 3 of the regular season.

Talib has been shining and healthy throughout camp, including two picks of Tom Brady at Pats night practice for fans. He also won some sort of annual Patriots award for offseason dedication. And The Boston Globe notes that Talib and Brady are bonding in a big way.

Talib’s first training camp with the Patriots, after the 2012 midseason trade, has given him the chance to learn more coverage checks and calls, and that’s a byproduct of a continued chemistry.

He has also formed a fun on-field rivalry with Brady, as the two like to bark back and forth at each other during practice. So far, Talib has the early upper hand against Brady and his younger receivers.

“Me and Tom, we go back and forth. It’s all fun,” Talib said before referencing the pick-six. “That’s Tom Brady, man. You’ve always got a smile on your face when you can make a play on Tom.”

As much as Darrelle Revis wants to face — and dominate — the Jets, Joe can only imagine that Talib can’t wait to square off against the New Schiano Order and do some trash talking to Josh Freeman. Joe can’t wait. Talib has always been more about hype than substance.

As for Blount, you can catch up on him here.