One reason the Bucs and the Patriots held joint practices at One Buc Palace this week was a change of scenery of sorts, to keep the mind sharp and getting a chance to hit someone other than a teammate.

But there was a secondary reason Bucs coach Greg Schiano wanted to practice against the Patriots: for the young Bucs to get an idea of how a top NFL team goes about its daily business.

Mission accomplished, so Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib tells eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

The Bucs ended their two days of joint practices with the Patriots with the sense it was time well spent.

“It was definitely beneficial to practice against the AFC champs,’’ Bucs CB Aqib Talib said. “They practice how they play. They play up-tempo and they practice up-tempo. It was good work for us to see where we are as a team.’’

Well, it’s one thing to see it, quite another to copy what the Patriots can do. Oh, and it will also help if the linebackers break their old habits.

Former Bucs quarterback and current NBC/FOX football analyst Shaun King believes Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman will need some time before he becomes familiar with Mike Sullivan’s offense.

Since the day the New Schiano Order dawned on One Buc Palace, Joe has sensed Bucs fans are giddy like they haven’t been since Chucky cursed on the sidelines.

New coach Greg Schiano brought a welcome blanket of structure to the team and, with a few new toys sprinkled in via both free agency and the draft, it seems expectations are high for the Bucs.

But perhaps they shouldn’t be this year? That’s the gist of what former Bucs quarterback Shaun King is trying to say.

King, one of only three quarterbacks to lead the Bucs to an NFC Championship game, appeared with WHFS-FM 98.7 host Rich Herrera to talk Bucs football and specifically, quarterback Josh Freeman.

King believes that those expecting Freeman to duplicate his 2010 numbers of 25 touchdowns and six interceptions might just be premature.

Rich Herrera: Take us through what a young quarterback has to learn when he is going from looking for his primary target to his secondary target and the money is sometimes in that third receiver.

Shaun King: You know, that generally never comes in the first year of an offense. I wouldn’t expect Josh, especially early in the year, to really be comfortable with the majority of what they are doing in getting to his third guy. That’s one of those things that becomes really muscle memory in the game, Rich. Usually what you do during practice spills over into the game. There are drills you can work on, exercises, where you can go through X-amount of plays and say, “If this isn’t there and that isn’t there, I have got to be able to get over here to this third option and do it in a timely manner.” That’s just part of growing especially with a new system. I keep saying that because I think people really need to temper their expectations offensively. This is Mike Sullivan’s first time calling plays. In doing that there are going to be some hiccups. Then you have a lot of new guys in this new system. I just want to see growth and improvement. I don’t have high expectations of the team overall this year but I want them to get better and to have an upward arch as the season goes along.

This all makes quite a bit of sense. It takes time to learn a new offense and as much of a gym rat as Freeman is, he may not be able to take in all of Mike Sullivan’s playbook. That’s understandable.

King went on to say that he expects the Bucs to try to lighten Freeman’s load and ease him along this season with plenty of handoffs to LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin.

WTSP-TV, Ch. 10 sportscaster Dave Wirth, the cool guy on the Bucs sidelines during preseason broadcasts, breaks down what will be important in the Bucs-Patriots game on Friday night. The Bucs have to get their house in order, and that has nothing to do with the Patriots. Wirth explains in this exclusive video preview for JoeBucsFan.com readers below. 

Remember, the blacked out Bucs game airs on WTSP-TV, Ch. 10 at 11:35 p.m. Friday night, and again at noon on Saturday.

Training camp may have ended last week but with the joint practices with the Patriots this week, it’s almost an extended training camp.

Eric Wright, the Bucs’ new high-priced cornerback, has been slowed by a variety of ailments. When he has been healthy, Wright has shined and provided ample evidence of why Team Glazer backed up the Brinks truck to acquire him.

Wright waved off his bumps and bruises, saying it is to be expected this time of the year.

“Nobody is healthy in training camp, everybody is tired,’ Wright said. “That’s part of camp. Everybody is hurting during training camp so no one is healthy 100 percent. Every time I am out there, I try to play as hard as I can and get the defense down and handle my responsibilities.”

While the Bucs are trying to prepare for Week 1 of the regular season, part of that is getting your body prepared for the rigors of the regular season, Wright said.

“Part of camp is working toward that goal of [being healthy] and being ready and prepared for the first game,” Wright said. “I’m sure we will get some time to shake back a little bit and maybe get a little rest and a little active recovery to be ready for that first game.”

It isn’t just fans packing the stands at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway who need to race to the restroom or load up on grub at halftime in order to get them through the second half.

It is that way for Bucs players as well.

For the second time in recent days, Bucs coach Greg Schiano spent time during his daily confab with reporters to shoot down the constant empty chatter from empty suits behind a microphone babbling about “halftime adjustments.” In short, Schiano said, adjustments are made constantly during the game and halftime is often used for personal matters for players.

“I really think that halftime adjustments are overrated in a big, big way. I think halftime is to take care of your personal business, go to the men’s room, get a drink and maybe something to eat because you maybe had something to eat three hours before kickoff or four hours before kickoff, now you have played an hour and a half later. You are looking at 5 1/2 hours before you have put some fuel in your system.”

The way the Bucs played in the second half of games in 2011, it makes Joe wonder what was being served to players as fans went for another round of brews?

Barring bizarre developments early in the Bucs-Patriots game on Friday, the New Schiano Order will march out its starters for the second half, so said Greg Schiano today. 

Schiano noted that the Bucs had many issues moving the ball last week against Tennessee, which led to the Bucs defense trying to quash nine possession in the first half. Per Schiano, that amount of defensive work is typical of three quarters of a game or more.

But Schiano said, “If a game goes like a game should,” then the Bucs starters will come out for the second half against New England

The Patriots are also expected to give their starters extensive work after resting most of them, including Tom Brady, on Monday Night Football.

Joe’s biggest hope is that the Bucs continue to avoid slow starts under the New Schiano Order, as they did in the first two preseason game. It would be nice to see the Bucs starters come out for the second half leading or not trailing by more than a touchdown, a common happening last year.

He details his view of Schiano men

Just from judging history, Patriots coach Bill Belichick likes Gators football players. It also seems he is fond of Rutgers players as well.

Now part of that may be because his son played for Greg Schiano at Rutgers. But most likely, Belichick likes Rutgers players because of Schiano.

In town for the Patriots-Bucs joint practices this week, Belichick has his daily morning briefing with the combined pen and mic clubs of the greater Boston and Tampa Bay areas, and raved about Schiano developing NFL players.

“I couldn’t tell you that exactly because I was never there in his program.,” Belichick said of the magic Schiano used to develop NFL players at the noted collegiate powerhouse known as Rutgers. “What I can say is that he has had a lot of players that have come into the National Football League whether drafted or undrafted. A lot of those players play in the NFL.

“A lot of [college teams] have X-number of players in the league, but only a fraction stay and last in the league as players. That showed me that if a player had enough talent, Coach Schiano had that player ready to play in the National Football League.

“There is a very high number of [Rutgers players] that have stayed in the league. That speaks a lot to the program and the preparation. I think the professionalism I have experienced with those players, they come to work, ready to practice everyday, prepared in meetings, in good condition and football is important to them.

Rutgers players in the NFL “are not looking to cut any corners and are looking to do a little bit extra,” Belichick added. “They work hard, they are tough and again, football is important to them. That is why they last as long as they do.”

Time will tell if the New Schiano Order will have the same degree of success in the NFL as there was at Rutgers. At the very least, it seems as if Belichick is fond of the “toes on the line” way of thinking.

If you like raw Xs and Os talk, you’ll love this interview with Bucs Super Bowl–winning QB Brad Johnson this morning on WDAE-AM 620.

Johnson goes deep into how Josh Freeman and his wide receivers will need to adjust to the new Bucs offense. “The hardest part for Josh will be, sometimes you have to forget your old systems.” Johnson explains.

In case you missed it, Barrett Ruud is now the projected starter at middle linebacker for the Saints. (Yes, Joe dreams of LeGarrette Blount meeting Ruud in a hole.) New Orleans traded with Seattle for Ruud after a slew of training camp injuries.

What’s noteworthy in this Times-Picayune Ruud interview below is how Ruud says it took him three years to feel fully comfortable in the Bucs’ Tampa-2 defense. Joe knows some fans scoff at Mason Foster needing time to adjust at MLB. And while three years is too much time, Ruud’s comments might help explain the brutal spot Foster was thrown into last season after the lockout and why a great season is unlikely for Foster in 2012.

In the first two preseason games, Joe thought the Bucs starting defensive line got penetration on opponents, but some fans apparently didn’t see what Joe saw.

Take Rich Herrera of WHFS-FM 98.7. He has been harping on the Bucs defensive line, but was recently set straight by both former Bucs defensive tackle Booger McFarland and Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

In an exchange between Herrera and Cummings last night, Joe found it eye-opening that what some fans see as problems on the defensive line is actually a problem with the play of the Bucs linebackers.

Rich Herrera: I am watching the defensive line play, talking about getting blown off the ball, Booger McFarland says, “No, no, no, no, no,” they are getting beat off the ball because they are getting beat on double teams because the linebackers are not scrapping and are not playing downhill but they are reading and reacting. I am paraphrasing, but [the linebackers] are not helping out with those double teams. What am I missing as far as the lack of linebacker play goes?

Woody Cummings: What you are missing are somethings you and I would have to spend 25 or 30 years working in the game to understand. It is so many little nuances and details. Coach Schiano explained it to us. His  [defense] is a downhill, attacking type of defense. I guess old habits are hard to break? Because what a lot of the Bucs linebackers and players in general have done these first couple of games is to fall back into the old habits. They get into the game — they [run Schiano’s defense] in practice and they do it OK — but they get into a game, they got back into the old Raheem Morris read-and-react style. Basically, you mirror the offense and wait for the guy to come to you and you go that way. Which is opposed to what Coach Schiano wants, which is the ball is snapped and you go and find that ball and you attack it and you bring that player down. Like I said, old habits are hard to break; you get in a game situation you want to find that comfort zone in order to make plays. I think it is going to take a while for some of these players — even though they came out of systems better suited for an attack defense, downhill approach. Mason Foster is like that and I think so too is Quincy Black. It’s going to take a while to become accustomed.

Joe found this fascinating insight and it speaks volumes into the task that Greg Schiano has in climbing out of a hole the Bucs find themselves in defensively.

It seems the quicker the Bucs defenders can lose their old habits, the quicker the defense can improve.

They’re not as captivating as The Wild Samoans, but the Bucs beat duo from the Tampa Bay Times is in front of the camera and talking about what they saw today at One Buc Palace. Rick Stroud seems very intrigued by a big clock that counts down the minutes to opening day, and changes in locker assignments. Click the arrow below:

Got tickets for the Bucs-Panthers game on opening day, Sept. 9?

Joe’s friends at Tilted Kilt in Clearwater are going to get you there — in style.

Bucs fans can start their opening-day tailgate at Tilted Kilt and then get on a chauffeured luxury bus at 3 p.m. to Raymond James Stadium for the 4:25 p.m kickoff against Carolina. Then the luxury bus will return you right after the game to Tilted Kilt, where you can keep the party going into the night.

And best of all, a seat on the luxury bus costs only $3.95 roundtrip per person!!

That’s a huge savings! Crap, parking at the stadium would cost you $15 to $25.

Parking is safe, easy and convenient at Tilted Kilt. And you can bring Tilted Kilt food on the bus, and your own adult beverages. … Joe’s friends at Paradise Worldwide Transportation are doing the driving, which means it will be top-shelf service.

Buy your seat now below. After purchase, you’ll get an instant receipt and parking/pickup specifics emailed to you within 24 hours.

Joe just got bombarded with e-mails and Twitter messages about how, if the Bucs signed former Gators slash player and Olympic medalist Jeff Demps, why, he would be the answer to all of the Bucs ills and by golly, Greg Schiano would be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy aloft in victory come February.

Well, Demps showed up at One Buc Palace today alright, wearing a New England Patriots uniform. Demps signed with the Belichicks, turning his nose up at the Bucs citing the “family” of the Patriots, writes Scott Reynolds of PewterReport.com.

As it turned out, the Patriots won the recruiting battle and Demps, who played football and ran track at the University of Florida, is thrilled to be playing with Tom Brady and Co. and didn’t have a hard time deciding between New England and Tampa Bay. Demps traveled to New England for a workout on Thursday and flew back to Florida on Friday and signed his three-year contract, which features $211,000 of guaranteed money, according to NFL.com, with the Patriots.

“Once I talked to the Patriots I got the feeling that that’s where I wanted to be,” Demps said. “Everything was family-based. It was like I was already part of the team. It wasn’t hard for me to decide to go with the Patriots.”

Simply put, Joe isn’t losing any sleep over this. For the most part, Olympic athletes rarely have the same success in the NFL as they have on the track. Earlier this week, Joe had a link of the Top 10 NFL Olympians, and Nos. 6-10 were largely forgettable.

Joe also scoffed at the notion that Demps would help sell tickets because he played for the Gators. Ahmad Black had a better career as a Gators safety. How many tickets has he sold? Seems there have been multiple blacked out home games since Black joined the Bucs.

Then there is the ugly little stat unearthed by cricket-watching, scone-loathing, Deadspin-tarred-and-feathered Peter King of Sports Illustrated that Demps was a fumbler at the University of Florida.

That’s a cardinal sin in the New Schiano Order.

For Bucs fans who haven’t thrown themselves into the waiting path of a semi yet, distraught over the Bucs’ loss to the Titans last week, many will have noticed a different Mason Foster.

Even in training camp, it was easy to see the second-year middle linebacker is a different player. Last year, with no offseason to speak of and a handful of practices in training camp, Foster was thrust into the starting lineup, likely a year too soon.

Foster, who was an outside linebacker at the University of Washington, looked at times last year simply overwhelmed. Of course, he didn’t have much help on either side of him or in front of him for that matter.

Now, with a full offseason, OTAs, minicamp, et al, Foster has taken advantage and is a different player and in some respects, a team leader.

Najee Goode even spoke of how at Miami for the first preseason game, he roomed with Foster and the duo did little but go over their playbooks.

Foster admitted to Joe that a full offseason has made all the difference in the world.

“It’s helped tremendously,” Foster said. “Being here, I had the ability to talk to the coaches, study, just everything. It was being more comfortable being in the city, everything. Having an offseason to have time to hang out and study and left, everything contributes.

“We have great coaches and a great staff. It has all helped.”

The leader of the New Schiano Order said today’s practice experience with the New England Patriots was a learning experience on a lot of levels.

For one, the head coach said he hopes his players put their egos aside and learned from the Hall of Famers on the field. Schiano said he eagerly learned from Bill Belicheat today.

As for how the Bucs performed against New England, Schiano wasn’t impressed by his Buccaneer Men. 

“It’ll be great tape to learn from,” Schiano said. “We made more mistakes than you can shake a stick at.”

Schiano said he appreciated the time against the Patriots because there’s more true player evaluation against an unfamiliar opponent because smart Buccaneers will learn their own teammates offensive and defensive calls and anticipate plays. That wouldn’t have been possible against the Pats.

Also, Schiano said he was impressed standing on the field and watching how Tom Brady handles his huddle.

The physical head-to-head practice action was not open to media, and Schiano didn’t deliver any highlights.

Those worried about LeGarrette Blount’s health shouldn’t be concerned.

Asked today whether Blount will play and/or is ready to play Friday against New England, Greg Schiano replied, “Oh, yeah.”

Joe still would be surprised to see much of Blount, who practiced today. He’s still a guy who’s a little banged up, and it’s still a meaningless preseason game.

With Bill Belicheat in town sharing a couple of practices with the Bucs, the timing of Warren Sapp’s latest book-tour gem is just too wonderful.

Speaking on ESPN Radio yesterday, per ProFootballTalk.com, Sapp told the story of the Browns’ interest in drafting him back in 1995 with a new twist.

Sapp claimed then Browns coach Belicheat told Sapp, “‘I wanna draft you so bad that I have an erection right now.’” 

Sapp claims former Browns front office man Mike Lombardi quashed the potential pick on concerns about Sapp’s background, as Joe transcribed yesterday from Sapp’s interview with Howard Stern.

Thank goodness for Lombardi. He killed what would have been the most damaging boner in Bucs history.

Just a hunch, but Joe suspects the local media won’t be asking Belicheat to elaborate on how he might have wooed Sapp back in the day.

Bobby Fenton and the good folks at WDAE-AM 620 were kind enough to invite Joe to talk all things Bucs on the air yesterday. And Joe was happy to hit on a variety of subjects, from Jordan Shipley to the running backs competition and more. Here’s the audio below:

The Bucs and Patriots are in the middle of banging heads in a two-day joint scrimmage/practice session between the two clubs at One Buc Palace.

To start the festivities, Patriots coach Bill Belichick spoke to the two team’s combined pen and mic clubs first thing this morning.

Many of the questions dealt with Belichick’s relationship with new Bucs coach Greg Schiano. In fact, it was Belichick’s personal recommendation to Team Glazer that helped seal the deal for Schiano.

“It’s great to be here in Tampa with Coach Schiano and the Bucs. We’re here a couple of days to improve our football team. Our guys are glad to be down here and I think we will get a lot out of it.

“I have known Coach Schiano for a long time. I got to know him better since he was at Rutgers. We’d go down and scout his players and work them out. He has a good defensive background so we have a lot in common there. He has coached some of our players going back to his days at Miami. My son played for him at Rutgers and I spent more time there and being round coach. He has been to our practices and spoke to our team. We have had a good relationship and I have a lot of respect for him.

“I think this is a great opportunity for him.”

What is most important for Greg Schiano to change things around?

“It’s a big process. there isn’t one thing. there’s no magic wand. It’s pretty much everything. When I came to New England, or Cleveland for that matter, it’s the scouting department, the players, the personnel, the coaching staff, the support staff, the video, the trainers, the medical people, the equipment men, the operations, the travel department, it’s all interconnected.

“There is a program the way you want to do things. You have to do it for your own style and personnel preferences are all interconnected. It definitely takes a while to change that. It’s easier to keep it the way it was. There is a lot of work. Certainly along the way, I have made my share of mistakes and I tried to learn from them and not to repeat those. That is part of the process. When you bring in a lot of new people, some people you bring in are not going to work out; some you bring in are going to work out. Some are going to be better that you have but not ultimately where you want to be. Personnel wise, you upgrade where you can.”

Talk about recommending Schiano to the Bucs.

“All I can do is be honest. What someone else is looking for, it is what is right for them. I think the world of Greg. I think he is a good coach. He has a good personality. He treats his players well. He is smart. He’s tough. He did a great job at the Rutgers program which didn’t have some of the same opportunities as others he was going against. Yet he competes very well in that conference. I have always been impressed with the way his teams have played and competed.”

What are some of Schiano’s challenges?

“I think he is an experienced coach. He has coached a lot of players and coached a lot of games. He has coached NFL players; they were just in college, that is all. And he has coached in the NFL. He knows what he is doing.”

Is this your first visit to One Buc Place?

“I was at the old facility many times, this place looks great. Good operation, good facility. We are excited to be here. Great opportunity for our team.”

Two Bucs players who suffered from two very different ailments were back at work this morning at One Buc Palace when the Bucs and the Patriots took to the practice fields.

Stocker has been struck down by, well, no one not an employee of the Bucs knows. It could be anything from a head cold to a hangnail. Bucs coach Greg Schiano claimed he didn’t know what was wrong with Stocker, other than to say he is not feeling well, or something along those lines.

Stocker, seemingly rid of whatever bug has possessed him, was working out. So too was Wright who yesterday appeared to injure his back and was writhing in agony on the grass. Joe watched Wright work out and at times he knelt down near the water stations but Joe did see Wright tackle teammates in a drill.

In a perverse way, Joe is enjoying how many Bucs fans are still reacting to a preseason loss. Why, Joe even had a fan Twitter him last night adamant that the preseason game Friday against the Patriots is a “must-win game.”

A preseason game, no less!

Joe vividly recalls the first team defense having three three-and-outs to start the game against Tennessee. How much better could they play?

And the first team offense left with a touchdown on the board. Not so bad, right?

Apparently, wrong. It seems after the second- and third-teamers got worked over, Bucs fans were racing to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and re-upping their memberships with the Hemlock Society.

In fact, new Bucs coach Greg Schiano is already having some fingers pointed at him, and he has yet to coach his first regular season game with the Bucs. Alan Dell of the Bradenton Herald has yet to be won over by Schiano.

It proves something we already knew: Discipline is like fool’s good, and talent and heart are a lot more important.

Schiano’s Napoleonic method of coaching still has his players’ attention, but if the team doesn’t show an improvement in victories they will tune him out.

We don’t want to panic. This is only the second preseason game, but the Bucs’ psyche is extremely fragile. It won’t take much to send them back into the abyss.

Hold up! Yes, we are just halfway through Schiano’s first preseason and just one week after training camp broke. Time to ease up.

From many of the veterans Joe has spoken to, it appears all have welcomed Schiano’s attention to detail. Shoot, Aqib Talib and he are buds now.

Let’s see what happens come November before diving into the mouth of Tampa Bay.