A rookie quarterback’s best friend is his offensive line and his running back, and it appears Mike Glennon will have that all covered on Sunday against the Cardinals, as he officially ends the Josh Freeman era.

The human armoire, superstar guard Carl Nicks, said today that his surgically-repaired toe came out of Sunday’s Patriots-Bucs game surprisingly well.

“A lot better than I expected,” Nicks said when Joe asked about the current health of his foot. “I’m full go from now on. Hopefully, I’ll be back to normal.”

This is fantastic news. Yes, Nicks needs to get his “wind” back, but he didn’t miss a snap in Foxborough and played pretty well. One would think he’ll be significantly improved Sunday.

A confident, t-shirt clad Mike Glennon took to the podium at One Buc Palace today and declared that he’s well versed in the Bucs offense and ready to command the huddle.

Glennon said all the right things. He also said Josh Freeman has been very supportive of him and Freeman wished him, “Congrats” just after learning of the quarterback change.

Glennon also pointed out that he’s been running a pro-style offense since he was 18-years-old at North Carolina State, rare experience in the spread offense world of college football.

Also, Glennon stated he believes he got more reps in preseason than any other rookie QB.

So, per Glennon, his comfort level and readiness is advanced and will not slow him down. (Enjoy the full Glennon press conference below, via 620wdae.com)

In his crowded, delayed daily news conference this afternoon, Bucs commander Greg Schiano spoke about nothing but franchise quarterback Josh Freeman getting the boot and the promotion of Mike Glennon to the starting gig.

Nothing, that is except one question: When Schiano was asked point blank if he was worried about his job security, Schiano, before he could blink, blurted out a firm one-word answer while looking directly into the questioner’s eyes.

“No.”

It sort of stands to reason. Before announcing the benching of Freeman, Schiano, along with rock star general manager Mark Dominik, consulted with Team Glazer about the move, and Team Glazer was on board (apparently) with demoting Freeman.

If Team Glazer objected and the move was made any way, then Schiano would be in a world of hot water.

When Schiano mentioned it was an “organizational decision,” he means it. All the important parties both wearing suits and coaching whistles all agreed. The patience with Freeman to end his inconsistent ways had been used up.

Today’s news of Josh Freeman’s benching was not expected in the Bucs’ locker room. Joe talked to many players and unless they’re Oscar winners, there was genuine shock in their reaction about the move to Mike Glennon.

“I was surprised, but this is a performance-based league. Coach’s decision is coach’s decision,” Davin Joseph said.

Players, of course, acknowledged the business side of the move, as well.

“We knew it was a business when we walked in this morning,” Kevin Ogletree said. “Change is inevitable. We’re trying to win a ballgame and we’re going to everything we can to have the right guys out there.”

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It seems that the Bucs had issues with Josh Freeman prior to drafting the hero of the outfit that bears his name, the Mike Glennon Mob. Speaking to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club this morning, Desert Rats quarterback Carson Palmer said Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik was pushing hard for his services in the offseason.

“My agent had said that Tampa had been contacting him a lot,” Palmer said. “I would have been very excited to be there. The organization has a lot of good players across the board.”

So apparently, Dominik could not promise Palmer a starting gig right out of the chute this season, but the Desert Rats did.

Joe wonders what the Bucs’ record would be with Palmer at the helm starting Week 1? BSPN’s Adam Schefter learned back in April that Palmer had hoped to land in Tampa Bay.

No. Josh Freeman doesn’t have to beat out Dan Orlovsky for the backup quarterback job in the wake of his official benching in favor of Mike Glennon.

Joe has penetrated the walls of One Buc Palace and has learned that Freeman will be the Bucs’ No. 2 quarterback on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Freeman will not be buried further into irrelevancy.

Joe watched the media-allowed session of practice today and Freeman and Glennon were working alongside each other. Yes, the Bucs will entertain trade offers for Freeman, but Joe strongly suspects the right offer might take a while.

The Bucs have given up on Josh Freeman, but why didn’t the Bucs let Freeman play Sunday and then switch to Mike Glennon at the bye week?

Yes, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik already explained the company line to USA Today, saying the Freeman was failing and the Bucs wanted to give Glennon the bye week to learn from his mistakes and successes on Sunday against Arizona. But the move doesn’t help the Bucs improve Josh Freeman’s trade value.

The Cardinals have a depleted defense and they’re hardly a great team. There was a great chance that rollercoaster Freeman would have looked good Sunday, which would have jacked up his potential trade value to a team like Jacksonville and others that might be willing to take a shot on No. 5.

But in that scenario, with Freeman looking good, there also was the chance of massive Bucs-fan backlash after benching Freeman on the heels of a good game.

The Bucs made their play on the chess board and opted to snuff out Freeman today. Bucs fans are told routinely that the Bucs only make moves in the best interest of the franchise. Joe’s not sure this one — today — fits that mold.

Bucs rock star general manager was consulted by Bucs commander Greg Schiano, before the second-year Bucs coach made the call to bench franchise quarterback Josh Freeman for third round pick, rookie Mike Glennon.

That’s the information typed by Jim Corbett of USA Today.

In fact, Dominik noted that Freeman had regressed so terribly, he was a noose around the Bucs’ chances to win.

“The main thing for us was the performance of the team the last nine games was 1-8 and that’s tough,” Dominik told USA TODAY Sports Wednesday. “He hasn’t played well. That’s a part of it. If you don’t have a quarterback in this league, you don’t have a shot. We felt like we’d seen enough of what we needed to see.”

Freeman, who led the NFL in inaccuracy, at a galling 45 completion percentage, apparently had lost either the support or the trust in the locker room.

Dominik also noted in the article linked above that the rest of the season and Glennon’s play will give the Bucs an idea how to proceed at the position for the 2014 season.

Today’s move to Mike Glennon has two former Bucs very concerned

The benching of Josh Freeman today (Christmas for the Mike Glennon Mob) is undeniable evidence that things are ugly at One Buc Palace.

That’s the word of former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996) on WDAE-AM 620 this morning during the Ron and Ian show.

“I promise you that locker room is hideous,” said Beckles, who went through various QB drama and changes during his Tampa Bay career. Beckles said he hopes Greg Schiano sat down with his key veterans yesterday and sold the move to Glennon thoroughly. Regardless, Beckles said, it’s going to be hard to take a “rebuilding” mindset that must be flowing through the team now.

Former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht, an analyst on the Buccaneers Radio Network joined the show and said while is surprised how quickly Schiano made the move he doesn’t believe the Bucs locker room is in that bad a shape right now, but Becht said he believes it will “get ugly” quickly if Glennon is unsuccessful.

While many think the move to bench franchise quarterback Josh Freeman, who led the NFL in inaccuracy, for rookie third round pick Mike Glennon would be the equivalent of rolling a live grenade into the Bucs locker room, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times has an enlightening article that suggests that is not the case at all.

In fact, Stroud writes, the Bucs’ captains are on board with the move.

The idea behind making the change to Glennon now, rather than waiting until after the Cardinals game, is to give the young quarterback a chance to play Sunday and then have two weeks to review his mistakes and make corrections.

The Bucs team captains were informed of the decision Wednesday and many of them saw it coming and didn’t disagree with it. The locker room is not expected to be divided over the decision.

While Freeman played better in Sunday’s 23-3 loss to the Patriots and was victimized by dropped passes, the Bucs did not feel he was going to ever be consistent under Schiano.

The captains didn’t disagree? This after Freeman was not voted as a team captain earlier?

A guy walking around with a white cane can see what is going on here. The team, as in the players, had grown weary of Freeman’s All-Pro one day; Bobby Douglass the next-style of quarterbacking, this after four years in the NFL.

So the Bucs finally came to the conclusion that Freeman may not ever be consistent? What would ever lead them to this thought?

Freeman has never, ever been a consistent quarterback. He would tease you one day where he looked like the second coming of Ben Roethlisberger, the next day you wanted to drop $10k on a barrel of Jack Daniels he was so miserable.

Today’s change to Mike Glennon does not earn Greg Schiano a pass

Joe can’t emphasize this enough to Bucs fans, friends, family, clergy and Team Glazer: 2013 is not a rebuilding year.

It absolutely is not, nor should it be considered that under any circumstances.

Greg Schiano himself said four weeks ago, “through the ranks we’re better.” Schiano himself said Friday he has the components in place to win now. There are eight Pro Bowlers 30 years old and under on the roster. There are emerging starts like Mason Foster, Lavonte David, Mark Barron and Mike Williams. Schiano also has a hand-picked coaching staff with trusted advisor Butch Davis in the shadows

Today’s reported move to Mike Glennon is Schiano’s call, and Joe sincerely hopes the head coach realizes that he’s still responsible for delivering a team to Bucs fans that is better than what was witnessed in 2012.

Glennon or not, Schiano must be held accountable to the reasonable expectation of producing an improved team.

Assuming this morning’s national report of Josh Freeman’s benching is true, it seems to Joe that Greg Schiano has left an opening for Freeman to return to the starting lineup.

On Monday, Schiano said “Josh is our starter” and Schiano defended Freeman. Here’s the link.

Joe’s of the mind that with the bye week in Week 5, Schiano can look at Mike Glennon against Arizona on Sunday, and then go back to Freeman comfortably over the bye week if Glennon is horrendous. A revolving door QB situation is hardly new to the NFL (see Jeff Garcia/Brian Griese in 2008). It rarely works, but it is often a sign of a desperate head coach.

Wait a minute! Greg Schiano just said on Monday that Josh Freeman is his starting quarterback.

But moments ago ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter Twittered that the Bucs have made the move to Mike Glennon.

Joe is stunned. Schiano is moving all-in with “his guy,” clearly putting his coaching career in Tampa on the line.

What Joe can say is that Mike Williams told Joe last week that Glennon’s serious preparation as a backup is unlike anything he’s ever seen. So maybe that’s one tiny upside to this move.

However, Joe is troubled by Schiano’s logic here. It was Schiano who judged Freeman to be worthy of starting, worthy of leading the Bucs to the promised land. Has Schiano already backtracked on his own scouting and assessments? After three games? This is all troubling, to say the least.

Schiano always says he makes moves to give the Bucs the best chance to win. That’s hard to believe in this case.

Joe suspects the front office and Schiano eventually will reveal that they reached a decision this week that Josh Freeman had no chance of being offered a 2014 contract, therefore they’re seeing what they have now in Glennon for the good of the franchise and its future decisions.

These are wild times, Bucs fans. (Stick with Joe through the day for reaction at One Buc Palace.)

Jumping on Greg Schiano for what he believes is clear double-talk, the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, lashed out at the Bucs’ head coach yesterday on the Buccaneers flagship radio station, WDAE-AM 620.

Duemig noted the contradiction between Schiano saying Friday that he has all the “components” to win now and Monday night saying, “you can’t load the entire roster in a two-year period.” Monday’s comment came during a response to a fan who questioned the coach on the radio about the Bucs’ lack of depth at receiver and tight end.

Duemig characterized the contradiction as a “direct swat” at rockstar general manager Mark Dominik, who has spent five years building the Bucs, and Duemig accused Schiano of seeking Jon Gruden-like control over personnel without the winning resume. “Would you trust this franchise to this maniac, power-hungry maniac … who talks out of both sides of his mouth?” Duemig asked his listeners.

The perceived shot at Dominik was a take sent national earlier yesterday by NBC Sports and ProfootballTalk.com insider Mike Florio.

The comments aren’t a surprise.  For a losing team it becomes inevitable that Schiano and Dominik will try to ensure that, if someone walks the pewter plank, it’ll be the other guy.

Joe can’t say with certainty this was an intended Schiano shot at Dominik, but Joe is concerned that the head coach believes it takes three or more years to have effective depth in the NFL. That’s just not the case when it comes to the 2013 Bucs. (Listen to Duemig’s entire blast at Schiano below.)

As Joe wrote yesterday, he has never seen Bucs fans so irate, not even in the darkest days of the Raheem Morris regime.

Naturally, Bucs fans being Bucs fans, they must have someone to hate. First it was Michael Clayton, then Gaines Adams, then Byron Leftwich, then Barrett Ruud, then Quincy Black, before loathing Myron Lewis and now Josh Freeman.

In the span of roughly the past three days, Bucs commander Greg Schiano has landed on many fans’ hate lists. And the hate is coming at Schiano from other angles, as well, first some of his players (before the season) and now prominent radio hosts.

Joe’s not sure why said fans flipped on Schiano so quickly. Before the season, the fans openly embraced the New Schiano Order. As popular sports radio and television personality Adam Schein said Monday, who expected the Bucs to compete with Bill Belicheat coming off 10 days to prepare?

Fans are acting like Schiano personally Pearl Harbored the game against the Patriots.

NFL insider Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports wrote a piece on how each of the winless teams, the Bucs among them, can mend their losing ways.

Naturally, La Canfora has his take on how to help the Bucs.

Coach Greg Schiano has a firm hand over the defense, so I don’t imagine many changes there. And quarterback Josh Freeman has already been through a steady procession of offensive coordinators. Schiano said after Sunday’s tepid 23-3 loss to New England that he hasn’t contemplated a quarterback change, but he has also never really endorsed or embraced Freeman, and he did just draft Mike Glennon. And this offense is certainly stuck in a rut.

The run game has been surprisingly average after Doug Martin carved up defenses a year ago. The return of guard Carl Nicks would figure to improve some holes over time, but right now that run game is lacking the explosion that defined it in 2012. Martin has 73 rushes for 297 yards, 4.1 yards per carry, typically the league average. Not sure a QB change would get that revved up, but I also don’t see Schiano riding out a long losing streak without trying something.

Joe doesn’t know where people get the notion that Schiano is going to bench Freeman. He had ample opportunities to do so last week and he claimed after the game such a move never crossed his mind.

Look, Schiano knows the ice beneath his feet is melting by the minute as the Bucs continue to lose week in and week out and it will only re-freeze if the Bucs go on a winning streak streak. Who would you go down with, a quarterback (albeit, struggling terribly) who less than a year ago put up over 4,000 yards and in the past has had a 10-win season, or a greenhorn rookie third-round pick who has never faced an NFL blitz package in the regular season?

For Joe, the choice would be obvious: Freeman.

How did banking on a third-round draft pick of a quarterback work out for Andy Reid last year? Schiano is in survival mode right now. One doesn’t often survive watching a guy learn on the job while losses mount.

Greg Schiano’s mentor, Bill Belicheat, has a new leader of his defense. The Boston Herald today even called that new leader the “backbone” of the unit.

He would be helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib.

The Herald published a film breakdown of Talib’s dominance of the Buccaneers on Sunday, including how Talib’s study led to his interception. Here’s a large excerpt, but the entire piece is a good read.

That’s how Talib worked against the Bucs, who tried a few different ways to create space for Jackson. Yet, Talib followed him wherever he went, lining up at left corner 19 times (Jackson caught 1-of-2 passes for 12 yards), the left slot seven times (1-of-2 for 19 yards and an interception), the right slot three times (1-of-1 for 3 yards) and right corner nine times (0-of-1).

Talib’s ability to handle Jackson was impressive, using a number of tactics to slow down an explosive player who totaled 15 receptions for 306 yards and three touchdowns in his previous two outings against the Pats.

There was a play when Talib pressed Jackson at the line and was strong enough to guide the receiver out of bounds. Talib’s hand technique was also strong enough to disrupt Jackson when he gave him enough space to release from the line. That gave Talib the option to change up his approach. The cornerback’s hips are fluid enough to grant some receivers a free release before turning and staying with them down the sideline.

To be fair, that tactic nearly backfired when Jackson beat Talib for a could-have-been 38-yard touchdown. Talib got a fingernail on the ball at the last moment, but Jackson still should have had it.

The Bucs tried different ways to free up Jackson, including a couple of pick routes and bunch formations, but he still only caught three passes for 34 yards. There was one great design when Jackson ran a submarine route behind the offensive line before catching a 3-yard pass on third-and-2, and those routes are nearly impossible to defend.

Talib also had a pristine interception when he recognized Jackson’s route through film study and practice, where coach Bill Belichick said he picked off that exact play against the scout team a couple of times. That playmaking ability has led to Talib’s four forced turnovers in three games.

When Jackson departed in the third quarter, Talib shifted his focus to Williams. While shadowing Williams, Talib played left corner 10 times and right corner 10 times, and broke up an end-zone throw with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, which was the first time Freeman targeted Talib since the opening play of the third.

With Talib having a shutdown kind of day and Vincent Jackson getting hurt, the Bucs’ lack of depth at wide receiver and tight end was highlighted.

Tonight on his radio show, Josh Freeman acknowledged that rookie tight end Tim Wright and WR Eric Page (who was hurt his entire rookie season) were pressed into tough duty considering the Bucs’ complicated offense. Freeman had high praise for what Page delivered and said Wright shows talent in practice.

Regardless, Talib was stout against the Bucs. Joe would still bet on Talib doing something stupid and suspendable before the season is over, but on Sunday he did, in fact, burn his old team.

“Personally, as a head coach I’ve been here before. I understand how you fight your way out of these things. And we will. As an organization, we will. You know, someday we’ll look back on this and say, ‘remember when.’ But right now is not that time. Right now we got to come out swingin’ and fight our way out of it. I give you my word and I give all the fans our word as an organization, we’re going to do that. So stick with us”.– Greg Schiano, speaking last night on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Popular sports radio and television personality Adam Schein seems like a regular Bucs fans in the Tampa Bay area. He likes Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and seems to believe in Bucs commander Greg Schiano.

But that belief is being tested.

First, Schein grew to distrust Freeman and last year said he trusted Christian Ponder more. And look who guided his team to the playoffs last year with big wins over playoff teams, one of which was on the road (a task records show Freeman is terrible at accomplishing).

Before the season, Schein hinted that the hero of the mob that bears his name, Mike Glennon, would eventually call the signals for the Bucs.

Now, three weeks into the season, with Freeman holding the best percentage of inaccuracy in the NFL at a galling 45 percent, Schein now seems to be turning on Schiano because Schiano banking on Freeman to turn the Bucs’ fortunes around. Schein explained Monday on SiriusXM Radio’s “Mad Dog Radio” channel.

“Who thought the Bucs were going to compete in that [Patriots] game?” Schein said with disgust dripping all over his words. “I mean, Earth to Greg Schiano: You might want to pull Josh Freeman. He is sucking the life out of your team! It’s just hard to watch him play right now.”

Well, Joe agrees with Schein in a couple of ways. It is painful to watch Freeman now. It has largely been through this 1-8 stretch for the Bucs. He huffs and puffs and has his house falls down upon him.

Joe really, really doesn’t think Schiano will bench Freeman. Schiano has to know his job is in hot water and the temperature rises with each loss. He’s not going to go down with the ship with a rookie quarterback.