It seems the Bucs stats against the Jaguars were “ugly” on Saturday. That’s the word used by Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net. Here he explains why the Bucs made him wince.

Bucs fans who were at the CITS Saturday likely nearly dropped their $7 beers (lower prices this year!) when they saw Michael Spurlock line up at quarterback in a Wildcat formation.

Joe was surprised by this in a number of factors, specifically, why show your poker hand in the preseason?

The fact Spurlock did line up at quarterback may be a harbinger, says Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson, by way or Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune.

What might work in Spurlock’s favor is his ability to play quarterback. Spurlock played 21 games as a quarterback and running back at Mississippi. The Bucs lined up Spurlock in a wildcat formation against Jacksonville last week, but the play was never executed because of a penalty.

If Tampa Bay elects to keep Josh Freeman and Josh Johnson on its active roster, while placing Rudy Carpenter on the practice squad, Spurlock could be the Bucs’ emergency quarterback on game day.

“Everybody is trying to maximize their roster because of the limited roster size,” Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson said. “The more you can do, it’s a plus. It shows he can learn multiple positions and do multiple things and gives him an opportunity to make the team. Depending on what we do at our quarterback situation, if you’re a team that only carries two quarterbacks, he’d be a guy that would have to learn how to take some snaps and finish out a game for us. I’m not saying we’re going two quarterbacks, but he’s a guy at the receiver position who might able to do some things with the wildcat. He’s a versatile player.”

What does this tell Joe? That Rudy Carpenter is practice squad bound. Maybe. And that the Bucs are trying innovative things offensively in an effort to wash away the grime and stench of last season.

Rick Brown, the Lakeland Ledger Bucs beat writer who likes when Joe calls him “Backwards Hat,” (Time for more Bucs videos, Rick) checks in from Bucs practice today and reveals that Josh Freeman tossed a football Sunday and Maurice Stovall won’t play in Thursday’s preseason finale, among other nuggets.

No word on what Freeman’s passes looked like, but it’s a great sign for Bucs fans, assuming he was able to control the ball.

Still a long way for Freeman to go.

Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson

By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe is ecstatic to have him firing away. Carlson is often seen as a color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback.

The Bucs struggled again in preseason Game 3 to make their offense look like an improved version from 2009. And Josh Freeman watched from the stands, probably because Coach Morris was too afraid he might start warming up on the sidelines and hurt his already injured thumb.

Last week’s quotes from Morris about keeping Freeman off the practice field because the overly-excited QB might start throwing the ball on a side field against doctor’s and coach’s orders, hit me as probably the silliest thing I have ever heard.

Most readers took the comments as just sarcasm by Morris (which they should have been), so I didn’t react to it. But as John Lynch related the same story from Josh Freeman’s lips during Saturday night’s game, I’m just flabbergasted that the story was true.

Players are preached to, from high school on up to the pros, that every play matters and if you aren’t in the game or practice, you should know what the play is and go through the mental repetitions for maximum improvement. Why Freeman wouldn’t be in Greg Olson’s pocket on every rep working through the live-action is beyond me, and to not have your “franchise” on the practice field because he has a fingertip boo-boo is too much.

To think Freeman, who spent the entire offseason working out at One Buc at his own will, is such a free spirit that he doesn’t have the personal discipline to not throw before he is cleared and that the coach thinks it necessary to keep him inside the building doing other things to “protect him from himself” just doesn’t make any sense at all.

It makes me think of one of the great movie scenes of all time in A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. Nicholson, as “Colonel Jessup,” is being deposed by Cruise on the witness stand. Cruise is trying to understand the Marine Corps code of conduct. Colonel Jessup explains that his men always follow his orders and they never take matters into their own hands, “They follow orders or people die,” he says.

To think that the Corps of Bucs Morris is leading is so loose and not concerned with repercussions that the star QB could get coerced by the star receiver Kellen Winslow to go throw passes on the field next to the team practice and put the team’s success in jeopardy is just too funny. 

If discipline is that big a problem, just wrap his whole hand and arm in a cast so that he can’t hold a ball at all and get his head in on as many mental reps as possible. What is keeping Freeman from trying out his mending thumb when he leaves the practice facility anyway?

Obvious to anyone watching the Bucs-Jags preseason game on Saturday was Ronde Barber flying around the field making plays during the 50 or so plays the Bucs’ defense had to quash in the first half.

Joe can’t remember a play in which Barber looked 30, let alone the 35 that he is.

Awesome, admirable stuff.

On his blog, former Bucs defensive end Steve White gave his 10 cents on Barber’s play on Saturday, along with the rest of his The Good, The Bad & The Ugly breakdown.

Ronde Barber: The old guy showed that he still has it, tying Black for the team lead in tackles. Several of those tackles were one on one situations where if he had missed the runner would have gone for a big gain. But in each situation he found a way to get the guy on the ground. One play in particular though is what compelled me to put him on the list this week. On the goalline the Jaguars tried to run a counter play with a guard coming to kick out the end man on the line of scrimmage. If the guard had made his block the running back likely would have walked into the endzone. Unfortunately for him the end man on the line of scrimmage was Ronde and although he was outweighed by almost 100 pounds he went in and spilled the play making the running back bounce outside and then had the wherewithal to spin back and get in on the tackle.

That is the kind of play that doesn’t really show up on any stat sheet but shows you why Ronde is still a part of this team and why the Bucs should be thankfully to still have him out there as a leader.

What more can one say about Barber?

Joe hopes he stays healthy and productive. He’s already one of the more intriguing Hall of Fame candidates, and that’ll be especially so, if he can get it done and add to his stats this year. 

Former Bucs DE Steve White

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

Former Buccaneers defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) is a devoted student of the game. He’s even authored a coaching guide and coached defensive linemen at the University of South Florida. And his blog is fun stuff. After all those years breaking down film with former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and the other architects and legends of the Bucs’ defense, White shares his knowledge with JoeBucsFan.com readers in his must-read Bull Rush column. 

Today, White goes very deep into analyzing all things defensive line out of Saturday’s Jags-Bucs game. Joe advises you to grab a cold beverage, tell the old lady or the boss to leave you alone, and enjoy. This is great stuff, as usual.

Even though we didn’t beat the Jaguars, I came away after watching this game very encouraged about the Buccaneers’ season.

Particularly, I thought just about every guy on the defensive line showed at least some improvement. There were a bunch of hits and pressures on David Garrard, though we didn’t come home with any sacks this game. And the effort was once again very good.

There were some problems, though, with everyone on defense being on the same page, particularly when we blitzed. At least twice we had major busts when we blitzed and nobody covered the running back out of the backfield. One time it appeared to be Kyle Moore’s fault, another time it appeared to be Sean Jones’ fault. In addition, several times when we blitzed there was no contain element of the defense away from the blitz. It didn’t hurt us at first, but then in the second half Garrard noticed and he took off running for a first down.

Now I don’t know for sure who was right and who was wrong, or if the blitzes just had some design flaws or what. But those are the kinds of mistakes that can be the difference between a win and a loss in a tight game. So it’s of utmost importance that we get those problems ironed out as we get ready to face Cleveland in a couple of weeks.

Technique wise, one thing I noticed this game was when the defensive line ran a line stunt and guys came inside they really didn’t use their rip to help them get inside of the blocker. Instead, they just stayed square and tried to push the blocker in the backfield.

I understand not wanting to get washed way down inside, but by the same token if a guy doesn’t rip into the inside gap they lose almost any chance of penetrating and either making a play or forcing the runner to go laterally instead of downhill. It’s a little technique thing that can really make a big difference.

I’m still not a fan of the five-down linemen alignment we have for short yardage and goal line. It’s simply too easy to run inside when you don’t cover both A-gaps.

I keep hoping that Coach Morris will at least consider going back to what we used to do, seeing as how what they are using now hasn’t been all that effective. But so far I’ve seen nothing that makes me believe he will change, so I guess I’ll just have to get over it and hope we don’t end up in that situation all that often.

I did like some of the things Coach Morris did with the three-linemen setup, but only when he sent pressure or had Quincy Black coming off the edge.

I don’t really think rushing an offensive tackle is really Black’s strong suit, but when he rushes it gives the three other guys an opportunity to be successful. But I can’t stand when we only rush three because it’s almost impossible to get any pressure on the quarterback and anybody, if given enough time, can find an open receiver.

With the way we were getting after Garrard with our four-man rushes, I was surprised that Coach Morris went to so much three-man rush, but maybe he was just trying to get a long look at it. At least I hope that’s all it was.

For most of the night the Jaguars were getting the passes off early anyway and not giving our guys a chance to sack Garrard. I did get really excited one time when Stylez White and Gerald McCoy ran an EX game to perfection. The ball came out quick, but if it didn’t both guys would have been free to pummel Garrard.

As for the individual critiques:

Kyle Moore: Moore’s pass rush at left end was much improved this game. He still didn’t really attempt to turn the corner outside, but he had several good inside moves. I had him with one pressure and a couple of other notable rushes. He still doesn’t look all that impressive as an inside rusher to me, though. Also, he was poor again in trying to set up a TEX with Ryan Sims. Taking two steps upfield and expecting that to attract the offensive tackle is just not good enough.

He also got a little too high down on the goal line and got knocked off the ball a little. I would really like to see him use his hands more when he goes against tight ends. He is big and strong enough to dominate those matchups, but he never seems to get good hand placement on them so he can get good extension with his arms. Because he is the left end and most offenses are right-handed, he is going to have to battle tight ends a lot. That part of his game definitely needs work.

Gerald McCoy: I was very impressed by McCoy this game. You can tell that he is getting very comfortable with the speed of the game now, and it’s not overwhelming to him. He had some outstanding pass rush moves that you probably didn’t even notice on the first glance. I had him with two pressures, a quarterback hit and three other really good rushes. By my count, he had a tackle and an assist to go along with that.

And that’s with Garrard going with a three-step drop for most of the game.

He did have a missed tackle, but it was on a play where he got good penetration into his gap and made the running back go almost backwards to try to get around him. That penetration allowed the rest of the defense to pursue and get the running back on the ground for a loss.

I still would urge caution against anyone expecting McCoy to be a world beater in his rookie season. But I can tell you this much, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if he is.

Roy Miller: Roy had a quiet game this week. I think that’s mostly because he wasn’t in for a lot of the three-linemen schemes. When he was in the game, I thought he did well, though. And he did a lot better this week on the scoop cut. He didn’t fall down, and he ended up being in on the running play. He also held up well over the center in goal line and didn’t allow himself to get knocked off the ball much.

Stylez G. White: Stylez flashed big time against the Jaguars. After having his coaches taking shots at him in the newspaper for his work ethic, and other folks including me saying he needed to show up, he did just that. He had a really nice spin move and got a hit on the quarterback. He came inside on a blitz and got good pressure on Garrard. He had a good speed rush and forced a holding call on the offensive tackle. And he had a really good tackle from behind on a play where he showed great effort running down the field in pursuit.

That’s the kind of performance I am expecting out of Stylez every game, and that’s the standard he is going to be held to. And if he can go out and play like that for 16 games, something tells me our pass rush will be alright.

Michael Bennett: I’m going to go ahead and say this and get it out of the way. I believe Bennett should either be the starter or split reps evenly with Kyle Moore. It’s not necessarily a knock against Moore, but the truth is Bennett has shown himself to be the better pass rusher at left end in games this preseason. And it’s not as if he has only done well against backups. He has had some of his better rushes against starting offensive tackles, in fact. And as I have said before, and as it was proven again on Saturday, right now Bennett is the only guy at left end who is successful speed rushing around the corner.

I just believe that all other things being equal you go with the better pass rusher, and that is Bennett in this case.

Now I have about as much chance of starting at left end for the Bucs right now as Michael Bennett does, and I realize that. The Bucs are committed to Kyle Moore, and it’s not likely that they would consider benching him any time soon. I’m just telling you what I see as an unbiased observer.

Against the Jaguars, Bennett again was very productive. He had some really good rushes, got a hit on the quarterback and ended up with a tackle and a couple of assists. He might be falling too in love with his inside pass rush moves, though. He is good at getting the offensive lineman upfield and then coming back inside, but when you are the left end facing a right handed quarterback, the last thing you want to do is lose containment and allow the QB outside of the pocket. And sooner or later, if you keep going inside, somebody is going to see it and take advantage of it.

Bennett also learned a valuable lesson Saturday. And that is when you see a back offset to your side, you always have to be aware that they might chip-block you when you aren’t looking for it. Bennett was trying to get upfield to make the Jags’ quarterback pull up on a roll out pass and one of their running backs caught him from the blindside and put him on his back. Not a good look at all. lol

Brian Price: Price had a much better game. He obviously got his legs back up under him, and it was a lot harder for the Jaguars to move him or get him on the ground. He had a really good hit on Garrard off of a three-man (plus-Quincy-Black) pass rush look. He did have one bust, though, when he forgot to loop around for containment when we ran a line stunt. But all in all, for his second bit of live action of the preseason, he held his own.

Tim Crowder: Crowder played well but he didn’t flash all that much. He did have one good rush that I noted, but for the most part he was where he was supposed to be, doing his job. But he just didn’t really fill up the stat sheet.

Normally, I would go through the rest of the guys on the roster, but they didn’t play all that much this game. Plus, because the DVR gods are jerks, the last two minutes or so of the game was not recorded. Therefore, I will just note that although Carlton Powell may not have enough talent to play in the NFL, I have really been impressed with the way he has bounced back from a decidedly horrible first preseason game against the Dolphins.

The guy goes hard, and you can tell it means something to him. I feel like that’s the kind of guy who I would want on my practice squad because I think he will actually appreciate the opportunity and, in time, just might develop to the point where he IS ready to play in the NFL.

I’m not trying to campaign for the guy, but I am saying I really appreciate seeing young guys who bust their ass and show marked improvement from game to game.

Well, that’s it for this week. Just two more weeks before the real bullets start flying. I don’t know about you but I can hardly wait!

Bucs fans already know the pewter pirates, specifically Bucs general manager Mark Dominik, may have gotten the steal of the draft in wide receiver Mike Williams.

Count Peter King as a believer as well.

The longtime Sports Illustrated columnist put down his cup of coffee and bowl of oatmeal to describe how impressed he is with the Bucs rookie in King’s must-read Monday Morning Quarterback column.

I think the two Mike Williamses, the rookie from Syracuse in Tampa Bay, and the vet trying to make a comeback in Seattle, had interesting Saturdays. … The Tampa Williams made a couple of great catch-and-run plays. Too early to make a judgment on the Tampa Williams because of all the baggage in his past, but if Tampa Bay hits on him, imagine the value for the 101st player picked in the draft.

If that little nugget isn’t enough for you to click on the link and read King, there’s also some troubling hate on Stylez White included as well as some of King’s time-honored staples such as musings on coffee, travel, oatmeal and Brett Favre.

Before Saturday’s preseason game against the Jaguars, Joe heard the Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach asked a question on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Apparently, since Raheem Morris’ job is not in jeopardy, interviewer/host TJ Rives didn’t pass on any questions of the day. Rives asked Morris whether Josh Freeman would have played that night if the game was opening day of the regular season.

“The young man would have tried to play,” Morris said.

Joe’s not sure what to make of that; the head coach didn’t elaborate.

So just how close is Freeman to being ready?

Joe finds it interesting that none of the mainstream press had any quotes from Freeman out of Saturday night’s game. He is the franchise player, and his injury status is key to the entire season.

That makes it seem to Joe that Freeman was made off-limits to the media. And from Joe’s experience, that could be a strong sign that the Bucs aren’t confident in his opening-day return and don’t want Freeman to say anything that could reveal that now.

It’s all quite mysterious. Joe wouldn’t bet a nickel Freeman is the opening day QB.

Joe noted Saturday night that Jeff Bowden couldn’t have shanked more punts than Bucs punter Brent Bowden. But Joe wasn’t quite ready to sound the alarm on all Bucs special teams.

It seems eye-RAH! Kaufman is. The long-time Bucs beat writer for the Tampa Tribune believes the Bucs need major work on their special teams between now and when the season kicks off at the CITS in less than two weeks.

Tampa Bay’s special teams were among the league’s best in 2009, but kick coverage has been ragged in the preseason. A week ago, Chiefs rookie Javier Arenas returned a kickoff 54 yards to set up a TD drive.

Jacksonville rookie Scotty McGee brought back Connor Barth’s opening kickoff 47 yards Saturday night, but the Jags were limited to a 35-yard field goal by Josh Scobee.

Last season, the Bucs did not allow a kickoff or punt return longer than 37 yards.

Joe isn’t ready to jump off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge quite yet over the special teams play. Remember, the Bucs are using quite a few bubble players in different positions on special teams so naturally there isn’t a smooth flow, nor should one expect there be at this time of the year.

Now, by the time the Bucs host the Steelers, if special teams is playing overall lousy, then it will be a major concern.

Count Joe among the masses who thought the Bucs should have signed Antonio Bryant this offseason.

Bryant caught 39 balls in 2009, several of the spectacular variety, from three quarterbacks on a dreadful team. And he battled through injuries to play in 13 games. In Joe’s eyes, he was a special talent and was easily the best the Bucs had.

For Joe, re-signing Bryant was an absolute no-brainer, under one condition. The same condition that any team or fan would apply to any player, Bryant had to be healthy enough to play at a high level..

Now Joe wasn’t so sure the Bucs would deem Bryant healthy. After all, Joe was the only one to transcribe Bryant’s “bone on bone” knee description he laid out during an interview on the Buccaneers Radio Network last year. And how one recovers from bone-on-bone issues is surely unclear to Joe.

When the Bengals signed him in free agency, though, Joe assumed the Bengals’ doctors knew what they were doing. So Joe slammed the Bucs for not signing Bryant. Sure enough, Adam Schefter, of BSPN.com, tweeted about Bryant’s bone-on-bone issues about a month ago as if he had unearthed a revelation.

When Joe saw that, it was obvious the Bengals doctors flat out screwed up.

Mark Dominik made the right move in not signing Bryant. Still, Joe thinks it would have been the right move if Bryant were healthy.

Now Bucs beat writer Pat Yasinskas, BSPN.com beat writer for the NFC South, is trumpeting today that the Bucs should be lauded for passing on Bryant. Yasinskas also is spouting off that the Bengals cut Bryant today for reasons other than his knee, which kept him out of nearly the entire Bengals training camp and preseason.

They cut Bryant in part because he had some knee problems. They also cut him because they realized he just wasn’t that good and, maybe – just maybe – because Owens would be a better fit in the locker room.

Joe is appauled that Yasinskas is making such assertions, when his colleague James Walker, who covers the AFC North, follows the Bengals daily and never made such leaps. The archives are all there.

Plus, Joe has never seen such negative conjecture about Bryant in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Joe thinks its shameful that Yasinskas essentially is putting it out there that Bryant stunk it up in Cincinnati and was a bad apple. Who’s your source, Pat?

Joe just wanted to get that out there before Yasinskas’ paragraph quoted above is magically deleted without explanation from Disney’s website. That’s been known to happen on the NFC South blog.

Though Joe apologizes for bringing this slightly dated story, it’s still a good read.

Virtually everyone connected to the Bucs, from general manager Mark Dominik to beer-soaked fans, is raving about rookie receiver Mike Williams.

Jason Cole, of Yahoo! Sports, seemed intrigued and visited One Buc Palace to determine why. He came away with information that it isn’t just Williams’ physical tools that set him apart, but his football intelligence as well.

“I really got the sense of how bright he was when we were going over this one route he ran in college,” said Tampa Bay wide-receivers coach Eric Yarber, who added that Williams is one of the best young receivers he has ever had at understanding the technical side of plays from the moment they are shown on a Power Point presentation. “It was an option route, where he could run a post or corner route. The way the safety had him shaded, he should have run a post. But he ran a corner, so I asked him to explain why.”

Williams explained that the safety on the other side of the field was shaded to the middle of the field, meaning that if he ran the post, the pass was either going to get intercepted or Williams was going to get hit hard when the ball got there. Either way, the chance for success was limited.

So Williams improvised. Instead of one fake, he gave two, showing the corner route, showing the post and then finally committing to the corner route after the first safety covering him bought the second fake. Touchdown.

Considering the Bucs got Williams in the fourth round, this is an absolute steal for the Bucs and, if injury-free, may become one of the best wide receivers in Bucs history.

But Joe’s trying to temper his excitement. It’s still August after all.

"Olie, man. It's time to make some chicken salad, if you know what I'm sayin'."

Reggie Brown dropped passes. Michael Clayton didn’t play. And slow-to-come-along rookie Arrelious Benn didn’t get much of a shot.

That all came out of the Bucs’ “dress rehearsal” last night against Jacksonville.

Sammie Stroughter looks good. Rookie Mike Williams has been spectacular. Maurice Stovall has a bum ankle. And Micheal Spurlock has done everything asked of him.

So who makes the roster?

Regardless of the final five or six, the receiving corps appears to be shaking out to be what many Bucs fans feared; It might be the worst on paper in the NFL. Joe hates getting all negative, but it is what it is.

On top of that, the Bucs struggled to run the ball.

Greg Olson has a massive undertaking on his hands. He’ll have to get creative, maybe try again to get Jerramy Stevens and Kellen Winslow on the field together, because the Bucs have no identity on offense.

Some Bucs fans believe feared blocking wide receiver Michael Clayton may not make the final cuts next month before Bucs prepare to host Cleveland in the season opener.

Judging by the venom on local sports radio and comments on this very site, Joe believes many Bucs fans pray Clayton doesn’t make the roster.

But Clayton is expecting to prove those fans wrong,so writes good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times. Clayton, though he didn’t play last night in the loss to the Jaguars, believes he will be in his familiar No. 80 uniform when Cleveland comes to town in two weeks.

“I have full confidence that I will be here,” Clayton said. “You never know what’s going to happen. With our youth, with everything that we’ve got going, I would say in my opinion, it would be beneficial that I would be here. That’s just my opinion. I know it doesn’t count.”

Clayton’s base salary of $3 million this fall is guaranteed, but the Bucs would entertain trading the veteran who disappointed the club last season after signing a $26 million deal. They might opt to release him despite the guaranteed salary, which will complicate those efforts to trade him.

Coach Raheem Morris said Clayton’s absence from the game was not indicative of anything, saying coaches wanted to take a longer look at rookie Arrelious Benn and some other receivers. Morris said Clayton would play Thursday night in Houston.

Will Clayton be on the final roster? Joe has always said yes, because Bucs general manager Mark Dominik will give Clayton one last chance to prove he’s worthy of his salary.

Say what you will about Clayton, but there are few nicer guys. Had Clayton been a pain in the arse or of questionable character, Joe would be confident Clayton would be gone already.

His work ethic and demeanor might just be enough to put Clayton over the top in what Joe believes will be a razor-thin call by Bucs management.

Like every Bucs fan, Joe knows the Bucs absolutely have to be able to run the ball successfully to have a prayer for a decent season.

Young quarterback + young receivers + crappy running game = a long, ugly season.

Minus an 18-yard Josh Johnson scramble, the Bucs’ rushing attack was just 14 carries for 24 yards on Saturday night. The Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach was about as depressed as Joe.

The Jaguars allowed more than 600 rushing yards in their last four games of 2009.

“The only thing that was discouraging was the lack of ability to run the football in the first half with that first crew. And there’s really no excuse with who was in there,” Raheem Morris said. “You know, we missed Davin [Joseph] today with the hip flexor. He was out today. But we really gotta be able to  go in there and run the football against anybody.”

Joe was hoping to see Keydrick Vincent mashing the opposition. That wasn’t happening. And Jeff Faine appeared to be getting blown up too many times. And, of course, Jeremy Zuttah is no Davin Joseph. Zuttah filled in at right guard.

Joe’s not seeing how the Bucs just flick the running game switch in two weeks without a big-time back.

Veteran St. Petersburg Times sports columnist Gary Shelton believes the regular season is coming too quickly for the Bucs. Shelton explains in this video.

Joe lets former Bucs defensive end Steve White break down all things D-line in his popular Bull Rush column on these here pages.

Why would Joe take on such a task when White is the absolute best in the business?

And Joe can’t wait to read what White has to say about the incredible amount of rotation the Bucs were using all across the defensive line during the first half, when Jacksonville was playing its starting offense.

Perhaps this had a lot to do with the Bucs’ troubles getting off the field, which is a whole other sad story in itself.

One big kudo has to go to Stylez White for coming up with a big rush on a key third down late in the half that drew a holding penalty on starting left tackle Eugene Monroe. White beat him and Monroe tackled him.

That play led Jacksonville to a much longer field goal that they did, in fact, convert. But surely the timeliness of Allen Iverson’s White’s play didn’t go unnoticed.

What the hell kind of punter did the Bucs draft in the sixth round?

Yeah, this Brent Bowden kid has talent. Yeah, the kid punted lights out last week. Yeah, he plays a mean guitar.

But for those who will be watching the Bucs game for the first time on WFLA-TV, Ch. 8 this morning, Joe advises you to head for the bathroom quickly when Bowden lines up to punt. And, if you don’t head for the bathroom, you probably will after you see a couple of his clunkers.

Joe’s being hard on Bowden, but the Bucs can not afford to have a crappy punting game. If not for the Bucs’ stellar special teams, they might have won just one game last year.

Bowden absolutely has to turn it around.

Brice Price and Barrett Ruud were not the only Bucs defenders who played well Saturday night. So too did Bucs first round draft pick Gerald McCoy.

The rookie defensive tackle had nearly as good of a game as his fellow rookie tackle, Price. Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game, GMC said he is still learning.

“Yeah, our motto is that the quarterback needs to feel us and that’s what we did today. That’s what we gave fans a chance to see.

“Lightning delay? We can’t use that as an excuse. [Jacksonville] had to do the same thing. You can’t use anything as a crutch. If we were playing basketball, we wouldn’t be worried about the weather.

“I’m grasping the defense. I’m learning and I’m having fun. Camp went well. Things are going well. I’ve learned things that I didn’t know. I need to learn each game and build off of that. This game I was staying in the quarterback’s face. I want to build on that. I will get better.”

The way Price can play when healthy, alongside an improving and highly talented GMC, these two very well could cost NFC South offensive coordinators quite a few sleepless nights foryears to come.

Joe’s had about enough of this Sabby Piscitelli character.

During the Bucs’ loss against Jacksonville at home last night, this Sabby celebrated a late third-quarter tackle he made, which was a three-yard gain, as if he just registered a sack in a playoff game.

There was Sabby dancing around like a Mark Gastineau. Funny how none of his teammates were at his side to slap him on the ass.

And you’d think Sabby might have been a little humbled by the moronic 15-yard penalty he incurred on punt coverage minutes prior.

Joe, for a brief moment, was embarrassed to be a Bucs fan.

Late in the game, Sabby suffered a mild concussion while solo-tackling a Jags wide receiver along the sideline.

Apparently, taking a good angle, for a change, can be dangerous.

It was the second series of the game for Jacksonville and Joe had barely begun to enjoy his cold adult beverage when Joe became so excited he nearly chugged the $7 (yeah, cheaper prices!) cup of beer in one helping.

That was because Brian Price was playing like an absolute beast.

Talk about disruptive, Price was getting in the Jags’ backfield so quick it was as if he was the intended ball carrier.

On one pass play Price was the victim of a holding penalty. It was a must foul, meaning had he not been tackled, he would have leveled “America’s Quarterback” (per Adam Schein).

Why, Price was held so much, it was the type of embrace Joe fantasizes about making with Rachel Watson in the wee hours of the morning.

Sadly, not long after, Price limped off the field. Joe’s assuming it was his gimpy hamstring.

Folks, as good as Mike Williams has flashed as a wide receiver, Price is as good or better at defensive tackle… when he’s healthy.

Joe’s starting to wonder about Earnest Graham, and he hopes it isn’t just preseason follies that are playing games with Joe’s mind.

Joe has gone on record several times about how he thinks the Bucs’ running backs are mediocre, and Earnest Graham is one reason why Joe thinks this.

Now before any Bucs fans start frothing at the mouth and banging on a keyboard, Joe loves the guy. He’s one of Joe’s favorites. But Joe really is starting to wonder if Graham has seen his better days. After all, he is 30, which is senior citizen age for a running back.

Last year, Joe was at the Tennessee preseason game and saw holes open up on the left side for Graham to run through but he never took advantage of those holes. Now whether he lost a step and didn’t hit the holes quick enough or didn’t read the blocking, Joe’s not sure.

This cropped back up tonight. On the play before his touchdown reception from Josh Johnson, Graham ran the ball to the left sideline. For football freaks and former players, the 1-hole was open, or a hole between left guard and center. Graham tried to run through the 3-hole, or between the tackle and guard. There was nothing there but a scrum.

Now Joe isn’t sure if the Bucs encourage their running backs to run to daylight, or if they are instructed to remain disciplined and run to and hopefully through a specific hole. Again, Joe is not sure.

But it’s starting to make Joe pause and wonder if Graham is able to read blocking, has lost too much of a step, or if these instances are just preseason mirages.

There was a Barrett Ruud sighting! And it had nothing to do with tackles four yards downfield.

Ruud made the play of the game, and one that was likely unnoticed, in the second quarter of the Bucs loss to the Jags Saturday.

Joe was sitting in the stands in the 200 level and let’s just say Ruud is not a fan favorite. Fans sitting around Joe were hounding him, heckling him, mocking him. “Hey, where’s Barrett Ruud? He’s four yards downfield!” Joe heard one fan cry.

Ruud shut the haters up when he stepped in front of a Jags receiver in what would otherwise have been a Jags touchdown. Ruud took the ball down the left sideline to set up a Josh Johnson-to-Earnest Graham touchdown.

“It was a standard go route,” Ruud said on the Buccaneers Radio Network after the game. “I ran well for 60 yards.”

Ruud had  a convoy in front of him but the piano on his back caught up with him.

“I ran out of gas. I thought I was going to take it to the house. My front guy [blocker] got bulldozed and after I had to jump over him my legs ran out.”

But it was a simple yet needed play by a middle linebacker that opened Joe’s eyes. On that same drive, Jacksonville had second down and 10 yards to go when the Jags called for a run to the right side. There was a hole but Ruud came from his left, plugged the hole, and got a tackle for no gain – at the line of scrimmage no less!

It is simple, yet basic plays like that, not so much interceptions, that will keep fans off of Ruud’s back.