Aside from the obvious scare of losing starting quarterback Josh Freeman for who knows how many weeks, the next thought that likely shot through Bucs fans’ minds was how well can Josh Johnson play.

The “career backup” didn’t look much like a starter when he started four games last year after replacing Byron Leftwich. And Johnson continued to play like the moniker Raheem Morris labeled him with last year.

Saturday, coming off the bench for Freeman, Johnson may have had his best game as a Bucs quarterback. Sure, it was a preseason game, but still, Johnson was sharp.

Fear not, says Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who told Anwar Richardson, of the Tampa Tribune, that he has a mental bond with Johnson.

Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson says he’s convinced Johnson can lead his team in Freeman’s absence.

“Being around the guy for the last two years, I feel as comfortable with him, well, to be honest with you, probably more comfortable with him, the mental part of it, than Free (Freeman), just because of us being together,” Olson said.

Olson’s confidence stems from becoming Johnson’s quarterback coach after the 2008 draft. Johnson did not appear in any games as a rookie, but Olson worked with him after most practices that season to further his development. Olson was typically Johnson’s receiver after practice as they worked together.

If Johnson can continue to play the way he did Saturday night, the Bucs should be OK until Freeman’s thumb is OK.

Ex-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 got lucky Saturday night. Many say it was bad luck, but in the NFL, just as one man’s injury is another man’s opportunity, this “small” injury to Freeman’s thumb gives the Bucs management a great opportunity to practice their disaster management scenario.

In my rookie year with the Los Angeles Rams, the backup quarterback was Mark Herrmann, and he cracked a rib in the second preseason game.

This gave me a great opportunity to get extra playing time. It also gave me an opportunity to throw a game-winning touchdown pass and build some much needed confidence. But even with this confidence, deep down I knew I wasn’t ready to take over the team in the event that Jim Everett went down.

And, even though I didn’t want the team to go find a veteran QB, they were smart to do it to protect the team and franchise. We signed a veteran journeyman by the name of Steve Dils, who had experience in the offense. Herrmann was back by opening week and Dils was released, but the Rams had their disaster plan in place, as I’m sure Dils would have been right back on the team had another injury hit. 

The Buccaneers now face an eerily similar situation. Although their starter is the one with the injury, and that makes it all the more important what team management decides to do in the coming days.

I have supported Josh Johnson as this team’s backup quarterback and continue to do so. Getting Rudy Carpenter some much needed playing time and confidence is also important for this team. But I know the Rams did the right thing by bringing in some veteran experience, and I know the Bucs must insure their billion dollar franchise by getting another veteran quarterback acclimated to their system immediately.

They may cut him at the end of the preseason and may never need him again, but another experienced arm on the roster is a must, even though Freeman and the Bucs got “lucky” with this chance to work their disaster drill before the real thing hits when the games count.

Joe wrote earlier about how it made absolutely no sense to blame Donald Penn for Josh Freeman’s busted thumb.

Freeman’s follow through hit Chiefs defensive end Tamba Hali, who had half-beaten Penn with an inside rush move on the play. Hali didn’t hit or pressure Freeman, and it was just an old fashioned football play. Watch it yourself here.

What makes even less sense is to lay blame on Penn getting half-beaten on the fact he didn’t attend offseason workouts with the team because of his contract status.

Yes, there is someone who would purport such nonsense — and then publish it. 

That’s exactly what PewterReport.com is doing. (For those unfamiliar with that website, the fellas there used to have a colorful handheld magazine that was obliterated last year.) A mysterious unnamed writer there has called Penn “rusty.”

Keep in mind Penn didn’t miss training camp, where Penn was fit and healthy and near flawless in the preseason opener in Miami.

PewterReport.com’s Take: This is the negative result of holding out. Yes, Penn got his long-term deal, but he has only been with the team since July 31. That is only three weeks worth of practicing, when the rest of the team started in May. Penn is rusty and that is why. The good news is that he recognizes it and is willing to put the time in to improve his game. Many athletes become complacent after receiving a large contract, but Penn’s comments do not reflect that. Penn will use the rest of the preseason to work out the kinks in his game and once Freeman returns to the lineup, his blindside protector should be ready to go.

Joe thinks it’s flat out ridiculous to call Penn, a veteran, “rusty” because he skipped OTAs and lifting weights with his teammates. Penn’s quote after the game made it clear that Hali’s film from the Chiefs’ preseason opener showed him a different player than he saw Saturday night.

How that is evidence of “rust” from skipping a June practice in shorts Joe will never know.

By that logic, Kellen Winslow should be expected to make all kinds of screwups on opening day against the Browns. Yet no savvy observer would expect that to happen.

Joe may be a marketer, but he’s no doctor.

However, Joe does have an advanced degree in common sense.

And Joe knows that common sense says Josh Freeman and his busted thumb shouldn’t be on the field for opening day against the Browns in 20 days.

The thumb, albeit a minor fracture, is on his throwing hand. This is not a situation where the Bucs can just give him some drugs to numb the area and get him in the game, and it’s not a part of his body they should consider letting heal sufficiently after the season.

He’s the 22-year-old franchise quarterback, and the Bucs have no chance of winning the Super Bowl. This should be an easy and obvious decision. Especially considering Mark Dominik made it quite clear that Freeman’s safety was paramount when the Donald Penn signing was expedited last month.

Joe’s not heard of too many busted QB throwing fingers being 100 percent in three weeks. And at best, it seems, Freeman would enter the opener against Cleveland on limited practice reps on the heels of limited preseason reps.

Exactly this kind of situation is why you turn to a backup quarterback.

Now Joe’s sure there’ll be all kind of Chuckyesque gamesmanship going on regarding Freeman’s status, to confuse the Browns and their game-planning. And maybe the Bucs will, in fact, trot Freeman out to play on opening day.

Joe just doesn’t think that’s a good idea.

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 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 Chiefs-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.

The defensive line as a whole performed better against the Chiefs than they had against the Dolphins, but there is still room for a lot of improvement in a lot of areas.

One of those areas is ripping off of blockers. Too many times I am still seeing guys trying to make arm tackles with a blocker still on them. This leads to a lot of missed tackles and, in some cases, dislocated shoulders.

By ripping off of a block, a guy gives himself a much better opportunity to make plays and reduces the chances of getting hurt. But in the heat of the moment, when you see a guy running through your gap, I know guys get excited and forget their technique at times. That’s why you have to drill it over and over during the week so that it becomes second nature. It’s not just one or two guys, either, so that’s something everybody can work on.

Another area that’s a pet peeve of mine seems to have carried over from last season. When we blitz people inside i’ts common sense that the quarterback will try to escape that rush generally by either continuing to backpedal or by trying to escape outside of the pocket. It is for that reason that the contain rushers on those kinds of blitzes should be hauling ass upfield with their best speed rushes rather than trying to use power rushes of any kind.

As a matter of fact, if they can avoid the blockers altogether by running around them, that’s what you would usually prefer. But some of the defensive ends tend to get into the blockers too much, which not only keeps them from getting to the quarterback when they are drifting back (and when it should be a free shot) but also has the potential of allowing the quarterback to break containment if they take a deep drop and immediately take off running outside to avoid the inside blitzers.

The moral to the story is if you have a lot of people rushing inside of you, get your ass upfield.

On the other hand, it was encouraging to see quite a few guys really getting after it rushing the passer. We also managed to run the same line stunt from last year a few times and actually get it right. Defensively, we showed a little more 3-4 this game to some mixed results especially up front. I’m not totally sure, but it seemed at times as if some guys weren’t sure what gap they had on run fits. But we did have several defensive ends standing up making plays against the run by folding back inside and even getting good pass drops on occasion.

One last gripe: Too many guys spent too much time on the ground this game.

Yes, everybody gets cut, and it’s hard to stay up at times. But you won’t make any plays if you keep falling on the ground, and it wasn’t always due to cut blocks. Guys have to take pride in not allowing offensive linemen to take them to the ground unless they take two guys with them on a double team. Otherwise by hook or by crook as defensive linemen, they have to work harder to stay upright, especially when the ball ends up coming back into their gaps.

Now for the personal breakdowns:

Kyle Moore: I thought Moore did some good things against the Chiefs. He showed good hustle on the play when he caused Thomas Jones to fumble early on in the game. He also had the best pass rush Ive seen from him so far out of the times when he is lined up inside as tackle. And he showed a lot of hustle every play he was in there.

One area that he needs to improve, however, is taking on tight ends in the run game. Moore tends to come off a little soft and catch the blocks, which leads to him getting knocked off the ball a bit. Because he’s athletic, he usually ends up in his gap where he is supposed to be theoretically, but because he has given ground it gives the running back an opportunity to get yardage even when everyone else has done his job.

Now no defensive end dominates every match up with a tight end, but you can’t consistently lose ground when they are blocking our defensive ends one-on-one and expect the defense to work.

Also, Moore needs to develop more outside moves at left end. His power rushes and inside rushes are good but at some point when teams notice that he never tries to turn the corner, offensive tackles are going to start sitting on his power and inside rushes and make him try to take the corner.

If he can’t do it, he’s going to be in trouble because very few defensive ends in the history of the game have been able to rely almost solely on power rushes and been any good.

Gerald McCoy: McCoy showed a lot of improvement from the last game to this one. He played that slip block a lot better. He was also a lot more active in his pass rush.

By my count, he had at least three legitimate pressures. Plus he almost got his first sack on a play where he got upfield and then came back underneath after he saw the quarterback trying to take off running up the middle. His hands also were a lot better as he kept them closer together, which protected his chest from the offensive linemen’s punches.

I would say this was a really good building block game for McCoy.

He showed a little bit of everything with his pass rush. He had a really good speed rush on a guard to force the quarterback to throw it too early. He showed some good power as well. He even showed a little spin move (which needs some work — lol). I think more than anything else though his level of activity was the thing that was most encouraging to me. He didn’t accept being blocked at any time, and he kept working to beat blocks until the ball was thrown or the whistle blew.

Roy Miller: Roy was a bit up and down this game. He did some really good things like splitting a double team and getting pressure on the quarterback, and on another play he got really good penetration and made the tackle. But he was also reached by the center on a play where the running back ended up going through his A-gap.

He was also on the ground a little more than I’m used to seeing him, including one time where nobody actually blocked him but because he was expecting contact he fell down. And of course the ball found his gap that time, too.

Another time the center scoop blocked him and went up to the linebacker while the guard cut blocked him from behind. I thought for a second that he had played the cut block well enough to stay on his feet, but all of a sudden the sniper got him.

The one thing that always stands out about Roy is his effort, though, and Saturday was no different. As long as he cleans up his technique on that reach block and remembers to keep his feet up under him, he will be just fine.

Stylez G. White: I like White as a player, and I’m expecting big things from him this season. Having said that, I’ll say this: he needs to play better.

Don’t misunderstand me, he hasn’t played bad. In two games I don’t think I have seen him doing something technically “wrong.” However, we need for Stylez to be a playmaker. We need for him to be the bell cow who leads us to where we want to go. We need him to get after the quarterback from the first whistle to the last. And we need him to make splash plays.

So far that hasn’t happened.

Now in the first game the field was definitely a factor, and its not like he played a ton of snaps. But against Kansas City he had opportunities and he didn’t really make any big plays. One reason is that he hasn’t really made an inside pass rush yet.

He kept trying to work the edge against the Chiefs, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He is after all a pretty good edge rusher. But when the offensive tackles are setting for an outside rush and all but putting a sign up inviting you to burn them inside and you don’t at least try once or twice, something is wrong.

I’m not saying he has to start spinning every other play like Dwight Freeny, but he has to keep the tackles honest. If not they are just going to keep pushing him by the corner and getting pluses from THEIR coaches.

Stylez did have pretty good pass coverage on a running back, and he ended up making the tackle. He also ran to the ball well and showed a lot of hustle. But I expect more, and I’m sure his teammates and coaches expect more.

Do I have higher expectations of Stylez? Absolutely. Is that fair? Probably not. But when it comes down to it, football isn’t fair. And Stylez wants to go where he has never gone, so he is going to have to do some things he has never done.

I look at the Chiefs and I see Tamba Hali giving Donald Penn that work. Hali is trying to go get it this year, and it shows. At some point, we are going to have to see the same thing from Stylez, and soon.

Michael Bennett: Once again, this second year guy stole the show. By my count he had four tackles including a sack and a caused fumble.

He had one play when he was really physical with the tight end and destroyed him on a base block that was just impressive as hell to me. He also looks a lot more comfortable rushing inside than I thought he would at his size.

Bennett stands out from the other left ends in one important respect. He appears to be able to speed rush from the left side, which none of the rest of them seem to do well on a consistent basis.

It’s not that he’s just running around guys, either. He really uses his hands well and he has a sneaky long arm move that freezes offensive lineman while he beats them to the quarterback. He even looked good doing his pass drops on some zone blitzes.

All wasn’t perfect, however, as he peeked inside on a running play and got reached and, of course, the ball ran right in his gap.

He and everyone else has to learn that you simply can not do that in our defense. When you do, it screws up everyone else and opens the defense to get hit for a big play. Every play is not your play and sometimes you have to trust that your teammate will do their job while you continue doing yours.

Still, the guy has had a pretty impressive two games. I know its just the preseason, but I don’t think my eyes are lying to me.

One last thing. If it’s true that the best guys will play then the two starting defensive ends in front of Bennett should feel mighty uncomfortable right now.

Just sayin…

Brian Price: Price finally got some action after being held out with a recurring hamstring injury. It was obvious that he has missed a lot of time because he never seemed to really get his legs under him. He was on the ground WAYYY too much, and generally it was on blocking schemes and against blockers I believe he would normally handle well.

But you can’t miss as much time as he did and expect to come out killing people. It’s going to take him some time to get back right and get used to taking on blockers again. Once he does, I expect much better play from him.

Ryan Sims: I keep saying the same things but they never seem to change with Sims. The guy is a load and hard to move. When he comes off the ball he generally gets good push up the field. But for whatever reason he seems to refuse to rip off of blocks when he is trying to make a play.

Whether it be on a pass rush or versus a run block he always gets up field and then just reaches his arm out to try to make a play. And generally it doesn’t work out well for him.

He did get two tackles against the Chiefs and he looked good on a couple of line movements, but he would make so many more plays if he just worked on escaping blockers. Or maybe he does work on it, but he just forgets to do so when the bullets are flying?

Either way he is a guy who could be a pretty good player and definitely could contribute to this team, if he just starts doing that one simple task of ripping off of blocks. Of course, I’ve been saying that since last year, so I won’t hold my breath.

Tim Crowder: This was not one of Crowder’s better games. One thing I noticed is that he is starting to stand up when he comes out of his stance, which slows down his speed rush.

A lot of times guys will do this when they are guessing the blocking schemes, or if they just haven’t worked on keeping their pads low. Whatever the reason may be, I hope he works on it. Because otherwise he is going to continue to look slow coming out of his stance even when he gets a good get-off.

Crowder also got put on skates one time by the tight end and tackle, and it wasn’t pretty. He also got swatted up field a lot farther than he should have on a draw play.

One thing you can normally count on with Crowder is really good technique, but I didn’t see it against the Chiefs. Or rather, I didn’t see what I am used to seeing from him. He did have a nice speed rush on a third down and he had one tackle by my count. He is another guy who didn’t play bad but whom I felt like could have and should have played better.

James Ruffin: I’m smiling while I type this because Ruffin went straight old school on us.

You will rarely see a defensive lineman trying to grab an offensive lineman’s jersey at the shoulder, pull, and rip or arm-over anymore. One of the principle reasons is that most offensive linemen these days have their jersey tailored to where its almost impossible to grab there. Another reason is that when you try to make that move you basically give the offensive lineman a free shot to punch you in the chest.

Well, evidently Ruffin didn’t get the memo because he used the grab, snatch, and pull technique to great effect against the Chiefs’ right tackles. He had at least two pressures, one of which led to an interception and he was generally unblockable from left end.

No, seriously. Go back and watch it. It was as dominant a pass rushing peformance as I’ve seen in a long time, even in preseason.

Now obviously I doubt whomever the guy was blocking him will make the Chiefs roster (at least their quarterbacks better hope not), but you can’t let that take away from Ruffin’s play. He still went out there and beat the guy like a drum over and over and over again.

I gotta tell you, if he is doing well on special teams also, Ruffin HAS to be a strong candidate for at least the practice squad. If he keeps that up ,though, there’s a chance that somebody else might scoop him up for their active roster. I don’t think we have enough room to carry hon our 53, but he is still making the most of his opportunities.

Carlton Powell: Did the Bucs sign a new guy??? I swear, man, the Powell against the Chiefs looked NOTHING like the guy who got owned last week against the Dolphins.

I don’t know who lit a fire under him, but the difference was like night and day. He was flying around to the ball. He got a couple of tackles and an assist. He looped around on a pirate for contain like he was supposed to. And it appeared that he ran a TOM game with Dre Moore and ended up getting a pressure on the quarterback.

He wasn’t perfect ,of course (he was still on the ground a few times), but he at least looked like he belonged on the field. He still has a long way to go, and it’s an uphill battle for him, but I have to tip my cap to the guy. He went out there and decided that he was not going to look bad on film again. And he didn’t.

Dre Moore: After last week, I thought Dre Moore had turned a corner and was ready to contend for a roster spot. Then, against the Chiefs, he seemed to regress.

At first he played ok. Nothing earth shattering. But he seemed to be where he was supposed to be.

But as he got more and more reps he seemed to shut it down a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he was tired at the end of the game because the Chiefs quarterback was running around a lot and they were throwing a lot of passes. But nobody seemed to be brother-in-lawing it as much as Moore.

I kept waiting to see a get-off, a pass rush move, some hustle to the ball. But instead he kept getting worse.

Now look, I know how it is when the monkey jumps on your back. Hell, I’ve been there. But you can’t allow fatigue to get to you to the point where it doesn’t look like you are even trying anymore. And that, to me, is what Moore looked like at the end of the game.

The plain and simple truth is that the amount of opportunities for a third-string guy to impress are extremely limited this time of year, and its only going to get worse. Dre Moore had better wake up to that reality in a hurry or he is going to find himself on the outside looking in.

Erik Lorig: Lorig continues to impress me with his effort and ability. He doesn’t necessarily look the part, but the guy is pretty athletic. Athletic enough that when he was in and the defense ran a 3-4 he was one of the stand up guys. He even made at least one tackle from that position folding inside after taking a pass drop on a draw play.

One of the plays that impressed me most was when he got knocked to the ground on a cut block but got up immediately and got in on the tackle on the running back.

He played more on the right side this week instead of the left, and while he played ok from there, his pass rushing needs a lot of work from that side. He pass rushed one time from the stand-up, 3-4 position and ended up going inside and losing contain on the quarterback who ended up taking it outside for a nice gain.

I don’t know how many defensive lineman we are keeping this year, but it would seem like Lorig is going to have a hard time making the active roster. Still, he should be a prime candidate for the practice squad where he can develop a little while longer.

That’s all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the breakdown. See you in the comments section.

Joe was reading a story about Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman’s injury in the St. Petersburg Times typed by Rick Stroud which, given the state of mind of the reader, seems to point a thumb finger at Bucs left tackle Donald Penn getting burned by Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali, which led to Freeman’s injury.

It was Hali’s helmet that Freeman hit in his follow through which fractured the tip of his thumb.

Freeman will miss the remainder of the preseason but is expected to play in the regular-season opener against the Browns on Sept. 12.

Penn was critical of his performance.

“I didn’t play very well,” Penn said. “I need to go watch film and see my mistakes and fix them and see what (Hali) saw that made him play different. He played different than he did against Atlanta (in the preseason opener). I need to make sure I’m not setting up wrong.”

Joe can’t pin the blame of Penn, though Penn seems to be beating himself up over the incident.

Look, this is football. Things like this happen. If not for Penn last year totally shutting down some of the best defensive ends in the NFL, it’s entirely likely Bucs quarterbacks would have had broken ribs, or worse, than a fractured tip of the thumb.

It’s debatable that Hali “beat” Penn. Hali put a move on Penn to get to the inside but Penn threw Hali’s arse to the ground. Here’s the key: While Hali may have “beat” Penn with an inside move, did he lay a hit on Freeman? No.

Joe hopes Penn doesn’t go nuts about this. Football is a physical game. Injuries happen. Thanks to guys like Penn, the chances of Bucs quarterbacks getting hammered are far less.

Coffee-slurping, Red Sox-loving, L.L. Bean suitcase-toting Peter King was at Bucs training camp earlier this month. Despite his abbreviated stay, being whisked off to Manhattan for an NBC Sports production meeting, the Sports Illustrated columnist came away with one stark discovery:

Mike Williams will have a breakout year.

The Bucs’ rookie wide receiver, King learned from querying various Bucs players, coaches and front office types, is beloved by virtually all. As a result, King has Williams high on his radar as King documented in his must-read Monday Morning Quarterback column.

The staff loves Mike Williams. The quarterback loves Mike Williams. Mike Williams loves Mike Williams. He’s going to have a chance to be the biggest offensive force on this team.

Of course, King writes this in relation to fantasy football, a practice Joe shies away from. As Joe has written many times before, Joe’s concept of fantasy is a bit loftier than pretend football.

The Bucs won this weekend. So Joe brings you Bucs highlights, courtesy of the good people of the NFL Network.

First of course are the game highlights.

Second are selected plays from rookie defensive back Cody Grimm.

Next is Josh Freeman’s injury in the first quarter.

Derrick Roberson gets some love for an interception.

Linebacker Geno Hayes grabs a fumble.

Lastly, Michael Spurlock hauls in a Josh Johnson pass for a 53-yard score.

Now Joe just hopes the Bucs can turn in the same kind of performance against the Jags. You know, like perhaps a win?

Well, after the Bucs beat the Chiefs Saturday night in the Bucs first home game of the preseason, one of the first things Joe was hoping was that Derrick Ward was OK.

Ward, suddenly an embattled Bucs running back, precariously clinging to a roster spot, had his bell rung Saturday and left the game with 10:40 left in the third quarter after his best run of the night, a four-yard gain.

Joe truly hopes Ward is OK and can go when the Bucs host the Jags this Saturday. But Ward, who signed a hefty pay raise as a free agent last offseason, has had a miserable preseason, averaging only 1.8 yards a carry.

In the preseason opener against Miami, Ward ran for just 20 yards on 12 carries and fumbled twice. An awful performance by just about anyone’s standards.

Then Ward got dumb. He “guaranteed” he would play great against the Chiefs, as documented by Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

“That was just a fluke game, but I guarantee you this weekend I’ll have a great game.”

This turns Joe’s stomach whenever some jock offers a “guarantee.”

Consider the definition of guarantee from Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary.

“… an assurance of the quality of or of the length of use to be expected from a product offered for sale often with a promise of reimbursement.”

So what exactly was Ward going to reimburse and exactly who was he going to reimburse? What, he was going to cough up his first paycheck of the season, buy the entire Bucs press corps dinner at Lee Roy Selmons, buy 30,000 fans a free ticket, offer up a Kardashian? Who was going to collect?

Joe just prays the next time some player “guarantees” something, the very next question a reporter should ask is what the player is going to give up if his empty promise is unfulfilled?

Otherwise, talk is empty and cheap. Why not try something novel? How about letting your legs do the talking Ward?

So where was Clifton Smith last night? Sitting down with his young body riddled with gout.

Bucs beat writer Anwar Richardson, of TBO.com, delivered the news last night. While Richardson says gout is rare, it’s actually quite common, but surely not among professional athletes.

Earlier, Tampa Bay return man Clifton Smith fell victim to one of the oldest and rarest of medical conditions – gout.

Described as a crystallization of the fluid in joints, tendons and surrounding tissues, gout kept Smith from participating in the Bucs preseason opener last week at Miami and he also missed the Chiefs game.

It’s an unknown how quickly and successfully Smith can be treated. In Joe’s eyes, this all but assures a roster spot for Micheal Spurlock.

How could the Bucs cast him aside? Unless they have supreme confidence that Sammie Stroughter could replace Smith.

With the Bucs all but forced now to keep three quarterbacks, roster spots are certainly tightening up on the offensive side of the ball.

Update: Stephen Holder, of the St. Pete Times, is reporting this afternoon that Smith has gout-like inflammation in his knee and the Bucs are unsure of the cause.

Update II: Joe thinks this is extra bad if it’s specific to Smith’s knee.

Update III: Joe has learned that it was actually Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune who first reported that Smith is out with gout.

As you wake on this cloudy Sunday morning in the Tampa Bay area, preparing to watch the Bucs on tape-delay on WFLA-TV Channel 8, consider how many games the Bucs might win.

Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com has. You may be surprised to learn what he foresees with the Bucs in this NBCSports.com video.

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

Arrelious Benn was the 39th overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, which was dubbed the deepest draft in recent memory.

Joe knows that Benn is in Tampa to be a starting wide receiver, except Benn is down on the Bucs’ depth chart.

Joe has heard all about how Benn is supposed to be a YAC star (yards after catch). But to show those skills he’s going to have to get the ball. That ain’t happening.

It might not show up on TV today, but Benn looks like a standout on various aspects of special teams. Joe could see how physical he his and how he gets after it.

He looks comfortable, a level of comfort he’s not showing running routes. 

Joe did the buy-a-ticket-outside-the-stadium thing last night and, as always, that’s an adventure unless you want to overpay.

The quick-buy market was $20 in the parking lots of the C.I.T.S. (Community Investment Tax Stadium) up until kickoff. However, Joe was holding out for a $10 seat downstairs.

Amazingly, Joe, with his need-one finger in the air, was approached before kickoff by a Jamaican man with severe Michael Clayton hatred issues. He did the $10 deal with Joe, and Joe ended up sitting next to the guy about 10 rows off the goal line.

Nice seat. Joe thought he could smell the sweat dripping off the Bucs cheerleaders.

Plenty of empty seats all over place. The St. Pete Times reported tickets-sold attendance at 41,386, meaning Team Glazer fell about 24,000 short of a sold out crowd and live television for the game.

Yesterday, Joe had predicted a crowd of 44,000, so the blackout situation is far more grim than Joe thought.

It’s painfully clear now that if one living in these parts wants to watch the Bucs on opening day, then one will have to buy a ticket or grab a seat on The Blackout Tour to Fort Myers.

On The Blackout Tour, you get roundtrip luxury transportation to Lee Roy Selmon’s in Fort Myers to watch blacked out regular season Bucs games. At Lee Roy Selmon’s, a great atmosphere and a free beer and free plate of wings await you.

Buy now! Your tickets are 100 percent refundable if your selected game ends up on local television.

Click on the tour logo below for all the info., or visit BlackoutTour.com. 

Since December 2008, Bucs fans have been brought to tears as teams have run the ball down Tampa Bay’s throat repeatedly.

Tonight was hardly inspiring run defense in the preseason home opener victory against the Chiefs.

The Bucs had some sloppy tackling, and the Chiefs moved the chains. A first-half, Quincy Black  sack on a blitz bailed out what looked like a good beating in the interior line.

Now JoeBucsFan.com readers know that former Bucs defensive lineman Steve White, author of the Bull Rush column, breaks down all things defensive line here on these pages.

So Joe’s going to leave the commentary on what did, or didn’t, happen on the D-line to him. Joe’s quite sure that you’ll be treated to an awesome Xs and Os breakdown in the next 48 hours.

If you missed it, you can see last week’s Bull Rush to get an idea of what’s coming.

Joe could write up a bunch of love for wide receiver Mike Williams, but there’s really no need to go through it all.  

Simply, Williams is a serious talent and seems, after two preseason games, like the kind of guy who could easily have 50 catches this year all while he learns and improves and figures out the NFL. (Joe would still settle for 30+ and some touchdowns.)

Joe was taken with Williams at the NFL scouting combine, as Joe wrote many times. There he just looked like a man among boys. And now after two good preseason games, it’s clear the game comes easy to Williams. He just has that “it” factor.

Williams hauled in three catches tonight against the Chiefs in the preseason home opener, and a fourth that was a very nice grab but he didn’t get his second foot in bounds.

Joe’s just sick to his stomach at the thought of Josh Johnson trying to get him the ball when it counts on Sept. 12.

Watch for No. 71 tomorrow.

Joe knows that loads of his beloved readers will be watching tonight’s blacked out Bucs-Chiefs game on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. on WFLA-TV, Ch. 8.

And Joe wants you to keep your eye on defensive end Michael Bennett. The Bucs had him rushing inside in the second quarter, and he was causing some serious havoc. His get-off just seemed to be too much.

Bennett really played well. Kyle Moore appeared to cause the early Thomas Jones fumble, but it was unclear whether Jones just dropped it after Tanard Jackson wrapped him up low.  Moore didn’t do much else.

Defensive end James Ruffin had a couple of excellent pressures, one which led to a Derrick Roberson interception.

Stylez White played the entire first half, which Joe found interesting. He didn’t have his best game, and seemed to be a little gassed at times.

With Josh Freeman’s status for the rest of the preseason in jeopardy after he fractured the tip of his right thumb in the first quarter of the Bucs 20-15 win over the Chiefs on Saturday night, former Bucs tight end and current radio color analyst Dave Moore seemed more than a tad worried.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network following the game, he could feel for Freeman’s plight.

“I had that injury before,” said Moore, who also was a long snapper for the Bucs. “I wasn’t able to accurately snap the ball. And I wasn’t throwing the ball 50 yards down field with accuracy.

“I have played with quarterbacks who had that injury and it’s painful.”

Freeman’s injury is exactly why Raheem Morris didn’t want to play his franchise quarterback that much in the preseason. This could be the Bucs’ worst nightmare, with Freeman’s throwing hand dinged up.

If there is a silver lining to this ominous news, it’s that “career backup” Josh Johnson may have played his best game since being drafted. The third-year quarterback was very accurate throwing the ball over over the field to multiple receivers and when needed, scrambling for some solid gains.

Johnson completed 6 of 10 passes for 113 yards with a touchdown, his longest pass being a 53-yard strike to Michael Spurlock along the right sidelines.

If Johnson can continue to play the way he did Saturday against the Chiefs, the Bucs just might survive this injury.

A simple out route and some great body control sent Micheal Spurlock to the end zone with a 53-yard touchdown to the give the Bucs a 10-7 lead against the Chiefs, who still had their A-team in the game.

Spurlock had two more catches, one late in the game off a great adjustment to a Rudy Carpenter pass over the middle.

Joe just sees Spurlock as a hard-working playmaker whose return ability truly makes him extraordinarily valuable, especially when the Bucs’ best returner has a questionable melon and a crabby hammy.

How can the Bucs afford to toss this guy aside?

With Mike Williams looking like a natural stud, Arrelious Benn sure to make the roster, plus Sammie Stroughter and Maurice Stovall, Joe wonders whether veteran Reggie Brown and Spurlock will be Nos. 5 and 6. It makes too much sense.

Clayton was out there tonight running on special teams with the second and third-teamers, and trying his best for a team that clearly looks quite happy to send him to put a Team Glazer check in the bank one last time.

Joe had written through the week that Kareem Huggins hardly has a roster spot secure, despite so many fans showering him with love, almost as passionate as the cuddling Joe would like to have with each of the sweaty Bucs cheerleaders on the sidelines tonight.

The Bucs’ defensive mastermind/head coach said this week that he wanted to see what Huggins could do behind the first team offensive line in tonight’s preseason opener against the Chiefs.

Huggins never saw that action.

His first carry was midway through the second quarter with Jeff Faine out of the game and Jeremy Zuttah in his place at center. Keydrick Vincent was in for Zuttah at guard and the rest of the line was in tact.

Huggins’ first three runs were for six, 11 and three yards. He looked pretty good and finished with eight carries for 44 yards.

But it was Derrick Ward who got the carries behind the first team line. And he only looked marginally better than in his horrid effort in Miami.

Ward missed an inside cut and barrelled into Earnest Graham and fell, which might have been his best effort of the night. He finished with five carries for 11 yards.

In fairness, Joe has to give credit for Ward doing an excellent job picking up the blitz on two occasions. Ward has his bell rung early in the second half and never returned.

Joe can’t imagine the Bucs would cut Ward. And with Clifton Smith sitting out the game as a precaution because of his hamstring, and the head coach standing tall in supporting Smith this week, Joe’s just still seeing a tough road for Huggins.

The word is now out, per various sources. Josh Freeman will miss the final two preseason games but might be ready for opening day in three short weeks.

Of course, there’s no way to spin Freeman’s busted thumb on his throwing hand as a good thing.

There’s no need to rush the guy when you’re trying to build a “lasting contender,” but losing on opening day could send this team spiraling in the wrong direction fast.

And now Freeman loses the chance to get some of the rhythm with his young receivers that the Bucs’ brass was hoping to acheive.

Greg Olson has his work cut out for him to try and craft a winning gameplan for Johnson and Freeman against the Browns while Freeman rehabilitates.

Major test for this coaching staff.

Bucs fans right now are praying with their rosaries, lighting candles, looking for rabbits’ feet, hunting for four-leaf clovers and trying any good luck charm they can come up with.

Josh Freeman has injured the thumb on his throwing hand.

In the only series he played, Freeman hit a helmet of a Chiefs defender on a follow through and it was the last the Bucs saw of him for the game.

The Buccaneers Radio Network announced they could see Freeman wincing after his thumb hit the helmet. Dave Moore on the Buccaneers Radio Network noted Freeman was “in a good bit of pain.”

If Freeman cannot go against Cleveland, this will be terrible news for the Bucs.

The good thing is, if there is such a thing, Josh Johnson looked the best he has ever looked as he played the remainder of the first half.

[UPDATE:  Per Buccaneers Radio Network, Freeman has a fractured tip of his right thumb. Bucs “optimistic” he can practice this week.]