The dancemaster

Just call Gerald McCoy choreographer-in-chief.

Yes, your Buccaneers will be doing defensive line stunts this year — but only when No. 93 says so. [read more]

The final public training camp practice of the season was this afternoon at One Buc Palace. Lightning delayed things for a bit, but Joe stuck it out and sweating and soaking it all in for your reading pleasure.

Here are your highlights and lowlights: [read more]

Jorvorskie Lane tries to avoid a tackle last week at Jacksonville.

Man, the NFL has changed in just a few short years. Not that long ago Mike Alsott ran over defenders and was considered a top asset in the NFL.

Now? Good luck finding a fullback. The teams that do employ fullbacks usually select them on the third day of the draft or bargain-basement shop them in free agency. [read more]

Former Bucs QB Shaun King didn’t stamp out the idea of skanky guard Richie Incognito getting consideration by the Buccaneers

Don’t panic, Tampa Bay fans. It’s only been one quarter of one preseason game for the first-team offense. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the Bucs’ new regime will need time to jell and smooth out the rough spots and fill holes. There’s plenty of time before opening day.

That’s the message from One Buc Palace, but that doesn’t seem to be the message from many ex-NFL players. [read more]

Yes, it’s back to work this afternoon on the steamy practice fields of One Buc Palace.

Of course, Joe will be out there sweating for your reading enjoyment. Follow Joe on Twitter (@JoeBucsFan) and even on Instagram (TheJoeBucsFan).

Joe’s practice reports and quotes from players and coaches are on the way. Stick with Joe into the evening, as always.

Is Josh McCown the answer?

Yesterday, when Joe was in the studio with his good friend “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, a caller from the Flat Earth Society bemoaned the loss of a Mike Alstott-like fullback and again parroted the nonsense that a team can with without a quarterback.

SMH, when will people learn?

If any fanbase should know better than this gibberish it should be Bucs fans. [read more]

NFL Network analyst and former NFL and Florida State offensive lineman Jamie Dukes can’t understand Lovie Smith

Referring to Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson as “Rolls Royces” and “Clydesdales,” NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes, the former NFL offensive lineman and Florida State star, seems ready to bang his head against a wall.

Dukes simply can’t understand the approach of Tampa Bay head coach Lovie Smith. [read more]

The Bucs’ recent history is filled with stories of offensive linemen who have been plucked from obscurity or the scrap heap and then filled starting roles successfully.

The Tampa Bay running game was punishing and dominant for much of 2010 and 2012. [read more]

After watching Tampa Bay perform standard and hybrid versions of the Rumba, Cha Cha Slide and Tango along the Tampa Bay defensive line last year, Joe did a double take hearing one current Bucs defensive end recently say he feels he can be more creative this season. [read more]

Ornery Alan Dell of the Bradenton Herald believes the Bucs sorely need Austin Seferian-Jenkins to block.

One cool things about this past training camp — Joe let his baseball fandom get the best of him yesterday while appearing with his good friend, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig of WDAE-AM 620, and slipped up calling training camp “spring training — is the impression tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins has made on everyone watching.

With apologies for being repetitive, ASJ is a freaking monster. He is a complete and total mismatch over the middle. But it isn’t just his hulking physical size that has won Joe over. No, Joe is more than impressed with ASJ’s attitude. [read more]

How can any quarterback perform when this is the result on virtually every snap?

Bucs fans are still buzzing — not in a good way — about the offensive line that showed up for the first preseason game in Jacksonville. Yes, Joe believes the offensive line will get better. It simply can’t get worse than what we witnessed.

The numbers crunchers over at Pro Football Focus watched the game, too. Joe guesses on GameRewind. For the spreadsheeters like Steve Palazzolo, who typed the breakdown, he wasn’t exactly warmed over with the quarterback play from the pewter and red troops. [read more]

It was a spirited “JoeBucsFan Hour” on WDAE-AM 620 this evening. And what else did you expect after finally seeing the Bucs face a real opponent?

Joe’s weekly sit-down with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, is always a fun time. [read more]

An annual Bucs training camp highlight for Joe is when Warren Sapp comes bouncing in, like he did a couple of weeks ago. You don’t have to see the Hall of Fame defensive tackle to know he’s there: you hear him.

Sapp is hardly a vague person. Ask him a direct question, you get a direct answer. Loudly. Confidently. Sometimes, spiced with colorful profanities. [read more]

Bucs fans are “this close” to hitting the panic button over the state of the offensive (keyword) guards, and it is only Aug. 13. Man, Joe doesn’t know what Tampa Bay fans will do if the line collapses Saturday against Miami anything close to the way it impersonated turnstiles last week at Jacksonville.

The hyperventilating over the offensive line has even taken Joe aback. Wow. It is as if fans will storm the pirate ship Saturday in order to jump off it. [read more]

Will Eric Page — and/or those around him — force Lovie’s hand?

Following the Bucs’ competition at punt returner, Joe gets the distinct impression Lovie Smith doesn’t want Eric Page winning the job. But Lovie’s problem is he must find someone better, and that just hasn’t happened.

Consider that Lovie made it very clear twice that he doesn’t have warm feelings about the position. The first time came in May when the head coach called punt returner “an area of concern.” [read more]

It goes hand-in-hand with training camp. Folks breaking down the good and analyzing the bad. It is as traditional as roasting summer sun and the sweat-soaked uniforms of the Bucs.

There is much to like about the Bucs this season. The defense should be stout with an expected improvement in the pass rush. The team may never have been this loaded with so many talented receivers. The Bucs are an easy five-deep at running back, each likely could start for another squad. [read more]

“Keep grinding, my son.”

Joe’s written countless times how gosh darn lucky the Bucs are to have Mike Glennon on the roster.

The man is a good backup quarterback. He played very well for a third-round rookie last year.

[read more]

Tampa Bay Times writers have their edge detectors up

Preaching patience to media in various ways yesterday, something he did earlier this week, Lovie Smith now has multiple media types wondering whether the head coach is edgy and/or grumpy, or just being a little playful. [read more]

Twice over the past week, Bucs general manager Jason Licht has talked about how his role is “to serve the head coach.”

Licht used those specific words on the Buccaneers Radio Network and on SiriusXM NFL Radio. [read more]