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So how would you defend the Buccaneers?
Before you make an offensive line joke, consider that the line won’t be that dreadful on every play, and hopefully a lot better when the Bucs rollout their real offense. [read more]
Lovie Smith and Jonathan Casillas weigh in
Often overlooked, especially when a team’s offensive line drives fans to commit dangerous acts, specials teams are a critical component to any winning football team.
Lovie Smith offered praise for what he saw Friday night, and one of his special teams aces weighed in, too. [read more]
General manager Jason Licht (right) was on the field and studying action in the trenches at One Buc Palace today.
Rain didn’t stop the Bucs from having a spirited training camp practice this evening at One Buc Palace. And Joe was on hand be your eyes and ears.
Here are highlights and lowlights. [read more]
The NFL has a fight on its hands and it has nothing to do with litigious lawyers trying to score both an easy payday and water down the NFL as we know it. No, the war is with HDTV.
It’s increasingly clear that fun-loving, beer-swilling, hardcore football fans prefer the at-home experience to the in-game experience. [read more]
The Bucs’ defensive line was nasty good Friday night, and newcomer defensive tackle Clinton McDonald was right in the middle of it all.
The man with the shiny new Super Bowl ring, however, isn’t where fans should expect him to be. [read more]
Former Bucs TE and current BSPN football analyst Anthony Becht offered an interesting thought on repairing the Bucs’ porous offensive line.
Bucs fans have one thing on their minds (no, not Bucs cheerleader Tricia Cusmano) and that won’t going to change until Tampa Bay shoes improvement. The subject? You guessed it: The offensive line.
Former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht appeared on WDAE-AM 620 this morning and, like everyone else, he had to search for antacids after watching the first team offensive line Friday night. [read more]
Bucs defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier seems confident with his defensive charges.
Yes, you know Joe pondered through the summer just how the Bucs were going to put together a decent offensive line; Joe wasn’t totally sold this line could get the job done. As we all saw Friday night, Joe’s fears were legitimate.
The one area that didn’t worry Joe was the defense. The Bucs already had one of the better defenses in takeaways and, with Lovie Smith’s defense, he would get the best out of stud tackle Gerald McCoy and find a way to get to quarterbacks. [read more]
There’s a clear pattern to the impressive catches Mike Evans has made in practice. They all seem to be over the middle of the field.
But that’s new terrain for the Bucs’ first-round draft pick, who offered Joe a little detail yesterday. [read more]
The Bucs legitimately go four-deep at running back with Doug Martin, Charles Sims, Bobby Rainey and Mike James.
That’s a nice luxury, but it’s especially unnecessary when/if your offensive line can’t open a hole. [read more]
A former Bucs offensive lineman is appalled
A big voice on local sports radio is former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996), who co-hosts the Ron and Ian show heard weekdays on WDAE-AM 620. And one might have guessed Beckles would have a harsh word or two for the Bucs’ offensive line performance on Friday in Jacksonville.
And Beckles did.
He took to the airwaves this morning and cautioned fans not to read much into any preseason opener, but that came with a giant “but,” as it related to the O-line debacle. [read more]
Some may not realize that players are graded by coaches after each game, even after practice.
But a preseason game grade means a lot. And Lovie Smith has a different grading style, one that stands out, even among Super Bowl head coaches. [read more]
Peter King of theMMQB.com offers his takes on Josh McCown and the Bucs’ 2014 fate. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
There is no way one could properly grade Bucs quarterback Josh McCown in Friday’s game. How could one when he was running for the hills at nearly every snap?
Now if we were judging McCown on his escapability or his ability to flee from would-be car jackers, well, Joe would have to give him a B+.
But it seems fight-instigating, barista-training, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball box score-reading Peter King, of theMMQB.com and NBC Sports fame, thinks much better of McCown. [read more]
Those trying to get inside Lovie Smith’s head to figure out where he stands on the eventual 53-man roster might want to take note of the head coach’s comments on SiriusXM NFL Radio yesterday.
Lovie sat down for an in-depth chat on all things Bucs and was asked to name some potentially off-the-radar standouts. [read more]
Bucs G Oneil Cousins talks about the trainwreck that was the offensive line play Friday night.
If there is one thing Joe has learned about professional athletes, it’s to go gentle immediately after a practice or a game (especially a loss). Generally, they are so worn out talking isn’t always what they want to do.
Hell, Joe was once cussed out by Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson after the then-60-something threw batting practice (Gibson later apologized to Joe because he said he was having an asthma attack and couldn’t talk at the time he left the field because he couldn’t breathe). [read more]
Cornerback Alterraun Verner, seen here guarding Chris Owusu in a previous practice, returned to full pads this afternoon. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
It got to the point that Bucs cornerback Alterraun Verner had missed so many practices (out since July 27) that his seemingly ever-present Bucs floppy hat was his uniform. Verner, who the Bucs grabbed to replace All-World corner Darrelle Revis, tweaked his hamstring since the underwear football days of training camp.
Since, Verner has been nothing but a spectator, yes, wearing his trademark floppy hat. About the best workout he got in was signing dozens of autographs after each and every practice. [read more]
Bucs rookie WR Robert Herron has made few catches like this in training camp. But after a good catch in the first preseason game, and several catches today, maybe Herron has cured himself of the dropsies? Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.
This spring, Bucs rookie wideout Robert Herron sure looked like a keeper. The guy was lethal in crossing patterns, catching balls and throwing it into Roadrunner overdrive, leaving defensive backs to eat his cinders.
Yes, that was underwear football. When the big boys decided to put on the pads in training camp, Herron couldn’t catch the measles. Balls bounced off his hands far more often than he could catch a pass. [read more]
The GM is focused on the trenches
Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht always talk about how they’re constantly trying to improve their football team and scouring other teams to do it.
But Licht emphasized a couple of specific areas during a chat on SiriusXM NFL Radio this afternoon. [read more]
Oneil Cousins is on the move.
The veteran Bucs newcomer, playing at right guard during Friday night’s debacle in Jacksonville, has a new job.
Hard work continued at One Buc Palace this afternoon, as fans and media watched your beloved Bucs run through a physical training camp practice from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Joe’s got all kinds of notes, nuggets and need-to-knows: [read more]
