Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune discuses options in the wake of Bucs G Carl Nicks leaving the team.

So the mystery of what will become of guard Carl Nicks with the Bucs is no longer a mystery. The Bucs announced today they parted ways with Nicks, who never recovered fully from a combination of turf toe and the MRSA.

Bucs fans are spending this Friday night at a local watering hole, trying to somehow drink enough to forget what a massive hole is left on the offensive line. Even Nicks at 80 percent was better than most. [read more]

Lovie Smith spoke this evening about how he wanted his whole team to focus on losing fat but not strength this offseason. [read more]

Bucs LDE Adrian Clayborn believes his new responsibility will result in solid play and bruised quarterbacks.

One interesting thing about this year’s training camp will be how guys perform under the new regime, guys who may not have hit their ceilings yet.

Enter Adrian Clayborn. Formerly the starting right defensive end, he has had an up and down career in his first three seasons with Tampa Bay. The former first round pick blew out a knee two years ago and that may have hindered his production last year. [read more]

There was at least a little action during this lightning-abbreviated practice, and some rookies feeling a little heat.

It’s Joe’s daily practice notes and observations. Joe’s your eyes and ears at practice.

After stretching, players get into about five minutes of drills before practice is halted for nearly two hours for lightning. But the players got back on the field for about 30 minutes of work.

*In the little bit of pass-play installation work seen against defense (but no linemen) Chris Owusu and Vincent Jackson are the receivers with the first team. Rookie Mike Evans is waiting his turn. A handful of two-tight-end looks with Tim Wright and Brandon Myers. [read more]

Not much happened at tonight’s lightning-abbreviated practice, but afterwards there was plenty of action (stick with Joe for all kinds of goodies tonight and tomorrow).

Speaking to assembled media, Lovie Smith named his top guards in his starting rotation for training camp practice — for now. [read more]

Opening day of Bucs training camp amounted to about 30 minutes of training and about 30 minutes of practicing. Lightning delayed practice at One Buc Palace and a second series of bolts cleared the fields of One Buc Palace for good.

Lovie Smith waved the white flag. [read more]

Just a couple of hours after the Bucs announced that the team and stud guard Carl Nicks parted ways, Bucs general manager Jason Licht met with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club to discuss the transaction.

Though Licht spoke highly of Nicks, he refused to give any details about a possible financial settlement of any sort with Nicks, nor would he discuss any salary cap ramifications. [read more]

There’s a reason Carl Nicks hasn’t reported to training camp.

Agents, lawyers and team officials have been finalizing the end of Nicks’ Tampa Bay career behind the scenes. And now it’s over. [read more]

The fun didn’t last long. The Bucs barely finished stretching before the first of many lightning delay of training camp. Shoot, Joe literally just sat down in the bleachers and all of a sudden, there was the roar of the lighting alarm.

Stick with Joe through the evening for news and notes from the first practice of training camp — once it resumes.

Update 5:50 p.m.: practice should resume no earlier than 6:45 p.m.

Joe’s partners at WDAE-AM 620 had Lovie Smith on the air this afternoon and later reported that Carl Nicks will not be at training camp today, the opening day of on-field activities.

Feel free to speculate.

Joe’s heard loud rumblings that Nicks’ Bucs career is over. Stick with Joe through the night for all kinds of news from training camp.

Joe was up with the chickens on Thursday and cruised down Hillsborough Avenue in the way-too-early hours. But hey, the Bucs, minus human armoire Carl Nicks, were reporting to training camp about 6:30 a.m.

Who could pass on such excitement? Josh McCown stopped to talk to gathered reporters, and one question posed to him elicited a response of “I don’t know.” [read more]

The Lovie Smith era opens wide for fans this evening at One Buc Palace. Practice kicks off at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 7. Admission is free.

Inevitably, Joe will hear voices in the crowd saying where’s Mike Glennon what kind of soft practice is this? [read more]

Has the often punished “Hawk” found a valuable friend?

Maybe.

Bucs icon and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks has a new job with the NFL. [read more]

The Bucs’ GM explains

Of course nobody knows what the Jeff Tedford Buccaneers offense will look like. The man is an artist. Artists know no bounds. They’re not locked in a traditional box. Their creativity results in free expression that will tantalize, surprise and bewilder.

Joe sort of learned all this from Bucs general manager Jason Licht. [read more]

No, leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman wasn’t worthy of the dubious list.

Yes, the recent “The Countdown: Worst 20 Buccaneers Of The Past 10 Years” was very popular.

But in some circles, it angered Tampa Bay fans.

It wasn’t like Bucs fans did not enjoy guessing who would land on the dubious list. They were mad because [insert a player’s name] was not included, or at the top of the list, even. So Joe decided to explain why those whose absence irked many readers did not make the list. [read more]

Joe’s jumping in for a pre-training-camp chat with the popular Ron and Ian show this morning at 10 a.m. on WDAE-AM 620.

Always a fun time. Click below to listen online.

Bucs TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins declared himself fully recovered from offseason surgery.

For the most part, even to the Tampa Bay pen and mic club, rookie tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a mystery. Not only was he recovering from foot surgery to stabilize a fracture during Bucs spring practices, ASJ rarely attended.

University of Washington is on a quarter system and the school’s schedule was a conflict. Per NFL rules, rookies whose college hours conflict with OTAs or minicamps cannot participate.

Joe knows Bucs general manager Jason Licht liked his tight ends prior to the draft (in particular, Tim Wright) but ASJ had really wowed both Bucs coach Lovie Smith and Licht big time while they studied pre-draft film. [read more]

Bucs WR Mike Evans chose an interesting workout partner this summer to prep for training camp.

The man Bucs general manager Jason Licht tabbed “Godzilla” is ready to rock and roll across NFL fields as his namesake did Tokyo. Bucs wide receiver and seventh-overall draft pick Mike Evans is ready.

The first round draft pick held court, briefly, with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club as he arrived at One Buc Palace for his first NFL training camp. Evans noted a few things that opened Joe’s eyes. [read more]

Right now for Bucs fans, thinking of the offensive line is enough to induce chugging bottles of Mylanta. It makes Joe thirsty, too, but not for a chalky indigestion elixir.

The Bucs, as of 6 p.m. last night, fully expected hobbled guard Carl Nicks to show up today. He didn’t; he has an excused absence to tend to a family issue. Nicks, as we all know by now, has a bum foot, specifically a bum toe, and has played sparingly since coming to the Bucs in 2012. [read more]