The Bucs’ newest big fella was on the practice field today learning and growing, Raheem Morris said, along with acting like a man who “loves football” in position meetings and mingling in a positive fashion with Adrian Clayborn and Brian Price.

Raheem relayed the positive report on Albert Haynesworth at his afternoon news conference, and Raheem laughed when asked about Haynesworth’s fitness.

Reporter: Did you put [Haynesworth] through a conditioning test?”

Raheem Morris: We’re in week 8 of the season. A conditioning test in Tampa would be going out and making it through practice. (Raheem said chuckling in apparent disbelief at the question)

I don’t know if you guys came to work today but it is steaming hot out there. He had a sweatbag on. He worked through it. He took all his reps that we asked him to take. And he came off the field when he had to come off the field and drank water with the rest of his football team.

During the barrage of questions about Haynesworth, Raheem also explained that the defense experienced a “significant dropoff” without Gerald McCoy. And Raheem clarified that he saw Haynesworth as rougly a 30 snap player if he’s is in a full-time role.

Joe’s really looking forward to Sunday. What better test for Haynesworth than arguably the NFL’s best running game.

Raheem Morris said he was trying to light a fire under Geno Hayes with the fourth-year linebacker getting benched against New Orleans. However, Hayes won’t get to come out against Houston on Sunday like a yungry man possessed.

He’ll be a “part-time” linebacker on Sunday, per Morris’ words at his news conference yesterday. The starting lineup at LB won’t change, says Raheem, meaning Adam Hayward, Mason Foster and Quincy Black will get the call.

Joe’s not getting it. If the Bucs have hopes of reviving Hayes and the splash plays he can bring, then why not put the kid in the starting lineup and see if the wake-up call worked?

As Joe wrote Monday, it’s becoming glaringly clear these are Hayes’ last days in Tampa. Raheem has admitted he needs better play from his linebackers, and Foster (rookie) and Black (wealthy) aren’t going anywhere.

Joe has to give Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik credit. A lot of team executives, after making a controversial player acquisition, would hide behind a desk.

Not Dominik. He’s been talking about the move and opened up to NFL Network’s Albert Breer.

A story will be posted later on NFL.com, Breer Twittered, but he also posted a few of Dominik’s thoughts on Haynesworth on Twitter.

In short, Dominik claims that Haynesworth is “happy” to be in Tampa Bay and his leash is short with the Bucs.

@AlbertBreer: Had a good talk last night with Bucs GM Mark Dominik on Haynesworth. Asked if Haynesworth’s leash is short. His response: “Sure it is.” … Dominik also told me that Haynesworth was adamant about “how happy he was coming to Tampa, and that this is a system he wants to play in.”

This is going to be interesting. If Haynesworth truly is “happy” as Dominik suggested, perhaps he will be motivated.

If not… welp.

Like only he can, Adam Schein lets it all hang out on Albert Haynesworth’s time in New England in this FoxSports.com video.

Joe has to admit it: He was shocked when he learned rock star GM Mark Dominik claimed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth off of waivers yesterday.

The Bucs were the lone team to put in a claim for the former Patriots (and Redskins and Titans) defender.

Count one former Bucs defensive lineman out of lockstep with Dominik’s latest move. That would be Steve White. Just on Tuesday, White was on “Primetime,” heard on WHBO-AM 1040, all but pleading with Dominik not to make the move.

After the deed was done, White took to Twitter and passionately blasted the move.

@sgw94: Got a talented team that’s underperforming and totally undisciplined? I have perfect answer for you. ALBERT HAYNESWORTH LADIES AND GENTS!!! … Another fair warning to any Bucs fans about to click send: I know football. You can like this move all u want but I wont. Dont try me tho … I’m actually going to sit back and laugh and SOME of you dumbasses when this blow up tho

White was not the only person who did a double-take at the Haynesworth acquisition. So too did Albert Breer of the NFL Network.

@AlbertBreer: Even with Gerald McCoy’s injury creating a need, Haynesworth move is easy to question for a Bucs team that values its locker room culture.

That’s the reason why Joe was shocked at the news. Dominik is careful about perceived bad influences on his young roster. That’s part of the reason why Derrick Ward was jettisoned last year. That’s also an element in why Stylez White was let go.

This just reinforces Joe’s belief that signing Haynesworth is a move of desperation.

THE PESSIMIST is a diehard Bucs fan whose negative writings appear occasionally on JoeBucsFan.com.

His views surely do not necessarily reflect those of Joe. However, Joe sure gets a kick out of them.

THE PESSIMIST felt compelled to emerge from his self-imposed lockout to comment on this glorious Albert Haynesworth signing, just in case the man with the worst work ethic in the NFL is back on the street soon. 

Congratulations, Mark Dominik, for taking your underwear off, putting on your big boy pads, and putting on your win-now Chucky face.

THE PESSIMIST and real fans have our hearts and wallets in this game to win at all costs immediately — not play some fantasy lasting contender game that banks on players maturing perfectly and nobody getting injured. You like fantasy football? That’s fantasy football.

Real football is building the best possible team to win now, the kind of stuff fans of the Falcons, Saints, Jets and others lap up like starved dogs.

THE PESSIMIST is sickened by Bucs fans that would rather see Roy Miller act like Sean Mahan against the Texans, or have Da’Quan Bowers or someone else play out of position, rather than see if the Bucs can motivate Haynesworth to get after it for half a game or more.

Haynesworth is the best available option for the Bucs in this game. Period.

If Raheem can’t motivate Haynesworth for Sunday, then Raheem isn’t the man he thinks he is. Because THE PESSIMIST guarantees that Raheem is fired up and bouncing off the walls getting ready to deliver his famous core beliefs to Haynesworth in the morning — like Haynesworth never heard it from the last two old, stuffy coaches previously trying to motivate him.

This is your moment, Raheem. Shine, brother, shine.

For everything this signing represents for this year and beyond, THE PESSIMIST considers Haynesworth the most exciting thing to happen to the Bucs since they put their balls on the table and drafted Da’Quan Bowers.

Amid the euphoria/hysteria/disbelief over the Albert Haynesworth signing today, Frank Okam remains a glaring name on the Bucs’ new injury report. He’s still listed with a calf pull and didn’t practice Wednesday.

Given Okam’s mountainous size and his position, this doesn’t bode well for his availability Sunday. And for Joe that means one thing: Haynesworth is going to start on Sunday, assuming he’s not cut before then.

Speaking on WDAE-AM 620 tonight, Mark Dominik said Haynesworth’s evaluation is a week-to-week process, meaning he’s not necessarily in Tampa for the whole season.

It’s pretty darn clear to Joe that as long as Haynesworth doesn’t go all mental patient in the next 48 hours (Joe wouldn’t bet against it), then he’ll have a chance to play hero for the home crowd if the Bucs can slow the Texans’ stunning running game and generate some pressure off the edges.

Joe’s still stunned. Who could have imagined that fans might be running to buy Haynesworth Bucs jerseys by Monday. On that note, Dominik said the Bucs’ newest manbeast is likely to wear No. 95 and not have a special number request before he hits the practice field tomorrow morning.

The Albert Haynesworth signing has Joe wondering whether the Bucs’ grand master build-through-the-draft plan has been altered and, if so, why?

Clearly Haynesworth is Exhibit A of why not to rely on a free agent. And he’s pretty high on the questionable character list. (Joe’s being kind.)

Yet here he is — on his way to Tampa to join and influence the “yungriest” unit on the Buccanners.

Hell, two weeks ago after the injury to Earnest Graham on The Raheem Morris Show, the head coach told a caller asking about a Tiki Barber signing that Tiki was like a family member to him but the Bucs were all about building through the draft and staying within the organization so don’t look for Tiki.

Now all along rockstar general manager Mark Dominik has said that free agency is to be used when you fail in the draft. Michael Koenan is the easiest example.

So barring a new philosophy in place, one can only surmise that the Bucs see a significant element of failure among their last three picks at defensive tackle, in addition to needing a live body.

Don’t get Joe wrong. Joe’s dying to see Hayenesworth resurrect his glory years. And if he does, look for the Bucs to get a lot more comfortable bringing in veterans next year.

One of the very first near-misses Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik whiffed on when he took the helm of the football operations of the Bucs was to sign the man formerly referred to as “Facestomper,” Albert Haynesworth, to a free agent deal.

Reportedly, Dominik offered the troubled defensive tackle more cash than the Redskins, which is where Haynesworth landed.

Whether it is a sign of dogged determination by Dominik or a sign of desperation with the Bucs in dire need of a defensive tackle due to injuries, with just 12 sacks this season, or perhaps the very real possibiity of slipping below the .500 mark, Dominik apparently has agreed to terms with Haynesworth, so Twitters Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

@ TBO_Buccaneers: the Bucs have claimed DT Albert Haynesworth off waivers. Bucs GM says move predicated by loss of Gerald McCoy.

Color Joe stunned. Haynesworth wore out his welcome with the Titans, all but started bonfires on the White House lawn in Washington so he could be released, and was reported to have been involved in a shouting match with a Patriots assistant coach that got him on the free market this week.

And this is a guy the Bucs want to influence a “youngry” roster?

Seems more desperation than dogged pursuit.

In this TBO Bucs vlog, Woody Cummings and his cohort eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune discuss the future of the Bucs and look back at the loss to the Saints. Kaufman put the loss squarely on the shoulders of the defense, suggesting the Bucs’ defense may not have been “ready.”

Fifteen year NFL veteran and former Bucs tight end Dave Moore, the Buccaneers radio color analyst, gets to look at the fancy “coach’s tape” of Bucs games to really see what’s happening on the field, not the distorted TV feed fans watch on Sundays.

Moore has studied the Saints-Bucs game and said he sees a Bucs defense that is physically up to the task but is executing poorly and an entire team that is very undisciplined. Moore made the comments on The Dan Sileo Show on WDAE-AM 620 yesterday.

“As far as the assignments, your run fits on defense, you know, they’re calling the defense soft, but you break down the film from the endzone, there’s just guys not in their gaps,” Moore said. “There’s some guys that are holding their gaps. There’s some penetration in the backfield. They’re certainly not getting manhandled. They had a lot of mis-tackles and a lot of guys that just weren’t in their gaps. And that’s player responsibility. That’s your job as a professional.

“‘Hey, I know that I’m responsible for this gap. This gap is all the way out by the numbers I gotta keep my face in the gap.’ On offense, ‘Hey, this formation, I know I gotta line up here. I gotta know that I can’t go in motion when somebody else is moving. I gotta know if I’m in for the X, I gotta be at that spot and I gotta line up at this position.’ They are the details they’re not taking care of and it needs to be cleaned up.

“But like I said, the big picture, if they didn’t have halfway decent talent, I promise you. I played on some teams in the early ’90s, if we weren’t playing our best ball we wouldn’t be within 14 points of the opponent. These guys [now] are not playing near where they’re capapble of playing, and they’re still lingering in ball games.”

Moore went on to say that all that ails the Bucs is “fixable” and the team is definitely not lacking in talent. That’s somewhat soothing to Joe, though troubling at the same time.

If the Bucs laid an undisciplined, sloppy egg coming off a bye week in a crucial division game, then it’s hard to imagine they can fix that in a hurry.

Texans linebacker Brian Cushing, right, is one reason the Texans have the best defense in the NFL.

It was bad enough for Joe to learn defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, a critical cog in the Bucs front line, is gone for the season.

It was bad enough for Joe to see that the powers that be at One Buc Palace still can’t get through to the coaching staff that LeGarrette Blount is not a weapon, if he only sparingly gets the ball.

But the news is getting worse. The Bucs will be facing what is now deemed as the best defense in the NFL in the Houston Texans, so writes veteran NFL scribe John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.

In Wade Phillips’ first season as defensive coordinator, the Texans have allowed 274 yards per game. They rank fourth against the run (91.4) and second against the pass (182.6).

The dramatic improvement of the pass defense is astonishing. The Texans were last in 2010, allowing 267.5 yards per game.

One reason the Texans (6-3) have a 1½-game lead over the Titans (4-4) in the AFC South is because they’ve surrendered only 2,466 yards. Through nine games last season, they had allowed 3,687. That’s an improvement of 33 percent.

Right now it is futile to beg, plead, stomp for Blount to run the ball more because Joe’s cries are falling of deaf ears.

So for the Bucs to beat the Texans, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman is going to have to channel his success of last year. In short, he will have to play his best game of the season.

Well, Bucs fans who can’t scrape together a few shekels over the course of six months to go to a home game can celebrate.

The Cowboys game on Saturday night, Dec. 17, has sold out.

Also, Bucs fans who steadfastly refuse to go to Bucs games can enjoy the game at home, relaxing while they watch the contest on the glorious NFL Network.

Joe takes in a lot of email from his many thousands of daily readers, but never more than yesterday and today.

So Joe feels compelled to answer a few common questions here to save Joe time and, hopefully, to entertain.

Q. I’ve written to you before Joe and so have some of my friends. You really have to start an Occupy One Buc movement. It’s time the Glazers heard how angry we are that they’re playing fat cat owners but won’t buy us a good team or a good coach. We should all be marching at One Buc every [@#$%&] weekend. Why are you such a puss and scared to speak out. — James F. [Government IP address]

A. James, it’s football. Get ahold of yourself. Joe’s not a “puss” and Joe sees no reason to lead a revolution on One Buc Palace. If you want to organize one that has more than, say, a dozen screaming protesters, Joe would be happy to write about it. But Joe’s not big into joining radical freak shows. Fans get to voice their displeasure, if they have any, with their dollars, their voices at games, and on the Internet. All three are heard loud and clear at One Buc Palace. What cracks Joe up about guys like you is that nearly all in your camp pegged the Bucs as a seven- or eight-win team this year at best. So why so angry now? The team is what you thought they were. Joe might have a more frothy outlook if the Bucs drop four of their next five.

Q. You make me sick, Joe, how you call Dominik “rockstar GM.” Nobody even buys tickets to his show. What kind of rock star is that? You’re a shameful shill for the organization. I hope Dominik’s panties smell good. — Chris Z.

A. To clarify, Joe has never sniffed another man’s undergarments and Joe would bet Dominik doesn’t wear panties, though what a man does under his zipper is not Joe’s business. Joe likes the “rockstar” nickname, born from the wave of national interview requests Dominik fielded after the last two drafts. Drafts take years to grade legitimately after the initial impressions. Dominik’s first draft [2009] should be able to get a fair assessment after this season.  Assuming Freeman doesn’t implode for the rest of 2011, just snatching him alone that year is enough to get Dominik a good 2009 grade. No, Dominik hasn’t proven to be a Hall of Fame GM in 2 1/2 years, but Joe’s going to stick with “rockstar.”

Q. Hey Joe, the Bucs cut Chad Spann. They didn’t even give him a chance. Did you see that? — BucJon99

A. Yes, Joe sees nearly everything, but Joe really doesn’t report transactions. Most practice squad moves don’t arouse Joe, so Joe doesn’t write about them. If it bores Joe, then it won’t show up here.

Q. Joe, you’re so damn negative about the Bucs. You’re probably not even a Bucs fan. Ever since your dumb site started you rip the Bucs. They’re 4-4-you idiot and every fan with a brain knows they would play this kind of football with a tougher schedule and a young roster. All you want is Raheem out of town. —Anonymous

A. Some people say Joe is too negative. Some people say Joe is too positive. (See above). Joe can’t win, and Joe’s not trying to. You can rest assured Joe is a Bucs fan. Joe could make a lot more money doing other things than following the Bucs 24/7. In fact, Joe’s writings here are done in between his “real jobs.” Joe’s never called for Raheem’s head, not even after 3-13, so you’re ridiculous on that point. Joe wants the Bucs to win regardless who is coaching. However, Joe would be the first to say that if Raheem doesn’t take the Bucs to the playoffs next year, then, barring a truly bizarre set of circumstances, it’s time for a new head coach.  

While Saints cornerback Tracy Porter lay on the Superdome turf with a serious neck injury Sunday, Mike Williams, the guy he collided with early in the first quarter, was banged up as well.

Williams stayed in the game and battled to the finish. Joe assumed Williams was fine, but Raheem Morris isn’t so sure, so he said last night on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620.

Raheem said Williams had a significant thigh bruise and will try his best to be ready for Sunday.

The Bucs can’t afford to be without Williams for any significant length of time, if they have designs on the playoffs. However, Joe would be very curious to see the receiving corps for a game without him. More action for the rest of the group could very well provide a spark.

Yesterday in his monologue discussing the Bucs’ depressing loss to the Saints, Shaun King, who co-hosts the “too-Jewish” sounding King David Show along with Toby David, heard on WQYK-AM 1010, laid the blame for the loss at the feet of two individuals.

King, who is only one of three quarterbacks to lead the Bucs to an NFC title game, said Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman was to blame for the loss, as well as Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik.

Being a former NFL quarterback, he had some very interesting observations on what ails Freeman. But King saved most of his wrath for Dominik, who King believes has failed to stock the Bucs roster with requisite talent to win in the NFL, and lashed out at the third-year Bucs general manager.

Dominik expects Morris “to make lemonade but he doesn’t have any lemons or sugar,” King railed about Dominik.

The entire monologue can be heard by clicking on the little button below.

Audio courtesy of WQYK-AM 1010. [Tip O’the hat to Justin]

[audio: ShaunKingonSaints.mp3]

Raheem Morris implied that technique, or lack thereof, had a lot to do with Gerald McCoy’s latest torn bicep against the Saints. That comment came at Raheem’s Monday afternoon news conference.

But during The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620 last night, the head coach was asked to elaborate and made it clear that McCoy’s season-ending injury was the result of sloppy fundamentals.

“It goes back to Pop Warner. All your Pop Warner coaches tell you, ‘Don’t arm tackle.’ And that’s exactly why,” Raheem said. “You gotta put your chest on people. You gotta have your eyes up. Sky your eyes and do the right thing all the time, or it’s going to happen in football. You’re going to get hurt.”

McCoy is a painful loss for the Bucs. Though the Bucs have won games — this season and last — with Frank Okam starting, McCoy was improved this year and a key piece of the puzzle.

And it’s even more painful to lose McCoy to a “Pop Warner” mistake when he’s earning Hall of Fame money.

Now before Joe gets rolling here, let Joe be crystal clear: Joe is not advocating in any way for a coaching change for the Bucs. To do so now is absurd; the Bucs are 4-4.

But if anything has taught Joe to never predict the future, it has been this week with Joe Paterno of all people, a true icon with a half-century of untarnished, pristine, stellar work on his resume, is now suddenly embroiled in the most sordid of ugly scandals that has rocked the American sports landscape to its very core.

It is with that background that Joe brings word of an interesting piece by good guy Charlie Campbell, a former Bucs beat reporter for Pewter Report.

Campbell now writes for WalterFootball.com and his main gig is monitoring the NFL draft, but he also writes about the NFL in general.

In a column he penned called “Non-Obvious Hotseats,” Campbell has four NFL coaches listed who could be out of work come the end of the season.

The fourth coach Campbell lists is Bucs coach Raheem Morris.

The Buccaneers could exercise an opt-out option in Morris contract to not have him return next season. One of the draws to Morris has been how cheap he has been for Tampa Bay. They have gotten their defensive coordinator and head coach for $2 million or less the past three seasons. Under former head coach Jon Gruden they were paying between $6-7 million for Gruden and coordinator Monte Kiffin. Next year is the first in which the Bucs owners, the Glazers, won’t be paying Gruden $4 million. Between that $4 million and the $2 million they would save from cutting Morris loose, they could sign a big-name head coach. Morris is well liked by the players, but the Glazers and general manager Mark Dominik may want a coach who evokes more disciplined and professional behavior on and off the field from himself and his players. Twice the Glazers have fired the franchise’s all-time winningest head coach in Gruden and Tony Dungy.

Campbell makes a point that Joe has made previously: Team Glazer sent community activist and fan favorite Father Dungy packing because he couldn’t get past the Eagles in the postseason, and because his concept of an offense made Woody Hayes roll in his grave.

Then Chucky came to town and won a Super Bowl. But, like Father Dungy, Chucky couldn’t develop a quarterback and found winning a playoff game dicey and he too was jettisoned.

Father Dungy and Chucky have far, far, far more pelts on the wall than Morris has.

Does Joe expect Team Glazer to exercise that opt-out clause? No.

Would it shock Joe if Team Glazer exercised that opt-out clause?

Absolutely not.

So tuck this little nugget away in the back of your cranium come January. As Joe shockingly found out over the weekend, if the saintly Paterno can be fingered for having a child predator roaming amid his football offices, any NFL team making a coaching change wouldn’t cause a ripple of surprise by comparison.

Clarification: Joe recognizes it was widely reported that the Bucs picked up the option on Raheem’s contract through 2012. However, this opt-out clause referenced by Campbell is something brand new. Joe can’t vouch for its accuracy, other than to say Campbell has excellent sources.

The Bucs are stuck in the middle. Really.

After watching the depressing loss to the Saints yesterday, the Bucs are teetering between a good team and a bad team, but not enough in either direction, so writes the Tampa Bay voice of reason, Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune.

The Bucs are not quite good enough to make the playoffs and not quite bad enough to get in a decent draft position.

In other words, the Bucs are stuck.

Coach Raheem Morris seems to understand the problems that helped put his team in this precarious position, which is good. His solutions, however, have failed to provide a remedy, so that’s bad.

If this keeps up, the Bucs could hang around on the fringes of the wild-card race, but raise your hand if you believe they’re good enough to actually crash the postseason party.

They hang their hat on being physical, yet the Saints out-hit them Sunday. They pride themselves on defense, but the Saints controlled the ball. They are young, which can mean exuberant. But they can’t control that exuberance, which leads to an absurdly large number of penalties. They had nine more for 80 yards against the Saints.

To have a realistic prayer of making the playoffs, the Bucs must win six of their next eight games. Even if the Bucs win 10 games, as we found out last year, that may not be enough. The Bucs still have to play the Packers, still have to play Houston, still have to play the Dixie Chicks again and two games against a dangerous Panthers team.

The way the Bucs have played the past couple of weeks, with issues such as penalties and impotent starting showing zero signs of evaporating, it may be too big of a hill for the Bucs to climb.

Joe must confess. With a scoreless game in the first quarter and the Bucs in field goal range, Joe was so certain Raheem Morris would kick a field goal on a 4th-and-1 from the Saints 28 yard line that Joe put down his notepad and headed to the fridge.

At the time, Joe couldn’t fathom Raheem not letting one of the surest kickers in the NFL, Connor Barth, give him a lead, so Joe opted to grab more guacamole and a fresh cold one.

But Raheem went for it instead, and LeGarrette Blount got stuffed. Raheem explained what went wrong on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620 tonight. He said Demar Dotson allowed too much spacing that gave Saints penetration and “caused LeGarrette Blount to stop-stutter his feet in the backfield.”

“We created too much space. We had some movement right there before the snap by a young football player,” Raheem said. “It’s got to be tight spacing. It has to be double blocked, double-team blocks driving people off the ball. That little bit of space, that little bit of movement at the end [caused] us to not execute that play effectively.”

Raheem also talked about the move to bring in Josh Johnson to convert what appeard to be an option call on 3rd-and-4, a move that perplexed Bucs fans but not the Saints defense. The head coach defended the call with vigor and said it was simply ineffective blocking that doomed the play..

Cris Carter and Alex Loeb break down the Bucs loss to the Saints in this BSPN video.