There really has been nothing coming out of One Buc Palace this week to suggest running back LeGarrette Blount would not play this week, coming off a knee injury suffered against the 49ers.

But any doubt about Blount’s status has been laid to rest, thanks to Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski. Blount granted Pawlowski an exclusive interview, to be heard during the Bucs pregame show heard on the Bucs radio network hosted by Pawlowski himself.

Pawlowski, otherwise known as “The Commish,” wrote about his interview with Blount on his website.

To my surprise, when Blount and I entered the hallway, he told me that he enjoyed talking with me, which is when he told me that he will be playing on Sunday.

“It feels good. It feels real well,” Blount said about his knee. “No soreness, no pain, so we’re gonna test it out on Sunday.”

It is my opinion that the Buccaneers refrained from rushing Blount back from injury to soon to make sure he was fully recovered for the stretch run.

This is great news to read and of course no one is more happy about this than Joe.

Hope the knee is fine LeGarrette. You should be getting the rock 25 times Sunday.

The subject that won’t go away, the Bucs’ painfully slow starts to games, was thrown at Raheem Morris a couple of different ways today at his news conference.

Raheem emphatically said the Bucs’ struggles in that area have nothing to with coaches’ ability to motivate or the team’s competitive fire; it’s more the team trusting its coaching and executing.

But Raheem did offer one theory that seems to bear out a bit. Asked why the Bucs started well against New Orleans 2 1/2 weeks ago, Raheem said, “You know, maybe everbody just a little bit more comfortable because of their famaliarity with New Orleans, but we gotta get that every week, in a week of preparation with the whole football team. And we can. And we will.”

Looking back at the Bucs’ performances during this era, they have started better in games against division opponents compared to teams outside the division, including games against the Falcons and Saints this year.

Joe suspects the relative consistency against familiar foes isn’t a coincidence.

Popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, beer-guzzling Peter King has issued predictions for this week’s NFL games and King foresees the Bucs being repeatedly kneed in the groin by Drew Brees and the Saints, 33-17.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) at New Orleans Saints (5-3)
The Saints will come out angry, after suffering a legit beatdown at the hands of the winless Rams last week. Drew Brees doesn’t look like he can ever be angry, but just watch. On cue from Sean Payton, Brees will have another intergalactic day.

If the Bucs cannot get more than 17 points on the Saints with the worst rush defense in the league, then there should be serious questions about the direction of the Bucs.

Could the Saints beat the Bucs? Of course. Just as easily, the Bucs can thrash the Saints.

If there is a blowout by the Saints as King suggests, quite a few people at One Buc Palace would need to take a good, long look in the mirror Sunday night.

Mike Tripplett and James Varney discuss the mindset of the Saints after the “ghastly” loss to the Lambs last week in this New Orleans Times-Picayune video.

Hopefully, Josh Freeman is feeling his usual self now, but as of last night he wasn’t quite there yet. And Joe’s not talking about Freeman’s banged up thumb.

Speaking Wednesday evening on The Josh Freeman Show on WDAE-AM 620, No. 5 had a detailed conversation about the effects of jet lag with host Steve Duemig and explained that he still doesn’t feel back to normal.

“Yeah. I still [feel it]. It’s still kinda, you try to get back into a routine but it’s not quite the same, you know. The whole training camp, the season starts, you get into such a routine. And then you fly [roundtrip] to London and it kind of throws you off a little bit. It’s nothing huge, but it’s noticeable,” Freeman said.

Freeman said most teammates slept the entire morning (EST) flight to London but he forced himself to stay awake so he could acclimate to London time (5 hours ahead) faster.

Joe’s not worried about the Bucs and Freeman being able to peform Sunday, considering in the game following the 2009 trip to England they drilled the playoff-bound Packers, 38-28. However, Joe’s happy to point out anything that might lead the Bucs to reconsider another London game for 2012.

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One of happy stats of the day coming out of One Buc Palace tells us that the Bucs’ high-priced offensive line is doing its job keeping Josh Freeman upright.

Per the Buccaneers official Twitter feed, the Bucs are the most efficient pass protectors in the league.

@TBBuccaneers: Here’s a little stat for u that says a lot about the guys up front: TB ranks 1st in the NFL this year in fewest sacks allowed per pass play.

Kudos to the big boys up front.

Joe can only imagine how even better their numbers would be if the Bucs committed to a running game and Freeman ran three or four times a game. 

Prim Siripipat of BSPN spouts statistical rubbish concerning the Bucs-Saints game Sunday.

Joe has been stating how real football fans — men — have no excuse not to have the NFL Network. It’s that simple.

Viewers of the NFL Network learn all sorts of things, sometimes things not said, like yesterday.

While doing an interview with the NFL Network, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman was caught wearing a thumb brace on his throwing hand.

As Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times pointed out on Twitter and on his newspaper’s website, Freeman in practice showed no signs of an injury and his passes seemed normal.

Apparently, per Holder, Freeman’s right thumb was dinged in the ugly loss to the Bears on British soil.

This, obviously, bears monitoring during the Saints game and suggests to Joe even more strongly that the ball should be put in the hands of LeGarratte Blount.

A Bucs fan happened to call “Movin’ the Chains” Tuesday to discuss the Bucs-Saints game with co-hosts Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

In short, both Kirwan and Ryan suggested the Bucs run LeGarrette Blount early, often and constantly.

Tim Ryan: I’ll tell you how to judge how the game is going. Chart the game. The more the Bucs are in passing situations, third-and-long, the worse it will be for them. That gives [Saints defensive coordinator] Gregg Williams a chance to dial up his blitzes.

Pat Kirwan: The Saints are not strong on their rush defense. I’d run the big guy, LeGarrette Blount 20-25 times. Give him the ball. What are they averaging, giving up 5.5 yards a carry? Run the big guy. If Blount gets the ball 25 times, he should have 150 yards.

Ryan: I’d even run on passing situations. Run right at their blitzes, gash them.

Kirwan: Yes, once you get to the second level with Blount, it will be all over.

Joe believes this is absolute sound advice. Run at the Saints til the wheels fall off. There’s a reason Steven Jackson, nearing the end of his great career, went crazy on the Saints defense last week: Because the Saints can’t stop the run.

The way Josh Freeman is struggling of late, it’s a no-brainer to keep the ball on the ground.

The alleged Kellen Winslow/Josh Freeman issues are a non-issue to Freeman, so he explained in great detail tonight on The Josh Freeman Show on WDAE-AM 620.

Freeman took listeners into what was happening on the sidelines when FOX cameras caught a heated discussion between Winslow and Freeman during the Bucs-Saints game last month, and Freeman said he was suprised when he was peppered with Winslow questions after that game.

Kudos to host Steve Duemig for asking Freeman the question on the minds of legions of Bucs fans. Here’s Freeman’s response verbatim.

“To be completely honest, out of all my guys, I probably have the best relationship with K2. We spend a lot of time working out in the offseason, hangin’ out. I have a great relationship with K2. In no way shape or form has he ever pressured me to get him the ball. You know, it’s a deal where we’re both extremely competitive,” Freeman said. 

“I had a hundred people ask me post Saints game [this year], ‘Are you and Kellen alright? What’s going on between you guys?’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean? That’s two passionate guys that want to win a football game that are trying to get on even ground.’

“I don’t really care. I want to get it done. That’s kind of his feelings to. When we’re there, we’re talking football. And there’s no hard feelings, nothing going on between us, nothing extra-curricular.

“When we’re on the sideline, basically me and Kellen could have been in a 10-foot by 10-foot room having the same conversation and it would have been the exact same for us. I wanted him to speed up his routes. He said he kind of wanted to run them to their depth. I was like, ‘Well we gotta get the ball out. We just gotta get it out because they’re bringing one more guy than we can block. We need to get it going.’

“He was like, ‘Alright, well I want to just break it hot. I’ll just break it hot every time.

“I’m like, ‘Well don’t do that either. But I just need you to hurry up a little bit.’

“We just basically talked it out. That’s our way of doing it, you know. I didn’t feel any disrespect from Kellen and I hope he didn’t feel any from me. Because at the end of the day we’re still great friends and all we want to do is win football games.”

Listening in, Joe got a very candid vibe from Freeman. It was a great answer.

Interestingly, No. 5 admitted he’s been pressing throwing to Mike Williams and Winslow because he believes they’re the Bucs’ best receivers. And Freeman said Brian Urlacher told him after the game that the Bears were keying on him forcing balls to Winslow.

For those quivering at the thought of Corey Lynch playing 60 minutes against Drew Brees on Sunday, it seems Raheem Morris is not planning on that anytime soon.

Tanard Jackson is now two successful days into his return from a hamstring injury suffered in jolly ol’ England against the Bears, so reports the Bucs Twitter feed. 

@TBBuccaneers: S Tanard Jackson (hamstring) practiced for the 2nd straight day and moved around well, according to Coach Morris.

 

There was no sightseeing in London for Brian Price. No. 92 didn’t want to confuse business with pleasure, so he told fans on Total Access on WDAE-AM 620 Monday.

Price said he’s “a businessman” and for him the week overseas was all football and he’s no fan of distractions. Price said he doubted he’d return to London because the food was “horrible.”

It was a revealing interview by Price, one in which he talked about growing up in a very religious home in a rough neighborhood (Price lost both his brothers to violent crimes) and about how his heinous hips/hamstring injuries and surgeries changed his work ethic.

Brian Price: I love going to work. I wake up at 3 a.m. wishing it was 7 o’clock so I can be at work already.

Host T.J. Rives: Seriously?

Price: Man, you don’t know how it is being on IR. I’m just more hungry. … At first everthing was just given to me, but now I work so hard. I get up so early and come to work ready to work everyday. There’s not a day I want to slack. I’m just hungry. I just love getting better each and every day. Something new I work on every day. I just love it. I love this game. Having something that you love taken away from you hurts, so you never want it to leave your side again.”

“It was a humbling experience. You know I couldn’t bathe myself. I couldn’t change myself. Going through all that and not being able to run, I had to learn that all over again. It was a just a humbling experience that makes somebody hungry.”

Price went on to talk about how three days following his surgeries he was motivated to be in the gym lifting weights even though he couldn’t walk. “Half the weight I gained was pure muscle,” Price said.

He described the long road to get his legs moving and his wife challenging him to try and run. Price said he could only go 10 steps in his first run attempt and built up in extremely small increments from there. He recalled being excited weeks later, eagerly telephoning his wife in late July when he ran around the block three times.

As for his current health, Price says he’s “at 75 percent now.” And times when he’s seen limping at the end of a play or when trainers helped him off the field in London, Price said, it’s strictly pain-related.

Joe can’t say enough about what Price has pulled off this season. Consdering how effective he’s been, it should be pretty darn special to see what kind of season he turns out in 2012.

On Sunday’s Saints-Bucs game, Price is ready for a punishing Saints offensive line. “This is going to be a brawl,” Price said. “It’s like an alley brawl. You gotta pick up anything and hit somebody with it or you’re going to get hurt.”

Bucs fans in the blue-shaded areas of the country will be able to enjoy the Bucs-Saints game on their local FOX affiliates. Map courtesy of the506.com.

Bucs coach Raheem Morris discusses with Super Bowl-winning coach Brian Billick how he spent his bye week and how he is preparing for the Saints in this FoxSports.com video. Morris told Billick that he spent Sunday at a local sports bar and watched football all afternoon with fans. Were you one of the lucky fans? (Raheem revealed on his radio show that he was playing “fan man” at the Ale House and Wings Gone Wild and implored fans to support their local sports bars.)

Clinton Portis is not coming to the Bucs, so writes eye-RAH! Kaufman.

The bye week was good for Joe and bad for Bucs fans.

Joe relaxed during the bye week by spending an afternoon watching the Red Zone channel and bouncing from game to game while enjoying his NFL Sunday Ticket, all the while consuming copious amounts of adult beverages loaded with hops, without a care in the world.

Other Bucs fans spent the bye weekend looking under every rock imaginable and around every corner for a running back with a name they recognize, or touting running backs from colleges previously they had never heard of before, via the magic of YouTube.

Joe can’t count how many times he received e-mail, Twitter messages and Facebook queries for the Bucs to pick up Clinton Portis, Tiki Barber, Larry Johnson or the flavor of the day, Tashard Choice.

Joe was moderately surprised he didn’t hear from a Bucs fan clamoring for Shaun Alexander if not Eddie George.

(Just last night Joe had a back-and-forth with a fan on Twitter who asked — no, demanded — the Bucs sign Choice. When Joe tried to politely suggest there may be red flags with Choice given the fact 30 other NFL teams passed on Choice, said fan shot back “I don’t care about other teams, I care about the Bucs and the nearly infinite cap space unused when our 3rd down back goes [on injured reserve]. They need running back depth.” [FacePalm])

Hold up, says eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune.

Bucs fans can simply forget about the Bucs signing a veteran running back. Or wide receiver. Or any veteran skill player. So long as rock star general manager sits in the chair reserved for the Bucs head honcho of football operations, fans can just save their breathe and the wear and tear on their fingertips pleading for veterans to bolster the roster. It will not happen, Kaufman writes in a TBO.com Bucs question-and-answer feature.

Q: Are the Bucs looking into free agency to restore missing links in our offense? Terrell Owens is a good veteran eceiver and can open up our young receivers as a possesion receiver sure he wouldn’t cost much. Also, how about a veteran free agent running back like Clinton Portis? Our offense needs help fast! We are missing the deep ball and we should be averaging 100+ yards on the ground. This is what we need to be a playoff caliber team.

Tyrone Odom, San Diego, Calif.

A: Age is a major factor for the Bucs when it comes to looking for outside help. They are the league’s youngest team by design and Owens and Portis don’t fit into the master plan for the franchise. There is also a reluctance to go outside the organization for free agents. Right or wrong, the Bucs want to groom their own players and give youngsters a chance to step up. That philosophy isn’t about to change in the near future.

– eye-RAH! Kaufman

Dominik has said that time and again and for reasons Joe does not quite understand, many Bucs fans simply refuse to believe him, or are reluctant to listen.

Per Kaufman, if Bucs fans are banging the drum for picking up veteran free agents, they may best be served starting their own Yahoo fantasy team to soothe their pangs.

Saints DE Junior Galette, frustrated at getting shaken down by the Lambs, said he “can’t wait” to play the Bucs so he and his teammates can redeem themselves in this New Orleans Times-Picayune video.

An NFL fan to the core, Joe keeps his eye on what’s happening around the league. So when Joe recently saw credible reports that the Bills are paid about $10 million per game to play in Toronto rather than at their ancient stadium in Buffalo, Joe started thinking.

If the Bills get $10 million to play before roughly 50,000 fans in Toronto, how much is Team Glazer paid to play a before about 80,000 in London?

Forbes and The Tampa Tribune have reported that the average ticket price at Raymond James Stadium is $72. So if the place is sold out, the Bucs collect about $4.7 million in ticket revenue for a packed house in Tampa. That means if the Bucs are collecting about $10 million a game to play in England, like the Bills are in Toronto, then the Bucs are soaking up quite a tidy profit to trek over to London.

Veteran Tribune scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman reported that Roger Goodell told him there were “financial incentives” to being the home team for the annual NFL game overseas. Joe figured that meant more than a few quality lap dances and money to replace lost revenue in a team’s home city, but this kind of profit incentive is very healthy and hard to ignore. 

Given no forseeable end to local TV blackouts, Joe is resigned to seeing the Bucs make England their once-a-year home. The money is too good, and Joe expects the Bucs to keep creatively rationalizing why it’s a good thing for the team.

Today Josh Freeman referred to the “monkey on LeGarrette’s back.”

The QB was talking about LeGarrette Blount’s reputation of not being a capable third-down back. Speaking at his news conference today, Freeman said any thought of that is ancient history.

“He can do it. We’re out there doing a walk-through [today] throwing it around. When we got into the pass and the blitzes, I mean, [Blount’s] out there calling the protections, knowing where he’s going,” Freeman said. “It’s huge. Huge strides that guy’s made.”

Joe’s confident Blount can get it done, as well. Given the alternative, Joe suspects he’ll get ample opportunity to prove himself Sunday.

Last week Joe brought word of former Bucs wide receiver Meshawn Johnson unloading on former Bucs coach Chucky, both co-workers at BSPN.

Then, Chucky reacted with thin skin claiming he has thick skin.

Joe thought this was a felonious form of BSPN-on-BSPN crime.

A few days later, this topic came up amid discussion on the “too-Jewish” sounding King David Show, co-hosted by former Bucs quarterback Shaun King and Toby David heard weekdays on WQYK-AM 1010.

King, who is one of but three quarterbacks to lead the Bucs to an NFC title game, was in the locker room to see first-hand the vile that existed not just between Meshawn and Chucky, but other players. So King decided to detail some of the friction that went on between Chucky and his players and why few, if any players, respect Chucky.

Part of King’s undressing of Chucky was an explosive comment, “Jon Gruden is inherently dishonest.” King even invoked the name of Nick Saban into the discussion.

The full audio clip of the subject matter can be heard by clicking the little button below.

Audio courtesy of WQYK-AM 1010. [Hat tip Justin.]

[audio: ShaunKingonGruden.mp3]

Joe’s writhes in agony when the Bucs seem to miss what’s glaringly obvious: Opponents don’t stop LeGarrette Blount; Greg Olson does.

While Raheem Morris says stats are for losers, one stat was on the coach’s lips last night during The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620. The head coach explained to a caller that the Bucs don’t need much no-huddle offense because they win when No. 27 gets the rock.

“With the no-huddle, that’s something that you get in and you get out of. Really, we’re focused on running the football and you want to hand the ball off to LeGarrette Blount 20 or so times a game,” Raheem said. “The things we have been successful with, if we’re able to get the ball to LeGarrette Blount 20 or so times, we’re almost undefeated in those situations.”

Allow Joe to clarify for the head coach, his Bucs are 8-1 when Blount has 16 or more carries.

Raheem went on to say about running the ball to open up the passing game, “that’s kind of what our offense is. It’s kind of what the bread and butter of our offense is and has to be.”

This is all music to Joe’s ears, especially with Blount returning healthy on Sunday, but it’s just lip service right now. Joe wants to see Blount with 20 carries through the first three quarters Sunday in New Orleans.

Why? Because it works.

Grambling State head coach and former Bucs icon and personnel executive Doug Williams, the man with the loose-lipped barber, might not be game for a group hug with Mark Dominik and Team Glazer anytime soon, but he was eager to offer a take on Josh Freeman’s struggles during an interview on The Dan Sileo Show yesterday on WDAE-AM 620.

Williams asserted that Freeman’s regression is the result of overconfidence and a byproduct of lost chess matches with defensive coordinators.

“I always thought that Josh [Freeman,] even coming out [of college] was the best of the three quarterbacks [in 2009.]  And my mind don’t change on that,” Williams said. “It’s just that the kid is struggling. You know, No. 1, I know Josh pretty good, and I know one thing he does play with is a lot of confidence. And sometimes you can get overconfident and, you know, people are going to change on you. The team that you play got a little more film on you. It’s one of them things;  he’s going to work his way through it. He’s got some young receivers that can play. I think it’s just a matter of time and he’ll find a way to work out of it.”

Joe’s written numerous times that Freeman’s up against an asinine lockout in which coaches had nothing better to do than to break down film and find new ways to confuse him. Clearly, it’s worked for the bad guys.

However, Freeman was stellar two weeks ago against New Orleans, the Bucs’ opponent Sunday. That bodes very well. And Freeman had one of his best-ever days (21-for-26 and two touchdowns) at the SuperDome in January.

While Freeman struggled in England, in Joe’s mind the key to the game lies more with the Saints trying to figure out Freeman, not the other way around.