As Bucs players show up today at One Buc Palace to check in for training camp which begins tomorrow (yes, Joe will be there today), virtually everyone from players to team staff members to members of the pen and mic club to fans know training camp practices can be brutally hot.

However, The Weather Channel has been doing research and found there are worse places to hold NFL training camp, specifically Miami and Houston.

Tampa Bay’s camp average high temperature and dew point is similar to the Dolphin’s camp. However, the percentage of time the temperature is above 85 degrees is less. Relatively high dew points will ensure low temperatures will be uncomfortably high during camp.

There tends to be a little more cloud cover in Tampa from the leftover debris clouds that were thunderstorms from the eastern Florida shores. The probability of precipitation on any given day is a very high 72 percent when camp starts and slopes downward toward to 60 percent near the conclusion of camp.

Monthly precipitation totals for Tampa are a moist 7.07 inches in July and 7.77 inches for August. Although dew points remain high in September, the Buccaneers host both Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins who will be used to the heat and humidity…Arrrggghhh!

The study by The Weather Channel factors in July/August average highs, percentage of hours above 85 degrees, average dew point and percentage of hours with overcast sky.

While Tampa may only be third as the most grueling training camp weather, most people going to One Buc Palace in the coming days will argue to the contrary.

Imagine practicing in this stuff?

Josh Freeman is still firing guns at gun ranges, but Joe’s not worried about that. Joe’s more concerned about the potential perils Freeman faces handling his personal exotic snake collection.

Freeman opened up about his various hobbies recently to NFL Network host Rich Eisen, via the Rich Eisen podcast on NFL.com. Freeman shared stories of Calypso, his 8 1/2-foot albino burmese python, among the other snakes around Freeman’s home.

A snake lover since third grade, Freeman said he loves his Boa constrictors and is upset by snake neglect stories.

Calypso, though, is getting too big and dangerous, Freeman said, and he’s planning to find a zoo home for her. 

“I’m not going to dump it into the Everglades like everybody else does,” Freeman said. “She’s not a happy woman.”

It’s a classic interview that showcases Freeman’s deadpan sense of humor. Other Freeman hobbies outside of the gun range are his bulldog puppy running amidst the carnivorous reptiles, and he likes to play soccer.

How Greg Schiano transforms from a college coach to an NFL head coach is a key question for the Bucs as training camp looms.

There are a lot of questions about the Bucs as the players will begin to mingle tomorrow at One Buc Palace and begin training camp Friday.

Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com has one simple question for the Bucs, and it has to do with their new head coach, Greg Schiano.

How will Greg Schiano adjust to being an NFL head coach?

Schiano did an outstanding job transforming Rutgers into a relevant football program once again. But even college coaches who won national championships — Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Dennis Erickson and Schiano adviser Butch Davis among them — failed to make a successful transition to the pro ranks. Schiano’s last taste of NFL coaching came in 1998, when he handled defensive backs for Chicago.

Yes, yes, Joe has heard it before: What about Jim Harbaugh? He was a college coach, too! But Harbaugh has significant NFL experience as a player. For every Harbaugh, there are five Dennis Ericksons.

Schiano, however, can’t hardly do any worse with the Bucs as the team hit rock bottom last year, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

If Schiano was ever going to make a dent as an NFL head coach, taking over a team loaded with young talent that just hit the bottom floor is about as good of an opportunity as any college coach could get.

Joe remembers last year when the Bucs signed Mossis Madu, Joe received a text message from a respected member of the Tampa Bay pen and mic club stating the signing was a steal, that Madu had been stuck in a nasty logjam at running back at Oklahoma, languishing on the bench behind eventual third round pick DeMarco Murray.

“This guy has some talent, he may be a big time sleeper,” Joe recalls of the text about Madu. The source of the text once covered Oklahoma.

Well, it seems Madu may not be much of a sleeper any longer. Yesterday while appearing on “Rome,” hosted by popular sports personality Jim Rome seen exclusively on CBS Sports Network, Rome asked Bucs coach Greg Schiano about the battle between LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin for top running back.

Schiano informed Rome that it wasn’t just two running backs fans — and opponents — should be concerned with.

“I agree with you we have a great battle there and not just with those two guys but with Michael Smith and Mossis Madu as well. I think we have some good depth at running back and the battle will be something to watch. I have a lot of faith in LeGarrette. LeGarrette has bought in to what we are doing and he is working incredible hard and if you watch, you see the things he does is great, I mean really great running back plays. He just needs to put those things together consistently, again.”

It seems Madu, if there are battles, will battle Smith for the change-of-pace scatback position using his speed, where Blount and Martin will do the heavy lifting.

Below is the full interview that Schiano had with Rome yesterday, courtesy of the CBS Sports Network.

There’s a lot of hot air blowing in from the north

As if the thought of the Bucs home-opener against the Panthers wasn’t exciting enough, Panthers Pro Bowl lineman Ryan Kalil has now pronounced Carolina the next Super Bowl champs, via a full page ad he coughed up cash for in the Charlotte Observer

Joe appreciates the attitude, but that’s as far as it goes. For Joe, a full-page ad apologizing to Clifton Smith for destroying his career — and nearly his life — would be more appropriate.

Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs learn how to stop the run and tackle in the next six weeks. A loss to the Panthers after this kind of bluster would be too much to bear.

The inevitable and proverbial “hot seat” season is here, when fans and media try to figure out what coaches, executives and players have a season or less to prove themselves or be shown the door.

Is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik among those feeling the heat? Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings doesn’t think so, per a Q & A session on TBO.com.

Q: With the hiring of head coach Greg Schiano, is this a make-or-break year for GM Mark Dominik, or has he bought himself a year or two to prove that he can build a competitive roster?

Peter Rubaek, Copenhagen, Denmark

A: I think Mark Dominik has bought himself a few years here. He was brought in to rebuild the Bucs primarily through the draft and he seems to have done a decent job. On paper at least this is a very talented team. A lot will depend, however, on how Josh Freeman, Gerald McCoy, Adrian Clayborn, LeGarrette Blount, Mike Williams, Doug Martin, Mark Barron and Mason Foster perform over the next year or two. Those are the cornerstones of his rebuilding project. If they work out and the team becomes respectable and competitive again he’ll be fine. If they struggle and it’s proven out that mistakes were made in drafting them, he could be in trouble. — Roy Cummings

Now Joe has to disagree with Cummings. If the Bucs churn out the 3-13 record Pat Kirwan and others seem to think is on tap for 2012, Joe would expect Dominik to be looking over his shoulder. Team Glazer clearly didn’t have a problem jettisoning Bruce Allen, who had years left on his contract, as does Dominik.

That’s just life in the NFL. Losing brings consequences.

Dominik’s reign definitely has been polarizing, thanks to both incredible successes and colossal failures.

Joe suspects Dominik will be just fine, though. Joe expects the Bucs to make strides this season, And as Joe’s written previously, Joe would only pin 15 percent of the blame on the front office for the Bucs’ collapse under Raheem Morris.

Joe’s confident Dominik will benefit greatly from the new coaching staff knowing how to use the Bucs’ talented roster.

There’s no doubt that the greatest mysteries of the 2012 season are up the gut of the Bucs defense.

Can Gerald McCoy avoid injured reserve? Is Mason Foster ready at middle linebacker? Will Brian Price bounce back? Is Ronde Barber a safety? Is Mark Barron the real deal?

Perhaps the first answer coming into focus is about Brian Price. Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune tracked down Price’s agent and learned Price now weighs less than he did in college and is set to impress his new coaches this week.

“Physically he’s ready to go,” Price’s agent, Charles Price (no relation), said Tuesday from his Los Angeles office. “He’s under 300 pounds, he’s put in a lot of time and effort and he is in substantially better condition than he was when last year’s training camp opened.” …

… an offseason spent working largely with personal trainer Alex Guererro, who worked with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after his knee operation and specializes in breaking up scar tissue, has seemingly left Price in the best shape of his pro career.

“He is still working through tremendous amounts of scar tissue that, when they bump up against the sciatic nerve, send sensations throughout the body,” Charles Price said. “But I think everyone will be pleased with where he is.

“For at least another year, there are always going to be lingering issues from the procedures that he’s had to have done. But the Bucs are going to be pleased with the way this kid looks when ne gets to camp.”

Joe is fired up to hear this news about Price’s health. Frankly, Joe expected little from Price this season. But a healthy Price should make quite a difference, especially if he is kept fresh via an effective rotation with Gary Gibson and Omobi Okoye.

In the waning hours before Bucs training camp begins, the Interwebs have been abuzz over the claims by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times that the Bucs’ top running back, LeGarrette Blount, had a constant and continued inability to get to One Buc Palace on time for meetings and practices unless a car service was used to pick him up.

Here was Joe’s initial response if you missed it.

Joe has zero problem with the car service. Bob Knight, when he lorded over the Hoosiers basketball program at the University of Indiana, employed a similar tool to make sure his players not just got to practice on time, but to class. If the end game is to make sure a player is on time, then what’s the big deal about a car service ensuring said player’s attendance?

Appearing on “Rome,” hosted by popular sports personality Jim Rome, seen exclusively on CBS Sports Network this afternoon, new Bucs coach Greg Schiano bluntly threw cold water on the degree of Blount’s tardiness.

When Rome asked Schiano point blank about Blount’s tardiness, Schiano, who seemed to grin throughout the interview, changed his body language when the subject of Blount was broached. His response was documented by Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com.

“I think that probably got blown out of proportion a little bit,” Schiano said, waving off the question. “He probably had some troubles — I’m not really familiar with the facts — but that’s all behind us.”

Schiano went on to laud Blount for buying in to his program, his work ethic, and yes, his punctuality.

What Stroud reported about Blount wasn’t exactly a state secret. Joe has written about this subject before, and as he did before, Joe asks, if Blount’s actions were as mutinous as some would have you believe (coughformercoachescough), then why the hell was Blount on the active roster?

If Blount truly couldn’t show up on time to his own funeral if not for a car service, then it’s glaring evidence that the previous Bucs staff enabled Blount. If Blount being late to One Buc Palace daily isn’t enough to get the guy benched or deactivated, then why harp on this?

At worst, former coaches dredging up Blount and his inability to be punctual last year is nothing more than a weak attempt at a scapegoat for the grotesque 10-game losing streak to end last season.

Respected Pat Kirwan, the former Jets front office executive and linebackers coach, ex-Bucs scout and current analyst for CBSSports.com and host on SiriusXM NFL Radio, is yet another pundit that thinks the Bucs will be worse in 2012 than in 2011.

This is insanity.

Perhaps Kirwan’s judgment here is somewhat clouded by his longtime connection to Raheem Morris? Joe can’t come up with another explanation. Kirwan projects the Bucs will win three games and land in fourth place in the NFC South behind Carolina (7-9).

Tampa Bay — 3-13: Greg Schiano will eventually turn this franchise around, but it will take time. The Bucs defense gave up over 37 points a game in the second half of last season. Tampa Bay might want to be a running team, but what will they do in game when they’re trailing in the second half?

As Joe’s written previously, the Bucs have a win-now offense with all kinds of offensive talent. They had a top-10 offense for the second half of the 2010 season, and this current bunch should be at least as good.

Only one team in the NFL last season among the top-13 ranked offenses had a losing record. That was Carolina (6-10) with the seventh-ranked offense. That’s no coincidence.

Joe doesn’t know if Mike Sullivan is a sound playcaller. Nobody does. But there is no reason to believe the Bucs should finish 3-13. If the 2012 Bucs finish 3-13, then another housecleaning is in order.

Another stunning deal from the Ed Morse family of dealerships across the Tampa Bay area!

They are giving away complimentary passes to Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo for July 28 or July 29. Just be sure you “like” Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, Ed Morse Cadillac Brandon, Ed Morse Mazda Lakeland, Brandon Auto Mall, or Brandon Auto Mall Fiat on Facebook. Visit the dealership and show you “like” that dealership on Facebook on your smart phone. Supplies limited, first-come, first-served basis.

Yes, there is a New Schiano Order in town. That could likely mean bad things for many Bucs vets who were part of a tailspining team the previous season.

Read between the lines if you wish, but Joe thought it was interesting to hear from new Bucs coach Greg Schiano that because of the week-long head start the rookies have had in training camp, he expects the rookies to be up to speed on his new system and perhaps be a step ahead when the veterans take the field at One Buc Palace Friday.

“I just think another opportunity to expose them. Every time you are able to install something and go out —- even if you are not doing it full group —- but walk through it, jog through it whatever it is techniques. It will probably even prove to be even more important going forward a year from now when the rest of the organization has done it for a year. Now this is really a chance for those rookies to get caught up. You wish you could do it with the whole team.”

If players didn’t know Schiano is a no-nonsense guy before, they will surely grasp this concept very shortly.

Schiano is not a man who wastes a minute. For him and his staff to be putting in all this extra work for the rookies, he will expect the rookies to absorb everything the past week and be as nuanced with the new gameplans as a veteran would be.

Tampa Bay Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud says Donald Penn doesn’t play well when he’s too fat.

Per Stroud, “not coincidentally” Penn had a bad December last year because he wasn’t required to weigh-in for team officials during that month.

How Stroud is sure that scale anxiety and fear of a small fine is enough to screw Penn up on Sundays is a mystery. Perhaps Stroud has a medical degree?

Here’s what Stroud penned the other day:

Once the games start, [Penn] has to be no more than 330 pounds to receive his money.

Coaches say he ballooned to 360 pounds at times last season, his sixth in the league. Mindful of an upcoming weigh-in, he would wear a rubber shirt under his jersey during practice. Some claimed the routine made him irritable and dehydrated and likely affected his performance on Sunday.

It’s unclear if or how many times he failed to reach his weight limit. By agreement, he doesn’t have to step on a scale the final month of the season. Not coincidentally, that’s when he played his worst football in 2011.

Against Jacksonville Dec. 11, he allowed a first-half sack to Jaguars defensive end Jeremy Mincey that resulted in a Josh Freeman fumble, which was recovered for a touchdown in a 41-14 loss. Freeman was harassed all day, sacked three times, and threw two interceptions as the Bucs turned the ball over seven times.

Sorry, but this all doesn’t make sense to Joe. If Penn has to weigh in at 330 to avoid a fine, then what the hell good is a rubber shirt going to do for him if he weighs 360? 

And if we’re to believe Penn was cranky and dehydrated during, say, a Wednesday padded practice with his rubber shirt on, was that somehow going to affect him all the way to Sunday? That’s ridiculous.

Penn has made 76 consecutive starts. He’s durable. He’s done great things on the field. He’s fat. So what.

Joe really doesn’t buy that Penn’s weight is an issue in his performance. Though it might hurt his durability long term if he can’t get it under control.

How unexplosive have the Bucs been over the past three seasons? In 40 career starts, Josh Freeman has only completed nine throws more than 20 yards, per a Mike Lombardi analysis on NFL.com.

The Greg Olson-Raheem Morris Bucs didn’t commit to the run, and they didn’t stretch the field. Lombardi writes that those nine completions came on just 34 attempts.

Greg Schiano seems committed to a 1970s style running attack, but even the Dolphins that perfected the pound the ball and take deep shots style connected on and attempted plenty of bombs to Paul Warfield and others.

With Vincent Jackson and a stacked offensive line, Bucs fans should finally find out whether Freeman can be a legitimate deep threat.

Can the leader of the New Schiano Order get the Bucs in contention for an NFC South run?

The acid reflux Joe gets from remembering last season, particularly the grotesque 10-game losing streak to end the season, is enough to render him prone on a leather couch groping a bottle of Bushmills.

To think how horrid the team played in the final weeks of the season, it seems a playoff run is seasons away.

But hold up, writes Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune. Given the topsy-turvy history of the NFC South, don’t take anything for granted, so Cummings explained in a TBO Bucs Q&A.

Q: Being a 20-year Bucs fan I’m never too excited about a new year until after Week 4 and we see what they really have. Having said that, can they possibly compete for a division crown with two legit contenders and the up and coming Panthers in a tough NFC south?

Greg Minnick, Daytona Beach, FL

A: Of course they can. In my mind, the Bucs were never quite as bad as their 4-12 record and 10-game losing streak indicated last year and never quite as good as the 10-6 record in 2010 indicated. To me they are somewhere in the middle, which mean they’re about a seven-win team. Give or take a couple of wins and they could push for nine wins and a playoff spot. This is a far more talented team than it was a year ago at this time. If Greg Schiano can get them to play up to their potential and eliminated stupid mistakes, they have a chance to surprise some people.

— Woody Cummings

The key for Schiano will be getting the defense to play sound, fundamental football. Last year, in particular the final two months of the season, the Bucs defense played anything but fundamentally sound.

To contend for a playoff spot, the Bucs realistically would have to leapfrog at least two NFC South foes. Joe’s not confident that can happen, unless the Saints totally free fall amid their bounty mess, and Cam Newton comes back down to earth for the Panthers in his second NFL season.

The Bucs announced this morning that individual tickets for all home Bucs games will be put on sale Friday at 10 a.m. with some tickets for as low as $30.

Current season ticket holders can actually buy single game tickets now. “Digital fans” will get a head start on the general population too, per a press release issued by the Bucs:

Season Pass, Stadium Club and Luxury Suite Members will have the advantage of a presale, which will start today, Monday, July 23, at 10 a.m. This presale is part of an ongoing effort to provide exclusive membership benefits.

Digital Buc Nation, those fans who follow the official Buccaneers Twitter feed or “like” the team’s official Facebook page, will enjoy a 24-hour presale, starting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 26.

The Buccaneers kick off the 2012 regular season with a home opener against the Carolina Panthers on September 9, where the club will celebrate the NFL’s Back to Football initiative and also honor CB Ronde Barber for the achievement of his 200th consecutive start. As part of the event, fans will be treated to half-priced food and non-alcoholic drinks, free parking in select lots, and a commemorative Barber giveaway.

For Bucs fans in a fetal position because of home game blackouts, the key to ending the blackouts will be how well single-game tickets go.

If single-game ticket sales are sluggish, Joe’s belief is the new 85 percent sell out rule to avoid a blackout won’t make that much of a difference.

Yesterday Joe had the pleasure of being a guest on “The Rock Pile,” hosted by all-around cool guy and fellow beer-swilling sports raconteur Rock Riley on WDAE-AM 620. There, Riley asked Joe what he would watch for when training camp opens up Friday.

Simply put, Joe will have his eyes on the linebackers.

Joe has been over this before, but the Bucs linebacker unit was the worst in the NFL last year. One reason was the play of Quincy Black, who has yet to live up to the massive new contract he received prior to last season.

(One could argue Black didn’t live up to his original contract pay.)

It seems Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune is of the same mind. Writing about five players who need to flash this year, Cummings includes Black.

Black is a confounding figure. He looks as good as any player in the league in his uniform and pads but he has a tendency to look out of place once the ball is snapped. Last year, for example, he was among the league’s leaders in missed tackles, with a missed-tackle percentage of 17.2 according to FootballOutsiders.com. As his 3.6-percent missed tackle mark of 2010 indicates, Black is not lacking in skill. He has the ability to be a game changer, but like so many of his teammates, he has to find a way to be more consistent. This camp will offer him that chance. If he takes advantage, he’ll retain his starting job. If not, he could find himself on the bench.

Or, Black could find himself out of a job.

Look, new Bucs coach Greg Schiano has zero ties to Black. He didn’t draft him and he didn’t sign him to (thus far) an unwarranted contract upgrade.

Joe’s of the belief if Black can’t cut it, he won’t have to just worry about starting, he may have to worry about what moving service to hire.

“Thank you, Mr. Glazer. I’ll need 106 eight-inch binders and four copy machines.”

Last year’s cutting edge innovation to put Bucs playbooks on iPads, an idea hatched in the gray matter of Raheem Morris, has gained fast popularity across the NFL but has been somewhat phased out at One Buc Palace.

Last week, JoeBucsFan.com asked rookie fifth-round pick Najee Goode about using iPad technology this offseason. “I haven’t been around it yet,” said Goode, who said he’s only been using an old fashioned playbook.

Goode’s comment came the same day Greg Schiano emphasized that he could recognize rookies that did their homework before their first training camp practice on July 19. “Some guys I can tell went home and studied their tails off,” Schiano said.

Internet Was A Distraction

Scaling back on iPad usage is a good thing, says former Bucs running back Earnest Graham, who was no fan of the iPad realities during the Bucs’ first season using them. Graham’s feelings run counter to Mark Dominik telling CNN last year that iPads were a “smashing success for our players.”

“I think the concept of the iPads was excellent but at times a bit too much for players and coaches alike,” Graham told JoeBucsFan.com. “The problem was that at times guys would forget to charge them overnight or to update them when they came into the building because everything needed to download before meetings. That would cause problems. Also the fact that it’s an unnecessary distraction with being able to access the Internet, games, and so on.

“I thought the idea was great but it was definitely more negatives than positives with a young team. I enjoyed being able to access the opposing teams’ cut-ups and video of that day’s practice, but in my opinion most guys did not use them. If you keep it simple and do your installations using your [paper] playbooks, you don’t have to guess whether a guy is on Facebook or not. Based on that experience I would never use them if I went into coaching.

Joe’s been intrigued by the potential drawbacks to phasing in iPad technology since the Bucs first rolled them out.

Forgetting about the distractions of the Internet, if a guy has access to game film on an iPad, isn’t the player more likely to not watch film at the team facility with a coach or teammate, and on a giant HD screen where he can get the best perspective and detail?

As for putting the playbook on the iPad, Joe surely can see the value, but that doesn’t mean it’s a more effective and efficient learning tool.

Perhaps learning from the Bucs’ experience in 2011, last month the Dolphins announced fines for players who visit unauthorized websites on team iPads. The Dolphins ditched all paper playbooks in June, per the Sun-Sentinel. It’s unclear whether the Bucs had a similar penalty policy in place in 2011.

Godfather Raheem

Putting playbooks on iPads is a booming NFL trend first concepted by Raheem Morris and launched by the Bucs. But Greg Schiano is going more old school.

During a rare radio interview last September, Bucs owner Bryan Glazer talked about the genesis of the iPad innovation and why he was quick to write a check to outfit the team.

“I was sitting in my office one afternoon and [Raheem Morris] came in and he said to sit down and that he had an idea for me. He brought up the idea of putting the playbooks on these iPads. And it took me about two seconds to accept it and think it was a great idea,” Glazer said during a WDAE-AM 620 interview with Steve Duemig.

“You know most of these players are very technologically savvy. You’re dealing with these heavy playbooks. Why not put it all on a thin device? These guys know how to use all that stuff. They could scroll through and look at all the plays. We could update it with video constantly. And if they ever get lost, this is a device that you could just press a button and wipe it clean from a distance. So there’s no harm no foul there.”

About a dozen teams are now either using iPads for all playbooks and film study or are in some stage of using or exploring iPad technology, per Jeff Darlington’s recent feature on NFL.com. (This makes Raheem the Godfather of the NFL iPad. Perhaps that could get him in the Hall of Fame?)

But it’s no surprise that Schiano has scaled back on iPad usage, at least for now. As a guy obsessed with details, Schiano is no doubt more comfortable with what he knows works, versus an iPad system whose flaws are still being flushed out.

Joe’s often amazed by his brethren in the media. Some of their judgment calls are real stunners.

One example: Joe’s still not sure why every outlet that was so quick to write about Aqib Talib’s mother’s felony arrest in Texas couldn’t find a little space to write about how charges against her were dropped. For Joe, doing so seemed like common decency, but the media doesn’t always roll that way. Jermaine Phillips got similar treatment.

But now Joe reads Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud’s Greg Olson inspired anonymous source attack piece on LeGarrette Blount today, and Joe is shaking his head. Wasn’t the last Times assault on Blount enough? 

Today Stroud ran with the many-months-old gossip of Blount’s tardiness issues.

His lack of commitment was startling to coaches from the day he was claimed off waivers from the Titans an undrafted rookie in 2010. For the first two weeks after being acquired by Tampa Bay, Blount, who was suspended at Oregon for punching a Boise State player, never made it to work on time and compiled fines of more than $15,000. Exasperated, then-coach Raheem Morris and general manager Mark Dominik ordered him to hire a car service with a driver to wake him up in the morning and transport him less than 3 miles from his apartment to One Buc Place. After a few weeks, they canceled the car service for one day. And Blount was late. He continued to need a driver to get to work in 2011. But his poor preparation habits also spread to the meeting room, where coaches said he would sometimes fall asleep. …

This “lack of commitment” Stroud writes about is really amusing to Joe. Funny how nobody complained about commitment when Blount got the rock in 2010, and when he finished with record numbers for an undrafted rookie back. If the guy needs a wake-up call and to be picked up in an executive SUV, who the hell cares if he’s racking up 1,000 yards and consistently tops in the league in yards after contact for RBs.

Funny how Blount’s alleged “lack of commitment” let him rehab and return quickly from a midseason MCL tear last year.

Also, the “sometimes fall asleep” line in meetings amuses Joe. Obviously, the room temperature was too high. But in all seriousness, Raheem Morris and Greg Olson, and to a lesser extent rockstar general Mark Dominik, had ample opportunity to suspend Blount for his bad acts, if they were as bad as Stroud leads us to believe.

Where was the suspension? Olson only ran the guy five times in the season opener. Surely that was a good game to suspend/sit Blount if he deserved it. Geno Hayes lost game time from multiple alarm-clock issues, so the precedent was there.

As Joe has written previously many times, if Blount was so bad — on the field, or off the field with alleged playbook issues — the Bucs could have punished him in numerous ways or cut him outright.

If Blount was such a villian, Joe’s quite confident Earnest Graham wouldn’t be sticking up for him.

Joe finds the timing of Stroud’s unsourced piece feels a little sinister, given that this particular gossip has been out there for months.

In the WDAE-AM 620 audio below, Bucs icon Derrick Brooks talks about rookies dealing with life in the NFL and how he met with members of draft classes and free agents, “I kind of went through the whole gamut of, ‘Hey this is what to expect with certain players and certain things. You explain the Buccaneer Way. I wanted them to hear it from me.’

Brooks, in response to the Brian Price-Mark Barron altercation, Musical Chairs Gone Wild, went on to say he advised rookies to not fight against many generations of football locker room dynamics. “Don’t create no problems,” Brooks said.

Joe wonders whether the Bucs have a Brooks-like leader that will emerge when the team reunites this week.

With a first round draft pick of a running back joining the roster with a proven veteran of a running back, it’s easy to see why Bucs fans would want to pit Doug Martin against LeGarrette Blount for time at running back, if not have the two split snaps.

Sure, the Bucs have lightning-fast scatback Michael Smith on the roster, but he’s just a change-of-pace kinda guy, right?

Well…

It seems Smith has other plans, so he told Scott Smith (?) of Buccaneers.com.

Smith would happily take every third-down snap the Buccaneers would like to give him this fall, after he takes care of the initial task of making the regular-season roster. Smith, in fact, will take on any task the team chooses to give him, from returning kickoffs to covering punts to running between the tackles. The point he is seeking to prove, the point that can get lost if you pigeonhole him as a ‘third-down back,’ is that he can do all those things. In the NFL. Right now.

“I can do that, I can do anything the team wants me to do,” said Smith of the third-down role that conjures images of a Darren Sproles-like scatback with speed and good hands. “I’m here for the team. I’m trying to be a Buccaneer all the way. I’m 100 percent in, so whatever they expect me to do – kick return, punt return, special teams, anything – I’m out there just working hard and trying to participate in everything. I’m getting involved in everything they want me to do, full-speed.”

Smith was out there on the field Thursday with the rest of the Buccaneers’ rookies and first-year players, getting a week-long head start on training camp, which opens for the veterans next Thursday. But he wasn’t alone. Two-thirds of Tampa Bay’s six-person field of tailbacks heading into camp are rookies, including first-round pick Doug Martin. The other two are Mossis Madu, who has nine games of NFL experience, and incumbent starter LeGarrette Blount, who is going into just his third NFL season. The Buccaneers have reworked their backfield with youth and, they believe, talent, and there is going to be stiff competition for the football over the next six weeks. Blount and Martin are understandably considered the top candidates to get that ball, but Smith simply wants the chance to prove he belongs in the battle. On all downs, not just third.

That’s the attitude Joe loves to read about: Just put me in, coach. If there is any player that may surprise Bucs fans, Joe believes it will be Smith.

Although Joe is quoting a baseball Hall of Famer, Joe loves the line former Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog used to spout when asked about seemingly loading his roster with track stars.

“Speed kills.”

Smith has that.