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.

Raheem Morris was giddy last night from the mere thought of his mended roster. Photo courtesy of Michael Hamm

Time off is a good thing during an NFL season, especially when you’re a team as banged up as the Bucs have been.

Raheem Morris is one man fired up about the Bucs’ shrinking injury list, so he said last night on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620.

The head coach talked about guys coming back at full strength and specifically mentioned Jeff Faine, Gerald McCoy, Luke Stocker, LeGarrette Blount and Sammie Stroughter.

“We’re healthy as we’ve ever been,” Raheem said. “I really give my team a lot of kudos for buying into the next-man-up theory and maintaining and winning, making no excuses for themselves, which is great. But now we get some guys back and it should be fun to see some of these guys play. .. They’re coming, and I can’t wait to see them.”

Joe can’t wait to see these guys, either. Hopefully, Jeremy Zuttah is on the “full strength” list. The first-team offensive line + Blount should be a beautiful thing.

If Geno Hayes can get a pick or two, it will greatly help the Bucs beat the Saints.

There are no more important plays than takeaways by a defense; no worse plays for an offense than giveaways.

If the Bucs are to beat the Saints at the Superdome Sunday, it would behoove the Bucs to get turnovers. It’s why Joe goes crazy that an alleged elite player like Aqib Talib simply cannot make big plays.

Winning the turnover battle with the Saints is the narrative veteran NFL scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman extols in the Tampa Tribune.

Morris, who also doubles at Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator, has tremendous respect for Saints quarterback Drew Brees. But as Morris points out, Brees also has the confidence and bravado to throw into tight coverages, providing defenses with opportunities.

In Tampa Bay’s 26-20 home victory against New Orleans this year, the Bucs posted four takeaways and did not turn the ball over. The Bucs registered three takeaways in New Orleans during last year’s regular-season finale, wlaking out of the Superdome with a 23-13 win.

In their three wins against the Saints under Morris, the Bucs are plus-4 in turnover ratio, accumulating eight takeaways. In their two losses against New Orleans since 2009, the Bucs are minus-4 in turnover differential, with only one takeaway.

The way the Lambs pummeled Brees last Sunday and embarrassed the Saints offensive line bodes well for the Bucs.

Joe is still convinced the Saints were looking past the Lambs and forward to the Bucs and got burned. Joe doesn’t believe for one second the team that got tossed out of the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis Sunday will be the same team the Bucs will face in the Superdome.

Raheem's favorite childhood Halloween costume on his boyhood streets of New Jersey. It's Admiral Ackbar of Star Wars, not Cardinals great Willie Magee.

During a light moment on The Raheem Morris Show on WDAE-AM 620 tonight, the Bucs head coach shared a few fond childhood memories.

There was the school Halloween party in third grade, in which Raheem said he was forced to sit in a coat closet with other students that misbehaved that day. Raheem recalled some girls bringing him chocolate there.

And there was Raheem’s favorite costume and the memories of his mother hooking him up.

“I didn’t live in a great neighborhood, so my parents weren’t fired up about taking me trick-or-treating,” Raheem said.

“The one costume I’ll always remember is Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars. I wore that all the time. … I’m not even sure if I wanted to be him. I think my mother got it because it was at Woolworth’s and it was probably on sale at the time. That’s probably what happened. She did a great job. My mom made me He-Man, I believe, one year.”

Joe wonders who Chucky dressed up as when he was a young lad. Kenny Stabler? Batman? Joe figures Chucky always wanted to wear a cape and a utility belt.

Lots of things need to be cleaned up for the Bucs as they return from a weekend off. That would be penalties.

The yellow laundry left on the field the first seven weeks of the season has killed the Bucs, who had 71 penalties this season. That’s an average of 10 a game which is simply unacceptable.

This has not been lost on Bucs coach Raheem Morris, who is beginning to punish the offenders in practice, so reports Buccaneers.com.

Morris estimated that 47 of those 71 calls were of the variety his players could control. He emphasized to his players how much damage they have caused, not only in 493 penalty yards but in the gained yardage that was subsequently lost, and in the promising drives that were killed.

One of Morris’ main points harkened back to the sore subject that the Bucs have been battling all season – slow starts. Tampa Bay has found itself in catch-up mode frequently this season, and while they have finished strong enough to have four wins against three losses, they haven’t always been able to come all the way back.

“We talk about holdings, false starts, whether it be offense or defense,” said Morris. “We talk about procedural issues with wideouts, or tight ends moving at the same time, things of that nature. And then you really show the ones that took away plays from us, or some of the things that we’ve been talking about the whole time, and I know it’s easy to say – fast starts. You can’t have fast starts if you don’t execute in the beginning, and you get yourself penalties to get backed up, get in second-and-10, second-and-20-type situations. That’s not going to be conducive to fast starts.”

Also in the article, it documents how Morris last week in the Bucs’ lone practice prior to the league-mandated time away from One Buc Palace, Morris made his players run “gassers” for penalties.

That’s great to learn. If talking and scolding doesn’t get the point across, physical punishment will. Pretty soon, players are going to get sick of running sprints.

If you don’t want to be treated like a high school player, don’t pull stunts that would get a high school player benched. Real simple.

Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles (1990-1996) described Kregg Lumpkin’s blocking in the backfield as “horrible” many times last week on his WDAE-AM 620 radio show.

So it was no surprise today when Beckles, guest hosting the Ron and Ian Show with Buccaneers radio analyst and former tight end Dave Moore, asked Moore whether he thought Lumpkin’s blitz pickups were “horrible.”

Moore didn’t answer the question directly but said of Lumpkin, “that’s going to be a big problem” against New Orleans if the Bucs can’t have manageable third down situations because of the Saints’ love of blitzing.

Moore went on to say Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams were excellent picking up blitzes but Lumpkin’s “going to have to take on some big issues in a short period of time.”

Now Joe’s piled on Lumpkin since before the season started and, sadly, those fears have been realized.

However, there’s no reason why Lumpkin can’t improve quickly and significantly as a blocker on third down. He’s been in the Bucs system over a year and he saw what the Saints had to offer two weeks ago.

You’ve all read THE PESSIMIST, who spews his Bucs-related anger like no other. But Joe also brings you THE OPTIMIST. 

THE OPTIMIST is Nick Houllis, a Bucs fan and an accomplished writer whose steadfast allegiance to the Buccaneers goes back to the 1970s. Houllis is the founder, creator and guru of BucStop.com, a place Joe goes to get lost in time via Houllis’ stunning video collection.

THE OPTIMIST will shine that positive light in your eyes. Some will love it. Some won’t.

We’re one game away from the halfway point in the Bucs’ regular season and so far, at least, the team strategy is starting to take form.

The Bucs spent the first two picks of the 2010 NFL Draft on defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Brian Price. McCoy played last year until his Week 11 injury that cost him his season. Brian Price only got into a couple games last year as he had a freak injury, but he’s back and thriving and should finish up the year alongside McCoy, who is due back from an ankle injury on Sunday.

This year, the Bucs spent their top two picks on defensive ends, and that is paying dividends almost immediately. Second round pick Da’Quan Bowers is coming along nicely, but top selection Adrian Clayborn is leading the team with three sacks.

That ranks him 28th in the NFL, but last season, no one from the Bucs even made the first page. The top sack man in 2010 was Stylez G. White and Clayborn needs only 1.5 sacks the rest of the way to equal that mark. Clayborn has actually come on fire lately, and he could easily break Lee Roy Selmon’s rookie record of five QB takedowns set back in 1976.

But football is a team sport, and stats are for losers, right? Well, our Bucs have improved in D-line play as a team, too.

Statistically, the Bucs are ranked 28th in total yards against, 26th against the pass and 22nd against the run. Out of 32 teams, they are 23rd in sacks. In the running game, they are 18th in allowing 4.5 yards per play.

In 2010, the Bucs were 28th against the run, giving up 132 yards per game. So far this year it’s 123 yards per game. But instead of being 23rd in sacks, last year they were 31st out of 32 teams. Only Denver was worse.

Not only that, but in three of their seven games this season the Bucs have held the opposing offense to under 100 yards combined rushing. In 2010, the Bucs only had four games all year that they didn’t give up over 100 yards rushing. Clearly the defensive line is making a difference.

Middle linebacker is also an improvement this year and responsible for the Bucs slight but still apparent move up the charts.

It may not be earth-shattering, but the dominant Bucs defense of old wasn’t built overnight, either.

A fixture starting at left tackle for 67 straight games, Bucs veteran Donald Penn is picking up deserved accolades left and right. The respect keeps coming.

And maybe one day soon his own team will see fit that fans can buy Penn’s jersey without having to spend the extra $25.00 customizing fee on NFLShop.com. A Penn jersey is not one sold anywhere, including via the Bucs official site. What more does the guy have to do to get some in-house love?

Veteran scribe eye-RAH! Kaufman, of The Tampa Tribune, penned an excellent piece on No. 70 today. Joe suggests you read the whole thing, which includes quotes about Penn from Tony Boselli and Bucs offensive line coach Pat Morris.

When the Bucs faced the Colts in a Monday night matchup Oct. 3, Freeney’s name did not appear on the post-game defensive stat sheet as Tampa Bay won 24-17. “What I saw Donald Penn do to Dwight Freeney that night was incredible,” Boselli said. “You tell me the last time Freeney had no tackles, no assists, no pressures, no hits and no sacks. Penn’s play speaks for itself, but the reason I think he doesn’t get a lot of credit nationally is he’s an undrafted guy who has bounced around. But like I tell everyone, look at the way the guy plays.”

Joe’s a big Penn fan. For Joe, his consistency is overlooked. Having talked to Penn, Joe knows the consecutive games streak is very important to him and Penn is a devoted student of game film.

Penn replaced Green Bay tackle Chad Clifton at the last Pro Bowl. It’ll be interesting to see if Penn gets in via the front door this season.

In a very interesting video from Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times Picayune, the Saints beat writer breaks down how Team Brees failed yesterday in their epic loss and describes a “disturbing” attitude in the Saints locker room. Worth the four minutes.