When Jeremy Trueblood got hurt, and then was benched in favor of Demar Dotson, Joe pretty much sensed Trueblood’s countdown clock to end his Bucs days was ticking.

Now, the ticks are louder.

Last week against the Redskins, Trueblood was inactive. Bucs coach Greg Schiano said, in so many words, that Trueblood not being flexible in playing multiple positions on the front line was why he didn’t dress for the game.

Trueblood, Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times reports, can see the handwriting on the wall.

But after being replaced at right tackle two weeks ago by upstart Demar Dotson, Trueblood is starting to come to terms with the fact his predicament might be permanent. Asked whether he felt he could regain the starting role through strong practices, Trueblood wasn’t so sure there’s a chance.

“I feel like their decision’s made,” Trueblood said of the coaching staff. “So I’m just going to continue to do what I have to do. It’s the NFL and people get hurt all the time. I don’t wish anything upon anyone, but you just have to be ready. Someone could get sick. Anything can happen. Preparation is important.”

The seventh-year player and former second-round draft pick has been in Tampa Bay for the duration of his career but could spend the rest of his current contract year on the bench. That would strongly suggest he could be looking elsewhere for work next season, another fact Trueblood said he is beginning to digest.

Trueblood’s fate was pretty much sealed when Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik all but gave Trueblood an ultimatum in preseason: restructure your contract or you will be walking the streets looking for work.

And while Trueblood is under a guaranteed contract through the end of this season, if he is inactive, that means Schiano believes he is on the bottom rung of the roster, therefore, it would not surprise Joe the way Dominik and Schiano play musical chairs with the roster each week, that Trueblood may be jettisoned to make room for some other free agent to be signed later.

Joe’s not saying it will happen, just that it wouldn’t surprise Joe.

The Bucs cranked out rather interesting roster moves this afternoon. Joe’s usually not into the ongoing bottom-of-the-roster shuffle, but this one is intriguing.

The Bucs cut veteran defensive end Jeff Charleston, who spent several seasons with the Saints and was signed last week. Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik said Sunday on the Bucs’ radio broadcast that Charleston was a high-effort guy, strong against the run and good on special teams, and a man of good character.

But now Charleston is walking the streets, despite Greg Schaino just today referencing questionable along the Bucs’ D-line.

Replacing Charleston is tight end Nate Byham, known for his blocking. He was drafted by San Francisco and spent the last two seasons with the Niners.

Now the Bucs are not using their tight ends much in the passing game (11 catches over four games), and they’re not getting great blocking from the position. Former Bucs tight end even talked about that blocking performance during a recent interview on WDAE-AM 620.

The other tight end, Danny Noble, was not much of a blocker in college, while Byham was.

Joe knows that the New Schiano Order wants to pound the rock relentlessly and effectively. And Joe sees this move as the Bucs looking for an edge in that area.

If they’re not going to rarely use the tight ends as weapons, then the Bucs might as well get some better blocking out of the position and look more to their versatile receivers.

The head coach revealed a bit of his frustration about the running game today. Considering Doug Martin has 5 1/2 times the carries of LeGarrette Blount, Joe thinks it’s easy to determine where the coach’s feelings were directed.

Greg Schiano is often seen with his bullhorn during practice. Today before media at One Buc Palace, Schiano might have just has well been using that bullhorn considering the loud message he sent regarding the state of the Bucs’ running game.

The leader of the New Schiano Order was very clear that he wants to see more from his running backs. And considering Doug Martin has 71 carries to 13 for LeGarrette Blount, Joe’s taking Schiano’s words as a bonfire under the buttocks of Martin.

“I can run through a hole,” Schiano said. “You know, what do you do after the initial play? Can I make someone miss? Can I run someone over? If it’s all blocked up, an average back can make yardage. What are you making on your own? What are you creating as a running back? And that’s where I’d like to see us continue to grow. The front part, let’s make sure we do have the guys we have people for, let’s cover’em up. Let’s mov’em, create some daylight. People we don’t have [blockers] for, that’s where the back’s got to do his job.”

As Joe wrote earlier today, Schiano had strong praise last night for LeGarrette Blount’s manly touchdown run Sunday.

Putting this all together, Joe suspects Blount will get a lot more carries when the Bucs next take the field against Kansas City.

Many Bucs fans are still numb at how the Bucs came back from the dead Sunday, even took a lead late in the game only to see Robert Griffin III march the Redskins down the field as if the Bucs employed 11 lawn chairs for a defense.

It was way too easy, especially for a rookie in his fourth game who claimed his headset wasn’t working therefore he had to call his own plays (they weren’t runs on third-and-long down either).

Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times decided to go back to the tape and break down what went wrong.

Essenstially, Holder concluded Greg Schiano decided to bring the house on blitzes, which never got any heat on RGIII.

Now, there’s no guarantee either of these plays would have produced different results with less aggressive defensive approaches. And what we can’t comment on is whether there was perfect execution. But it’s hard to imagine either play could have been as effortless for the Redskins, either.

We’ve known since Greg Schiano took over that the Bucs were going to be aggressive on defense. But we’ve also seen instances where doing so worked in the other team’s favor (the Giants loss, for example).

There’s a strong case to be made that Sunday’s game provided another one of those instances.

Look, Joe is like every other sane football fan who is unnerved at the thought of a prevent defense, and Schiano wasn’t playing prevent, which Joe applauds.

Perhaps, as Holder suggests, if Schiano plays it straight, meaning no blitzes, it may have been smarter.

Already we have terrible evidence that late in a game when the opponent needs to throw the ball (Giants, Redskins), whatever Schiano is dialing up has proved disastrous.

The infamous Benn’d around play, exhibit A why Greg Olson was horrendous in 2011, returned Sunday against the Redskins.

While Arrelious Benn worked hard to gain five yards, let Joe be very clear that Joe loathes the playcall and considers it cruel and unusual punishment to Bucs fans. After its brutal results last season, Joe believes the Benn’d around should be banished for at least 10 years.

But that brings Joe to Benn and his role on the 2012 Bucs. Benn was a high second-round pick in the deepest draft in modern times back in 2010. Rockstar general manager Mark Dominik even traded away a fifth-round pick to move up and snatch him, but Benn has nowhere near fulfilled his promise.

Bucs offensive coordinators have not found a way incorporate him consistently. Or, there’s the possibility that Benn isn’t that good.

The move to Benn as a kick returner this season has him ranked as the 17th best returner in the NFL among players with five or more returns this season.

Benn is a strong cover guy on special teams, but that’s not why he was drafted.

Joe’s not sure what the new regime is going to do with Benn going forward. Somehow, though, they should give him shots to see if he can live up to his draft position.

One of the worst things Joe did as a young child was watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers when it arrived on broadcast television.

It scared the snot out of Joe. All those chilling pod people and Leonard Nimoy out of his Spock role.

It seems that this classic movie also left an impression on the leader of the New Schiano Order.

Speaking on his radio show Monday on WDAE-AM 620, Greg Schiano referred to the Bucs jumping offsides twice on the Redskins’ second scoring drive as a mystery only explained by extraterrestrial activities.

“The second score, you know, it’s 4th-and-1 we jump and then it’s 3rd-and-1 and we jump on the same drive. I mean that’s just not us,” Schiano said. “I don’t know if we had the invasion of the body snatchers because I don’t know who that was out there.”

Unfortunately, Joe suspects body snatchers were not involved because body-snatcher clones were very stoic and unemotional and not the type to jump offsides on key plays. Also, the Bucs have been racking up stupid penalties all season.

One would think the 2012 version of LeGarrette Blount would be loved by the New Schiano Order.

Blount is physical. He’s worked hard in practice. Joe doesn’t even recall Blount fumbling in practice or anywhere this year. And ball security is everything to Greg Schiano.

Blount seems like one of Schiano’s “Buccaneer Men”, though he’s seemingly been in a doghouse, only released for an occasional romp around the yard.

But perhaps things changed Sunday.

With 9:41 left in the fourth quarter, the Bucs turned to Blount on 2nd-and-goal from the 2 yard line to pound the ball in for a score. And Blount absorbed hits and delivered a punishing touchdown run. (Here’s the video)

This was not lost on Schiano, who spoke on his WDAE-AM 620 radio show Monday about Blount’s effort with what sounded like a twinkle in his eye.

“A good job by the line, but I think that was a man who was not going to be denied,” Schiano said of Blount.

If nothing else, Joe suspects Blount is now the Bucs’ short-yardage running back.

But Joe hopes Schiano’s comment leads to more carries. Blount remains a proven weapon that is not being maximized. That’s unacceptable.

Joe’s never heard of a player in any sport blowing out his knee without the injured leg on the ground, but that’s how rockstar general manager Mark Dominik described Adrian Clayborn’s season-ending knee injury.

Chatting on the Buccaneers Radio Network before Sunday’s game, Dominik said Clayborn’s legs weren’t on the ground when he was hurt and it was caused by freakish leg whipping action amid other players.

Ouch!

NFL.com reports had Clayborn tearing both his ACL and MCL.

Dominik says Clayborn will be ready for surgery soon and should be on the field for June 2013 minicamp.

Beat out for a starting job by Demar Dotson (who was beaten badly Sunday by Ryan Kerrigan), Bucs veteran right tackle Jeremy Trueblood has an admirer. That would be Greg Schiano.

Speaking to media types today, Schiano dismissed any talk that there are hidden meanings to Trueblood being an inactive player for yesterday’s game.

“I love Trueblood,” Schiano said, calling Trueblood “hard-working, attention to detail, tough.”

“Blood is a team guy,” Schiano continued, explaining Trueblood was an eager and active participant on gameday.

So why was Trueblood a cheerleader Sunday? Schiano said it was a simply a matter of other offensive lineman being more versatile as reserves.

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The leader of the New Schiano Order would not make any excuses for the Bucs’ poor tackling against the Redskins.

Greg Schiano told media today he had some theories why the Buccaneers took a step backwards in tackling Sunday but, he said,  they don’t matter. The Bucs have to tackle, Schiano said emphatically.

“In the first half, we missed 11 tackles, Schiano said. “We dug a hole, 21 points.”

Joe agrees. The Bucs have to tackle. There are no excuses. Too many stiff-arms. Too many easy shake-offs and bad angles.

That written, Joe sure would like to hear Schiano’s theories as to what went wrong.

Yes, one could go all Skip Holtz and try to make an argument that, but for one play in each of the Bucs’ three losses, the Bucs would be undefeated.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and if Rachel Watson wasn’t married, Joe would be coming home to her each and every evening.

Results. That’s what counts in the NFL. This isn’t horseshoes or hand grenades. There is no such thing as “almost,” just wins and losses, no gray areas here.

One reason the Bucs are not winning is a pathetic third down conversion rate. Why is Joe calling this “pathetic?” Because it is dead last in the NFL (tied for worst, ironically, with Washington).

This is not lost on Alan Dell. The Bradenton Herald columnist wagged a finger at Bucs coach Greg Schiano, and indirectly at quarterback Josh Freeman, for not producing better results on third down, despite a bevy of weapons. This is sinking the Bucs, Dell believes.

The comeback started when the restraints were taken off Freeman either by himself or Schiano.

Despite the heroics at the end, the Bucs are far from a finished product and can’t be excused for creating their own problems. They had 10 penalties for 107 yards, some of them significant and showed why they are last in third down efficiency converting only three of 12 third down opportunities.

“Because you lose at the end you fail to finish, but we really didn’t do a bunch of stuff before that to put us in a position to win,” Schiano said. “We had penalties, we didn’t play smart, we didn’t create takeaways. Like most teams in the NFL, it’s going to be tight ball games and we need to find a way to win.”

Joe thinks people should temper any excitement over the comeback by the Bucs. Sure, it showed some character, but if skittish Redskins place kicker Billy Cundiff doesn’t leave nine points on the field with three missed field goals, there is no comeback to discuss.

If Cundiff made just two of those three makeable field goals, there is no comeback.

The Bucs played terribly in the first half. Solving that hole the Bucs dug themselves into is what the coaching staff should strive to resolve during this bye week.

While Joe watched the game yesterday in the final moments when the Bucs were about to take the lead (briefly), Joe wondered if perhaps the Bucs should eat up more clock.

When Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III took over with 1:42 left in the game (strange, a rookie quarterback without the use of a headset knows what plays to call), Joe thought to himself, “That’s a lot of clock.”

Indeed. RGIII marched the Redskins right down the field way too easily to set up a game-winning field goal.

Well, it seems Joe was not the only one who thought the Bucs didn’t eat up enough clock. So too did Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times, who explained the Bucs seemed to be setting up RGIII for a game-winning drive.

On their final offensive drive Sunday, the Bucs were down by two and had second and 9 from the Redskins 33. They tried a pass that resulted in an incompletion, stopping the clock with 1:52 left. A wide receiver screen on the third down produced only 5 yards, and the Redskins called their second timeout with 1:47 left. The Bucs kicked a 47-yard field goal, but the Redskins got the ball back with 1:42 left and one timeout.

So if the Bucs’ plan all along was to kick a field goal (Schiano suggested as much in the postgame), then why not run the ball on second down and force the Redskins to use up all of their timeouts?

Either the second-down call was too risky or the third-down call was too conservative. But leaving the Redskins with 1:42 and a timeout wasn’t the best idea anyone ever had.

While Joe agrees with Jones, in the big picture the Bucs were fortunate to even be in the game. The Bucs played terribly in the first half and Billy Cundiff, shaky place kicker he is, left nine points on the field with three missed field goals.

Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III discusses his game-winning drive to beat the Bucs in this CSNWashington.com video. Interesting couple of nuggets in here, folks.

“The problem you have with a guy like Josh Freeman, we’ve seen him make all the throws. … This is a guy we’ve seen throw it to the open area, let the receiver get it. We’ve seen him drive it in the seam with authority and accurately. And he can throw that ball up over the top. So the tangibles are there. He’s big. He can run. We’ve seen him do it in the past. So this where, if they somehow sneak out a win yesterday, it’s obviously not as magnified. But the problem is he hasn’t really defined himself yet. ‘Am I going to be a pocket guy? And if I am, when I go through my progression before I leave the huddle, I have to know where my checkdown is. If I don’t like what I see or I’m confused, I have to know where Doug Martin is checking down. I have to know where that release route is to get it out of my hands.’ Because sometimes it’s like, in your fourth year you have to know when that clock goes off when those rushers are going to get there. Sometimes he looks tremendous, and sometimes you’re wondering why he’s hanging on to it for so long.”– Former Bucs tight end and current network radio analyst Dave Moore on Josh Freeman.

Moore’s interview below on the Ron and Ian Show on WDAE-AM 620 is well worth the listen. Click below.

Among many other topics, Moore breaks down why he believes the Bucs offense, as well as opposing defenses, are confusing Freeman, plus other discussion of No. 5 and the Bucs defense.

“You run a blitz and it was just wide open,” defensive end Michael Bennett said of RG3’s run. “I knew myself. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I should run this play or not, but I did my job.’ I knew he was going to get outside. That’s what he does. The edge was too short. The whole defensive line slanted.” — Michael Bennett commenting on the defensive call when RGIII scrambled for 15 yards on the final drive yesterday, via the Tampa Bay Times.

The Bucs defense did not stand tall on the Redskins game-winning drive Sunday. Washington marched 56 yards in just six plays en route to the clinching field goal.

In the quote above, Michael Bennett appears to question the wisdom of the defensive playcall when Robert Griffin, III, put the Skins in field goal range with a 15-yard run with :38 seconds left.

Of course, players question coaching decisions all the time, but they rarely appear in the newspaper.

Given Gerald McCoy requesting defensive scheme changes before the Cowboys game, Joe wonders what the overal confidence level is on that side of the ball.

If you noticed a hearty crowd at the Redskins-Bucs game yesterday, and a few too many Redskins fans, you weren’t hallucinating.

Official attendance was 58,191, up from 51K and change for the Bucs’ home-opener against Carolina.

Per the Tampa Sports Authority, the government outfit that runs Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs’ home seats 65,000, and about 15,000 of those seats are labeled “premium,” aka club seats, luxury suites, etc.

Of the remaining 50,000 non-premium seats, the Bucs need to sell 42,500 of those seats 72 hours before kickoff to avoid a local television blackout under the NFL’s “85 percent” rule the Bucs signed up for before the season.

That didn’t happen, but clearly the Bucs sold/distributed 85 percent of those non-premium tickets.

Joe was told walk-up sales were brisk yesterday.

While the Bucs lost, it just saddens Joe that so many fans who would have enjoyed the game were denied access to the game on TV. In this specific case, it just feels like the blackout rule makes no sense, when ticket sales appear to have met the sales goal but not the deadline.

Joe’s not sure what the following means, but it is interesting and is surely Bucs fans will agree.

After the Bucs took a 22-21 lead late in the game, the Redskins took over in what turned out to be a do-or-die drive.

Robert Griffin III, the Redskins quarterback, marched the Redskins down the field to set up a game-winning field goal without the use of his helmet communication with the Redskins coaching staff, documents Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

The Redskins’ faith in their rookie quarterback is complete, only four games into his NFL career. He nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback late in a loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals a week earlier.

This time, he and the rest of the Redskins’ offense got it done in crunch time, even with the receiver in Griffin’s helmet not operating on the final drive.

“He’s a winner,” said Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who had an interception to set up a first-half touchdown, of Griffin. “It’s starting to rub off.”

Why is this interesting to Bucs fans? Last week in a critical late-game drive for the Bucs in a one-score game, the headset went out in Josh Freeman’s helmet and, not knowing what play to call from the Bucs coaching staff, Freeman called a run on third-and-nine.

The run failed.

Joe finds it interesting that a rookie in his fourth NFL game has the wherewithal, savvy and/or confidence to run a successful two-minute, game-winning offense without a headset, yet the Bucs crumbled on just one play under similar circumstances.

For those who enjoy hearing the ol’ ball coach, Raheem Morris, chat with the media, click here to see a postgame video from the Redskins official website.

Raheem refers to seeing “my guys,” aka Buccaneers, on the other side of the field yesterday.

Some fans used to say Chucky won with Tony Dungy’s players. Joe wonders whether this season, fans will soon say Greg Schiano is losing with Raheem’s players.