New York media types don’t get us fans down in Tampa.

Case in point was Evan Roberts on WFAN-AM, New York’s premier sports radio station. This morning Roberts interviewed Roy Cummings, Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer, and expressed disbelief that Josh Freeman isn’t on a flaming hot seat fanned by Bucs fans and media ready to hang Freeman after leading the NFL with 22 interceptions in 15 games last season.

“Here in New York we eat up quarterbacks,” Roberts said. “He’d be like public enemy No. 1 in New York.”

It’s an interesting point, and a fair one. Collectively, Bucs fans have been very patient with Freeman, likely understanding that he’s still 24 years old, has at least proven himself for a season, and was burdened by a Benn’d-around-loving offensive coordinator who couldn’t figure out how to maximize his best weapons in 2011.

But Joe remembers the Trent Dilfer era very well. Like Freeman, Dilfer’s third season (1996) was heinous (19 picks), but Dilfer bounced back the next year and made the Pro Bowl as the Bucs ended their long streak of losing seasons. Then Dilfer tortured Bucs fans from their forward when it became obvious he wasn’t very good.

This is a critical season for Freeman. Joe suspects his rope is shorter than it appears. And Joe’s confident Bucs fans would be quick to turn him into “public enemy No. 1,” if he became a glaring negative in an otherwise positive season.

Yes, Joe took the trip north to the New Jersey Swamplands to cover the Bucs game tomorrow against the Giants. So since Joe was so close to “The City,” Joe decided to prowl around a little bit in the heart of the Big Apple.

Only in Jersey.

A serene scene in Central Park. Just perfect weather in the Big Apple today.

Some of the Manhattan skyline looking south from Central Park.

Time for lunch!

FGU!

Lucius, creamy cheesecake served before Joe walked out.

Empire State Building.

Macy’s headquarters.

The world famous Madison Square Garden.

ABC studios in Manhattan.

Times Square.

Want a taste of what it’s like to play defense for the New Schiano Order?  Then you must set your dial for Sound FX on NFL Network tonight at 8:30 p.m.

(If you subscribe to a Satanic cable TV outfit that doesn’t provide NFL Network, then Joe thinks you’re nuts. That written, hopefully NFL.com or Buccaneers.com will post a link to the segment later.)

Essentially, the four-minute Schiano segment blends practice footage and last week’s game footage against Carolina, with the head coach “miked up.” Among the highlights, Schiano explains why “a shoe” is what sends a player to Hawaii, and Schiano outlines and demonstrates the “brake-foot-drive-foot” mentality of the swarm, the key to the Bucs defense. It’s phenomenal stuff.

Veteran sports anchor Dave Wirth has a special weekly analysis for readers of JoeBucsFan, this time explaining keys to beating the Giants and dropping a curious LeGarrette Blount theory. Enjoy this WTSP-TV video.

Gerald McCoy told reporters this week how Warren Sapp called him after Sunday’s game to threaten to kick his ass if he ever let Cam Newton or other quarterbacks out of his grasp again, like McCoy did a few times in the home-opener.

That was cute to hear, but speaking on Total Access on WDAE-AM 620 last night McCoy went much deeper into his conversation with Sapp and explained that Sapp legitimately is serving as his personal position coach.

“He’s so helpful, man. I don’t think people realize how helpful he is,” McCoy said of Sapp. “He literally took every play and broke it down and told me what I can do to better myself. And he didn’t go off,  you know, ‘Well you need to change this. You need to change that.’ He’s so good at what he does, he took what I’m capable of and said, ‘this is what you’re able to do; this is what you should do with how you play.’ It’s a blessing, man. And I can’t thank him enough.”

There was a deep, grateful tone in McCoy’s voice, and McCoy went out of his way to make it clear that Sapp calls him on many occasions and Sapp is proactive as a coach, not just answering McCoy’s questions. McCoy also said Sapp calls him “young fella” and is working on making him nasty.

McCoy’s got a real edge having a personal coach like Sapp in his corner. Now all he has to do is stay healthy. Man, Joe wishes he could be a fly on the wall when Sapp finally gets to sit down and talk football with the leader of the New Schiano Order.

In the locker room with the Giants’ defensive line, Mike Garafolo reports how Big Blue’s defensive front plans to rebound against the Bucs from an invisible performance against the Cowboys in this SNY video.

One cool thing about the Bucs playing a team from Gotham is that there is no shortage of fresh Bucs content coming from various New York outlets, which isn’t a shock given that New York is the media capital of the western hemisphere.

Thursday, Bucs coach Greg Schiano appeared with sleepy Mike Francesa on the blowtorch sports radio station of the Big Apple, WFAN-AM. Francesa, fresh from his nap, asked Schiano why he chose the Bucs as his springboard back to the NFL.

In short, Schiano says he was drawn to Team Glazer.

“In my opportunities meeting with the Glazers, they had very similar beliefs in what was important and how we wanted to build a team,” Schiano said. Team Glazer “loves defensive football, the city loves defensive football and the area loves defensive football. I think that is the formula we will build this team on. Everybody is on the same page and the same core values. They are serious about this. They want to build it the right way and I think you can win as you build.”

Well, talk about walking the fine line between rebuilding and winning. Joe likes this, though. Sure, as Schiano later pointed out in the interview, teams are always building, even Super Bowl champs. Teams can win games and still strive for the Holy Grail.

The entire Schiano interview with Francesa can be heard here.

The leader of the New Schiano Order took to the podium today at One Buc Palace and offered and opinion on Josh Freeman running the football.

Schiano is all for Freeman using his legs as a weapon,but he wants to see Freeman master the slide and stay safe.

The head coach was no fan of a first-down run Freeman had against the Panthers. “A little too much spinnin’ and jukin’,” Schiano said.

Freeman gained the second-most yardage among NFL quarterbacks in 2010. He can run effectively.

Joe doesn’t want to see Freeman get hurt, either, but Joe’s fine with Freeman’s decision-making on the run. With the Giants sporting their beastly defensive line, “freaks of nature” as Donald Penn referenced them to The Tampa Tribune the week, Freeman’s likely going to be running for his life on Sunday.

Pat Kirwan dissects the Bucs game at the Giants this Sunday in this CBS Sports video.

The man who stymied Ndamukong Suh as a rookie and helped lead the 2010 Bucs’ offensive line to a stunning showing in the second half of that season is back with the Bucs.

Guard Derek Hardman, who was cut before the opener against the Panthers was re-signed today. DE/DT Wallace Gilberry was released to make room.

One could speculate that this move surely means Jeremy Trueblood won’t play Sunday against the fearsome Giants defensive line. Though Hardman’s signing simply could be to add depth just in case.

E.J. Biggers first touched on this topic in June, when he referenced how much more he’s learning about where to be on the field under the New Schiano Order.

Biggers said he appreciated being schooled more about his defensive teammates’ responsibilities and how that affects his job.

Interestingly, half-man-half-dog Adrian Clayborn took that a step further on his radio show Wednesday on WDAE-AM 620. Clayborn, a rookie under Raheem Morris last season, said the New Schiano Order demands increased study of opposing offenses. And it’s working, Clayborn said.

“When you start in on [studying] film, obviously you got to study your guy [you’ll be going up against], but the thing I like about this coaching staff is that they make us kind of study the whole offense,” Clayborn said. “And you get to see even more stuff. That’s allowing us to play faster and see everything.”

Yet another example of how the Bucs were victimized by an overmatched, unprepared coaching staff in 2011, rather than the team’s talent, or lack thereoff, leading them to the worst defense in Bucs history. 

Clayborn went on to call Gerald McCoy “a great leader.” And Clayborn also revealed he was at One Buc Palace at 7 a.m. Tuesday, the players’ day off, watching film with Michael Bennett.

Probably still reeling from the Bucs hurdling his Giants at the end of the first round of the 2012 draft to snag Doug Martin, Giants general manager Jerry Reese hinted back then that the Giants really wanted Martin instead of crying running back David Wilson.

But then Reese ran to the WFAN-AM airwaves on May 1 to backpedal.

“There’s been some conjecture that Tampa had moved up in front of us and took Martin,” Reese said. “That’s not true … Martin would not have been our pick.”

Well, now there’s even more evidence that Reese was caught with his pants down and Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik outfoxed the Giants by moving up out of the second round to snag the No. 30 pick and Martin.

Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride all but told NJ.com yesterday that Martin was a better player coming out of college compared to weepy David Wilson.

Kevin Gilbride gave a frank appraisal when asked to compare Doug Martin, the rookie running back drafted 31st overall by the Buccaneers, and David Wilson, the rookie running back drafted 32nd overall by the Giants.

“Different styles. I think David has great explosion and great speed,” the Giants offensive coordinator said today. “I think Doug Martin looked more — what’s the word I want to say? — versatile. Ready to do all aspects: pass protection, pass catching as well as running. What they did offensively and what Virginia Tech asked of David are two completely different things. In some respects, (Martin) is a little further along in those aspects at playing the position.”

Martin and Wilson were the second and third running backs drafted, respectively, after Alabama’s Trent Richardson. The Buccaneers traded up to get Martin, a Boise State product, leaving some wondering if the Giants would have selected him instead of Wilson at No. 32 if he were available.

Gilbride’s answer about Martin being further along than Wilson raised that question, but he deferred to the front office when asked.

“Oh, I’ve got no say,” Gilbride said. “You have to talk to the general manager about that one. I have zero say.”

Yes, Joe realizes Reese has Super Bowl rings on his fingers, but he was humiliated by Dominik in April, a move that could lead to a Bucs win Sunday.

Former Bucs guard Ian Beckles often ends his radio show on WDAE-AM 620 with a message to listeners to stay out of trouble.

Well, it seems Beckles didn’t follow his own advice last night.

Beckles, who is quoted a few times a month here on the pages of JoeBucsFan.com, was arrested for disorderly intoxication at 11 p.m. by St. Pete Police, per Pinellas County court records. He was released on $100 bond from Pinellas County Jail after 3 a.m.

“Disorderly intoxication” is one of the lowest form of crime:

856.011 Disorderly intoxication. – (1)No person in the state shall be intoxicated and endanger the safety of another person or property, and no person in the state shall be intoxicated or drink any alcoholic beverage in a public place or in or upon any public conveyance and cause a public disturbance.

Beckles’ radio show starts at 9 a.m. today on WDAE-AM. If he’s on the air, he might have a darn interesting story to tell. Perhaps a relative of Barrett Ruud got in Beckles’ face and a ruckus began? Joe can only speculate.

Giants icon Phil Simms and Bill Cowher are convinced “Tampa Bay does not throw the ball well.” Both give their takes on the Bucs-Giants game Sunday in this Showtime Inside the NFL video.

Giants offensive lineman David Diehl claims that Big Blue’s first round draft pick, running back crying David Wilson, is now out of headmaster Tom Coughlin’s doghouse and will get plenty of touches against the Bucs as explained in this SNY video.

Earlier this week, Joe brought an excerpt of Bucs coach Greg Schiano’s appearance on “The Blitz,” with co-hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Well, today, Joe has the rest of the interview, word-for-word.

Adam Schein: Rich, right now live on the line, as promised, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, friend of the radio program, Greg Schiano. Coach, Adam Schein and Rich Gannon. Congratulations on your first win in the National Football League.

Greg Schiano: Thanks fellas I appreciate that.

Rich Gannon: Well coach, you gather all of your information through the offseason program and the preseason, but you never know just quite how a team is going to respond until you get them out there Week 1. My guess is you are pretty pleased what you saw from your football team on Sunday.

Schiano: Well it was, you are exactly right; you are going through those things and even in preseason and going into that first game you are not sure what you are going to see. I was happy we got the win and more importantly, we made a ton of mistakes but we were able to teach from the win column. That is always good.

Schein: Greg, take us through that if you can in terms of the mistakes. As a coach, I don’t want to say that makes you smile because you want to come as close to pitching a perfect game as possible. But if you make mistakes [and] you still win the game, you can’t get too high on the team, [they are] coachable moments as a staff. Take us through what you want to clean up from Week 1 to Week 2.

Schiano: Well Adam, we really, everywhere I have coached, you enjoy the win because they are pretty darned hard to come by. And then when you get in the next day, OK, you put the reality cap back on and it is never as good as you felt when you win and it’s never as bad as you felt when you lost. We had a lot of communication things and, just first-game mistakes. The one positive though is that we were pretty good in the first half and played penalty-free football, held onto the football. I think those two things give you a chance in any game.

Gannon: You think of shutting out a team like Carolina in the first half. Coach, they had 49 offensive plays. The thing that was so surprising to me was I know the game, how it unfolded, I know you are not involved with calling plays from their side, but did you get the sense they didn’t try to push the envelope running the football? You guys had trouble with the run game a year ago but you look at this game, you just dominated, you never let them get going rushing the football. They had 10 yards rushing all day. I guess that is something you prided yourself in throughout the preseason.

Schiano: Well it is, but not just me it’s the players. They prided themselves in that. They believed that if you can do that, you have a chance. Stopping the run makes a team one-dimensional and when that happens, like I said, it gives you a chance and it gives you a chance to get some interceptions.

Schein: I told you before that I was really impressed with Doug Martin; I told you that after the draft. Thought he was perfect for you guys. You know, I don’t even care about his stats and the stats were fine. I was impressed with the hard-earned yards, the tough yards, the yards at the end of the game to control it, to ice it. Tell me what stood out in terms of Doug Martin over the weekend.

Schiano: I think you described it. There were no easy yards with that linebacker corps. I mean he was getting hit and was blowing some people forward. Every yard counts. When you get hit for three but you pull them for four and then it ends up a second-and-six instead of a second-and-seven. And the thing that Doug has done a good job with is when someone makes a mistake and someone does flash in the backfield, Doug can get 12 or 13 when it is second-and-nine. Those are huge differences when you are calling a game on offense.

Gannon: What about Ronde Barber coach. What an incredible game. He gets a sack and gets an interception in his 200th start. Just talk about the transition that he has made going from corner to safety alongside your rookie Mark Barron.

Schiano: I am thrilled for Ronde and thrilled for our team. I am glad he came back. When we first arrived, we wondered if he was going to continue playing. Then he was great when I approached him with a position change. At that point in your career do you really want to be doing that? He has been awesome. He is really good on the field, both in practices and in games, really good in the meeting rooms, teaching our players what it means to be a true professional and he has a flair for the dramatic, right? In his 200th straight game he starts, he makes those kinds of plays and really played well.

Schein: Such a great player, such a great leader for you guys. How about Josh Freeman. How did he play Coach and how did he grade out when you watched the film?

Schiano: I think Josh did exactly what we needed for him to do for us to win. He took care of the football, he managed the clock well. He did all the things in the run game that we needed him to do. Those are the things that the fans generally don’t understand is, he will get you in and out of the correct run play or you know, using the cadence the right way. I was pleased that Josh had a complete performance. You look at the stat line and go, ‘Well, that’s OK.’ He really played winning football and for me, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

Gannon: Coach, for me, the big challenge for coaches like yourself with young players and a young football team, is their ability to handle success and turn the page and change the focus onto the next opponent which you know will be a heck of a challenge for your football team going up to New York to face the Giants. Any sense as to how the team, as you watched them on Monday come in on Tuesday, is this a team that is mature enough to handle some success and get right back on the gridiron and on the practice field and do the type of work that it will take to repeat this week?

Schiano: Well I think so, but we will find out in [three] days or so. I think they approach things the right way. They know how we are. Just as I said earlier, [a win] is enjoyed for a few hours and then the reality strikes when you throw that tape up. We are very honest with our guys; I told them from the beginning that we are not going to sugarcoat it. We will let you know where we are and where I think our coaches do a real good job of is, giving them what we believe to be the formula of winning success that week. I think it changes each week. I think your opponent’s strengths and weakness as compared to yours, will adjust and hopefully after a good day of game-planning we will have a clearer picture. But you hit it on the head; this is a great challenge going up to New York to play the defending super bowl champs. I think that will get everyone’s attention.

Gannon: Coach, difficult to lose good players, you lost Davin Joseph to an ugly injury. How did Ted Larsen fare at the right guard position on Sunday?

Schiano: I thought Ted really battled. I thought he did some good things. Everybody makes mistakes, you know that. But you hit it on the head. Losing Davin Joseph was a huge loss to our football team. Not only on the field but in the locker room and from a leadership standpoint. I am anxious, he has had his surgery and is in the early stages of rehab, but pretty soon here, I think he will be able to be around the building a lot more and be around the line a lot more because he has vowed to do everything he can in the role he is in now to help us win.

Schein: Mike Williams is an interesting guy for you guys Coach. I think the presence of Vincent Jackson will help him. You know, Mike has been through a lot on the collegiate level and on the professional level. Flashing brilliance at times, other times his work ethic on the field or his off-field issues have been questioned, you know, clean slate I am sure with you. What have you seen in terms of offseason practice, preseason and then in-game over the weekend over Mike Williams?

Schiano: I have seen a guy who is committed to being the best he can be, I really have. He has bought in hook, line and sinker and has worked his tail off. His receivers coach, PJ Fleck, said he busts his hump every day in practice. I am excited. With Vincent on the other side and when we get Arrelious Benn back healthy again and we have Preston parker, we have some guys that will allow mike — last year he was having the coverage rolled to him and he was getting doubled. Now he was getting some one-on-one coverage which is great.

Gannon: Greg always a challenge coming out of the preseason, players coming together to play special teams not having played together and rookies out there. Tell me about how your special teams performed.

Schiano: You know, we were boom or bust. Had a great blocked punt which was a huge momentum regainer so to speak. Things weren’t going as well as it had gone in the first half and we were able to block a punt and then score which made it a two-possession game. I thought that was great. We could have done better in some other areas, so that has been a real focus. Special teams are getting a lot of attention down here. Especially from the head coach. A little disappointed but we will improve. I think what we need to do is get some guys healthy and get them plugged into their normal positions and let them build some cumulative repetitions.

Schein: Anything special for you going back to Jersey Sunday after spending so many years with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights?

Schiano: Well, it is home and I grew up in the shadow of that place. Certainly I will have a lot of familiarity. But as you know when you go home you have to get a lot of tickets ready.

Schein: Coach as always, great stuff. Congratulations on that good looking win against the Panthers and best of luck against the Giants; we will talk to you again real soon.

Not a bad vertical leap for the biggest man on the field[/caption]

Those who watched the Bucs-Panthers broadcast heard FOX analyst Mike Martz and his play-bay-play cohort say that the human armoire, Bucs guard Carl Nicks, weighs 380 pounds — 380 pounds!

This seemed like a bloated figure to Joe, even if Nicks is a manbeast and clearly exceeds the 349 pounds he’s listed as on the Bucs roster.

Wednesday, Nicks hopped on the digital scale in the middle of the Bucs locker room, stepped off and did a Popeye-like flex of his biceps before letting out a manly yell at Joe standing nearby.

Joe asked Nicks, “what’s the number?” and Nicks said, “I’ll never tell.”

So Joe proceeded to tell Nicks what the FOX team said about his weight. Nicks seemed a bit annoyed by the commentary and asked who the announcers were. Joe filled him in, and Nicks seemed eager for a second to tell Joe his real weight, and then Nicks told Joe he didn’t believe the announcers really said that. Joe told Nicks to watch the tape, and Nicks laughed.

So how much does Nicks weigh? It remains a mystery. Joe just hopes it’s too much, combined with too much strength, for the Giants defensive line to handle.