Like any good Bucs fan, Joe despises trash-talking, perennial-Bucs-spanking Roddy White. The great Falcons wide receiver didn’t play against Tampa Bay in the Falcons’ 31-23 win four weeks ago, but he’s back on the field now.

In this AJC.com locker room video, White is asked about Darrelle Revis and why he’s better than a certain Seahawks cornerback. White had no problem explaining what sets Revis apart. White almost seemed humbled by Revis. “He’s got a whole different deal.”

As Bucs fans know, the New Schiano Order loves to stunt as much as Joe loves a Sunday of endless pizza, beer and football.

Buccaneers defensive linemen dance around like no other unit around. If Warren Sapp got that kind of experience, he might have actually won Dancing With the Stars back in 2008.

But Bucs D-linemen don’t like those stunts. They want to put the 1-on-1 pass rush skills they work on constantly in practice to use in games. They got that chance to close out — and win! — the Dolphins game Monday night. The results brought two sacks and a pressure that led to a Darrelle Revis interceptions.

Those kinds of results can’t been sustained, of course, and it’s likely the Bucs coaches call stunts so much because they don’t believe in their edge rushers. Regardless, things are expected to change Sunday, so says Gerald McCoy.

Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network on Wednesday evening, on WDAE-AM 620, McCoy said Greg Schiano and/or Bill Sheridan have seen been enlightened.

“What coach seen when he just let us go, give us an opportunity to finish a game, I think he seen it was, you know, successful. And I think we’ll get a lot more than that because he’s seen that it works. So far our gameplan this week is looking like that, so we’ll see,” McCoy said.  

This should be fun to watch.

Joe’s got a few words of advice for the D-line: Get after it. The only way they’ll be granted the opportunity to rush the passer in a straight line — regularly — is to prove they can do it.

One reason why Mike James, a third-day draft pick, developed into a productive runner is the coaching of running backs coach Earnest Byner, said Bucs OG David Joseph.

A lot has been made of the renewed rushing attack the past couple of weeks, with a third-day draft pick and a guy pulled off the street in Mike James and Bobby Rainey.

Much of the credit has been bestowed upon the offensive line, which for the first time all year has been blasting open holes. Some have suggested that inserting Jamon Meredith into the starting left guard slot is why the running came has come alive.

Bucs offensive right guard Davin Joseph said there is another name that is being left out in the discussion, a name that’s been a key cog in the running game rising from the dead like Lazarus. That would be running backs coach Earnest Byner.

“I can’t even take credit on [backup running backs ready to play]; they have a great coach in that room,” Joseph said. “Coach [running backs coach Earnest] Byner, he’s awesome. You really see how he prepares those guys and gets them ready for the game and really how he’s committed to them and their success. You plug guys in and they just take off, that’s just really a reflection on how good of a coach he really is. It’s good to have a guy like that on your staff.”

Unlike some coaches who are always trying fancy, cute things that rarely work (and when they go back to simple football, the results are stunning, ahem), Byner apparently doesn’t believe in cute. These running backs have been grinding out yards the old smashmouth football way.

This season, there is no question that Byner has earned every penny of his salary.

Bucs fans are used to seeing Lavonte David play great, game after game after game. And aside from a terribly public gaffe in Week 1 of the NFL season, David has demonstrated nothing but being one of the game’s best linebackers.

Case in point is a category called “run stuff,” which is stopping a ballcarrier at the line of scrimmage. In this stat, David has few if any peers, so notes the Buccaneers.

Since his first game with the team, Bucs LB Lavonte David has shown his run-stopping abilities. David has 9.0 run stuffs this season, the second-most in the NFL and most by a linebacker. Over the past two seasons, his 23.5 run stuffs trail only Houston DE J.J. Watt (30).

David is simply a ballhawk, there really is no other way to describe it. He is a tackling machine. Joe will have something later today on David when he spoke with him earlier in the week.

A sneak peek: David is as humble and modest of an NFL player as you will find. He’s friends with Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner, of Carolina and Seattle, respectively, two guys who David came into the league with last year and guys who are gaining a lot of notoriety for their stellar play. Well, David had something to say about those who suggest he is playing in their shadows.

Prior to the choking loss to the Seahawks, where the Bucs watched a three-touchdown lead vanish, easily the most disappointing unit throughout the Bucs season was the offensive line.

Thought to be a strength, the offensive line was getting worked over by many opponents, and Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin struggled to find creases to run through, and struggled mightily as a result.

But beginning with the Seattle game two weeks ago, the offensive line has been reborn. With Jamon Meredith inserted as the starting left guard, the Bucs have been pounding opponents, blowing open wide holes for running backs.

The Bucs look like a different team.

It would be easy to point to the move of Meredith into the starting lineup as the catalyst for the success of the line, but that may be a little too simple, suggested Demar Dotson. The Bucs’ starting right tackle believes a Come-to-Jesus meeting, where right guard and former Pro Bowler Davin Joseph demanded better play, kick-started the Bucs to block better prior to the Seattle game.

“Davin called a meeting and said enough is enough,” Dotson said. “We have to run the football and that’s what’s going to get this team going, and we took pride in it and put it on our shoulders and that’s what we’re taking pride in right now.”

Joseph is one of the coolest guys in the locker room. The term “even-keeled” personifies Joseph. So for him to take charge like that is a bit surprising but Dotson claims Joseph can and does behind the scenes.

“He has that type of personality,” Dotson said. “He’s just more quiet and laid back with it. He’s not a rah-rah in your-race with it, wanting all the attention. But he’s definitely the leader of this football team and of this offensive line, and he brought us all together and said we have to run this football for the football team to win games.

“He’s not just a guy who leads by his words. He leads by his actions. And he goes out every day and works hard. So when that guy, who’s been in Pro Bowl, is out there giving it everything he’s got, you can’t help but follow his lead.”

Joseph confirmed that he had enough of subpar blocking by both himself and his offensive linemates.

“Oh, when it comes to football I am very aggressive and assertive and all that good stuff,” Joseph said. “In life, I like to enjoy it so I smile and I enjoy certain things just like everybody else. When it comes to football, this is what we do to feed our families and earn our living. Definitely a certain amount of respect and time and everything you have to put into the game to expect the kind of results that you want.”

It’s Joe’s weekly podcast with radio veteran Ronnie Lane of WDAE-AM 620 and the Buccaneers Radio Network. Enjoy!

Prior to the season, Bucs coaches all but gave Dekoda Watson the starting gig at strongside linebacker when Quincy Black retired (?) due to nerve damage in his neck. It was time for Watson to sink or swim on his own, so the Bucs coaches thought.

Almost as an afterthought, the Bucs signed free agent Jonathan Casillas from New Orleans, considered to add depth or maybe push Watson.

Push, Casillas did indeed. So much so that Casillas has quietly supplanted Watson as the starting strongside linebacker, Bucs commander Greg Schiano all but confirmed today at his daily presser from One Buc Palace.

“I think a lot of it was the opportunity that Casillas got when Watson wasn’t 100 percent,” Schiano said. “He got the opportunity and took advantage of it. That is competitive sport. He did a good job when he got the chance so he got more (playing time). We talk all the time, you earn your piece of the pie around here. He deserved more.

“We are looking at ways we can use Dekoda as well. I mean, we are trying to use our best athletic guys in different ways so whether it is at linebacker or special teams where we are trying to get as much out of him as we can.

“I think Jonathan played well Monday night. Out in Seattle he played well. Very physical player, Jonathan.”

Here’s the interesting thing about Casillas and Watson: Both are unrestricted free agents after the season. The way Casillas has played, he’s going to hit a nice little Lotto ticket from some team next spring or summer. Watson very well may want to try his luck with another team. Now in his fourth-year in the NFL, all with the Bucs, Watson, aside from this season, has been nothing but a special teams kind of a guy and may want to see if he is a better fit elsewhere.

More suited as a pass rusher, Watson could want to explore playing as a defensive end/linebacker in a 34 defense.

So unless Team Glazer decides to pull out the checkbook (again), it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Bucs could be looking for another starting strongside linebacker for 2014.

Glennon’s deep-ball questions marks will be answered soon

Can Mike Glennon throw the deep ball effectively and consistently?

Nobody knows that for sure yet, but the leader of the New Schiano Order said today that fans are likely to find out soon. How about that!

“I think we’re going to see him do it in games,” Greg Schiano said. “I mean he does it out there [in practice] all the time. I think we’re going to see it in games. He’s very accurate, good touch, understands placement. And that’s why we keep trying to do it.

“Now we’ve got three [defensive pass interference calls] in the past two weeks. So, you know, we’ll take that. Hopefully, some of them start to land and they’re not DPIs. And then we can do some things. You know, it doesn’t only have to be deep and outside. We can do deep all over the field, as well. So we’ll continue to take shots. I think those deep outside comebacks that he’s hit Ti [Underwood] on, he can rip those. Some of those throws are really good rips. That is maybe eight feet high. We’ll keep doing that.”

Underwood has shown he can get open and make plays, now he just has to catch the ball more consistently. It’s a damn shame Glennon doesn’t have Mike Williams around, but that’s the NFL.

Glennon’s ability to connect deep, and execute the difficult decision-making it takes to be a good deep-ball QB, will go a long way toward determining his future as a starter.

As Joe’s written previously, the Bucs don’t just need a QB, they need a quarterback who’s not the worst starter in the division. Teams don’t win Super Bowls with the fourth-best guy.

Yes, concussions are brain injuries. Look it up.

Half-sack-man Da’Quan Bowers missed practice again today as a result of concussion-like symptoms. Bowers reported his problems to the team following the Monday night’s comeback win against the Dolphins.

Will Bowers play Sunday? That’s unknown. Would it matter? That’s unknown, too.

Bucs defensive ends are struggling mightily this season to get to the quarterback, but the Bucs still have a stout run defense, ranked fifth in the NFL on the heels of being the NFL’s best last season. Bowers doesn’t play much against the run.

Joe hopes for Bowers’ speedy return. It would be nice if the Bucs would just let him play a lot in the final seven meaningless games. It would be great to evaluate Bowers. We’ve already seen what Daniel Te’-O Nesheim has to offer — seven tackles and one sack in 10 games this season.

“I saw a guy [in Gerald McCoy] that was mature, ready to take the next step, very into it in the meetings, very intelligent. And so you’d just like to think and hope that this year he can build and bring some guys with him. Because true great players bring, you know, other players’ level of play to a different level. That’s what we’d like to expect from him this season.” — Former All-Pro and current Bucs pass rush coach Bryan Cox, June 2013.

Is Gerald McCoy raising the play of those around him? Joe’s not sure. The play of every returning Bucs defensive end has regressed.

After getting the above quote from Bryan Cox, Joe’s been keeping a close eye on McCoy’s leadership skills. So McCoy’s words last night on the Buccaneers Radio Network, via WDAE-AM 620, really got Joe’s attention.

Bucs fans have already heard about how Lavonte David stepped forward at the two-minute warning Monday night and demanded the Bucs defense make plays and refuse to lose — now! The influence of David’s speech was referenced by Greg Schiano and Darrelle Revis, among many others. It was, perhaps, a defining moment in David’s career.

But McCoy said the impactful influence of David continued after the Bucs’ sack (Daquan Bowers/William Gholston) on first down, just before McCoy’s sack on second down.

“Lavonte David came to me before that play, and he grabbed me. Because we had got the sack before on a blitz and he grabbed me and said, ‘now it’s your turn.’ He said, ‘You go get this one.’ Most people don’t know that. But he grabbed me and said, ‘You go get this one.’ I’m like, ‘OK. Alright. I’ll go get it.”

Joe wants to know why McCoy, a team captain, isn’t the guy grabbing teammates and leading. This is no knock on McCoy, but the Bucs are desperate for that kind of on-field leadership, which doesn’t seem to be McCoy’s style. That’s probably why Cox was challenging McCoy in that area. Joe heard stories last week of Warren Sapp, when Sapp would watch JumboTron replays on the field so he could call out teammates that missed their assignments.

The other 2013 defensive captain, Dashon Goldson? He seems to lead on the field, unfortunately, by bad example.

Joe’s got a hunch David and Darrelle Revis will be voted Bucs defensive captains next year, if McCoy can’t “bring some guys with him.”

Darrelle Revis isn’t completely back to his Revis Island self yet, but he’s having a strong season and is sure to return to Hawaii in February.

But Revis doesn’t just impress opponents. Veterans in the Bucs locker room steadily are learning more about what it means to be one of the all-time greats. Bucs backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky, a nine-year veteran of four teams, is a true student of the game and is a guy some consider future coaching material.

Orlovsky said yesterday he’s never seen any player’s professionalism top that of Revis.

“I go against him on the scout team and our receivers will come back [to the huddle] and be like, ‘he knows our route.’ You know, and that’s on a Wednesday, it’s impressive, because that means on Monday and Tuesday he’s really taking his job seriously,” Orlovsky said. “I’m telling you; it’s impressive. It’s as impressive as any player I’ve been around as far as doing their job.”

(To translate a bit, scout team players come out on Wednesday and run plays that week’s opposition are likely to run in order to prepare the first-team defense. Revis knowing routes means he’s put in the advance homework to school himself.)

Joe’s waiting to see when Revis will fully assert himself as a leader on the Bucs defense. Joe suspects Revis has been giving more attention to perfecting his knee and adjusting to his new team. He was a leader with the Jets, and look for Revis to grab more of that role here, especially when he can participate completely in the Bucs’ offseason training.

Anwar Richardson of Yahoo! Sports explains why Greg Schiano is atop his coaching hot seat in this Yahoo! Sports video.

Plenty of Bucs icons were in town Monday for Warren Sapp night. One was John Lynch, now a FOX NFL analyst, who took time to talk to Dolphins players and get the pulse of the team in the face of their hazing scandal.

It seems Lynch found a bunch of “mentally exhausted” men facing the Bucs. Lynch explains in the video below, in which it seems his FOXSports1 colleague, Brian Urlacher, doesn’t buy the excuse for the Dolphins’ struggles against Tampa Bay.

There is always pressure for all employees in the NFL — pressure to win, pressure to make the team, pressure to put players in position to play well, pressure to coach players up.

It is all about winning. It’s why there is a scoreboard. It’s why there are standings. It’s why some coaches are held to lofty heights while others are eviscerated for losing.

With the Bucs this season, loss followed a loss followed another loss followed yet another loss. Week after week after week. Eight weeks in a row, in fact. Each week, Bucs coach Greg Schiano suggested, the noose got tighter, the blood pressure ratcheted up, the blood sugar rose. Headaches never left.

So the biggest thing that happened for the Bucs, in Schiano’s eyes, following the win over the Dolphins on Monday Night Football is the extreme pressure has widely evaporated for the team.Schiano spoke about this while appearing on “Late Hits,” co-hosted by Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio Wednesday night.

Alex Marvez: Nice win over the Miami Dolphins, you are in the win column, finally. What does a victory like that do for the team as you prepare to play the Atlanta Falcons?

Greg Schiano: Well, I think it was important, as the season goes on and you continue not to have a win, that pressure mounts on the players and coaches alike. You get that one off of your back and it frees them up a little bit and you just go play. We have a ton of injuries on offense but on defense we are relatively healthy, so, if you are going to have injuries, I always believed it’s better to have them all on one side. We had some guys step up in a big way so going into Atlanta, we are a little short-handed offensively but we have some young kids who are finding their way.

Another thing that worked in Schiano’s favor, speaking of freedom, was allowing Bucs pass rush specialists on the defensive line to, you know, actually rush the passer. Imagine! And look at the result on the final defensive stand: two sacks and a pick. That’s old school Bucs defense.

It will be interesting to see how this relief of pressure helps the Bucs, as Joe believes Sunday’s Dixie Chicks game, despite their record, is hardly a slam dunk.

Joe was able to confirm that the Bucs have not and will not practice in pads this week in preparation for the Falcons on Sunday. Playing on a short week after Monday Night Football led to the decision.

NFL labor laws crafted in 2011 prohibit hitting each other in practice every week during the regular season — something unthinkable years ago. Nowadays, coaches are forced to pick and choose when they’ll get physical. Typically, teams will burn their “padded” practices early and go soft in December when most NFL bodies can use the extra rest.

This is noteworthy because Greg Schiano spoke openly before the Seattle game and last week about how the Bucs were having their best practices of the 2013 season.

Hopefully, a soft week won’t upset that rhythm.

It has been awfully quiet recently over at One Buc Palace. Quiet in that there has been little to no drama.

This welcome change came right about the time leaky, sleepy former franchise quarterback Josh Freeman was thrown off the team. Joe has stated many times this is no coincidence.

Joe remembers all the vile and nasty things allegedly sprouting out of One Buc Palace, often dealing with Freeman, whose camp instantly would Twitter how the Bucs were leaking information to sully the reputation of their prized client and that there will be hell to pay with the NFLPA (nevermind that Freeman’s play would ever stain his reputation. #Sarcasm).

Well, the cat is out of the bag. While making his weekly appearance with the one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on the show that bears his name, “Mad Dog Unleashed,” heard exclusively on SiriusXM Radio, Tampa Tribune NFL writer eye-RAH! Kaufman assured Russo that the leaks about Freeman were not coming from Enigma-like coded messages at One Buc Palace.

When discussing the Dolphins/Richie Incognito/Jonathan Martin issue and how so many NFL investigations whither and die on the vine without finding any information, Kaufman segued into the NFLPA study as to who was leaking Freeman’s confidential information to the fourth estate.

eye-RAH! Kaufman: Some of these investigations, Chris, it’s amazing how they dissolve into nothing. I’m going to give you an example: Remember when [Chris] Mortensen reported about six weeks ago about Josh Freeman and he was in that drug program? Chris, the next thing you know [NFLPA director] DeMaurice Smith is on the next flight down here to Tampa. There’s a big grandstand in front of the cameras. “We are going to conduct a thorough investigation! We will find out who leaked this information, this private information.”

Chris, you’re going to never going to hear one further word about that. And I’m going to tell you why: My information — and it’s pretty solid — is the Bucs didn’t release that. It didn’t come from One Buc Place. I think it came from Freeman’s own camp. …

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo: I agree, I agree.

Kaufman: And as a result of that Chris, the union doesn’t like where that leads and [the leaks] might have come with Freeman’s expressed knowledge. And you are never going to hear anything about it.

Now Joe has to confess he has heard strong rumors to this effect, but could never get anyone to go on record with this so Joe just tucked the information under his cap. Now that eye-RAH! has spilled the beans, Joe feels compelled to share that he gathered similar information and understands the Bucs were furious at the accusations and eagerly welcomed an NFLPA investigation to clear everyone’s name at One Buc Palace.

And as eye-RAH! suggested, if the NFLPA finds it was Freeman and/or his camp who were planting stories, they are not going to out one of their own and drag one of their members through the mud. That just won’t happen.

Sometimes, silence is deafening.

Enjoy Joe’s must-listen, high-octane weekly Wednesday hour with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, of WDAE-AM 620.

Eric Page is the NFL’s 10th-ranked punt returner, among those with 10 or more attempts.

Monday Night Football cameras captured Greg Schiano in the face of punt returner Eric Page after his needless, seemingly stupid unnecessary roughness foul that came after he hit a Dolphins player following a punt he waved off bounced out of bounds.

It was a fourth-quarter mistake that could have been critical.

Page told Joe today that his screwup was uglier than it appeared. When the ball bounced, Page immediately broke to the Dolphins player to block him in order to prevent the guy from downing the ball inside the 10.

“It went out of bounds and it was too late for me. I kind of already went and hit him. I mean, you know, I just got to be smarter than that,” Page said.

“It just looked a lot worse than what it was because [the Dolphins player] stopped running. If he continues to run, he kind of can shield his way off. But, you know, he stopped, when the ball bounced he just stopped. And I kept going because I thought the ball was going to be in bounds, so I think that made it a little bit worse. … I saw it bounce in front of me and I kind of just took my eyes off it and went for him.”

Page said Schiano lectured him on playing smarter.

Joe hopes Schiano stays confident in Page. Joe sees a ton of upside there. He only recently turned 22 years old, and Page ranks 10th in the NFL among punt returners with 10 or more attempts. Page has returned 18 punts for 202 yards, an 11.2-yards-per-return average. He’s got one fumble, but so do eight of the nine guys ranked ahead him.

The development of Page is a feather in the cap of the New Schiano Order, and it should continue.