The moment it was learned that Bucs right guard Davin Joseph suffered an ugly knee injury, Joe was peppered with the following question:

Can the Bucs sign Jeff Faine?

Well, the answer to that question is obviously, sure they could sign Faine.

The more accurate answer is, No. The former Bucs center, whose agent is currently dabbling with the Bengals, has been unemployed since Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik sent Faine packing earlier this spring.

In other words, the Bucs (and it seems, most of the NFL), have turned turned the page on Faine.

The reason why Bucs fans were curious about Faine is his return would allow center Jeremy Zuttah to shift to right guard, a position he played in 2008 when Joseph was dinged up, and Zuttah played admirably.

Though Joe is of the mind Zuttah isn’t going to be moved to right guard, there’s a belief by some that Zuttah very well could move to right guard, so writes Dave Scheiber of FoxSportsFlorida.com.

Might the Bucs look outside the organization for reinforcements?

“I think we have the answer internally already,” Schiano said. “That’s why we’ve been trying to build depth at all the positions. But we always look outside. That’s a constant. If there’s somebody we think fits our mold, then we’ll try to do what we can to get him.”

In a possible scenario that Schiano didn’t rule out, Scheiber believes there is a chance that Ted Larsen, who replaced Joseph last week, could be moved to center, which would allow Zuttah to slide to his right to fill Joseph’s void.

The players thrown on the street yesterday by NFL teams to cut down rosters to 75 were largely camp meat, bartenders, truck drivers, insurance claims adjusters.

By Friday, teams have to get down to their 53-man, regular-season rosters. There will be quite a few talented guards and centers looking for work. Joe won’t be shocked if Dominik brings in a few to kick the tires on as the offensive line is juggled to find the right mix for the season opener against Carolina.

Hmmm, there was one significant change to the depth chart released tonight.

Joe’s not naive enough to believe that the New Schiano Order makes uncalculated moves.

Every detail has a meaning.

So it’s worth noting that the new depth chart released by the Bucs this evening in advance of Wednesday’s Bucs-Redskins game shows Doug Martin as the starting running back. The three previous depth charts issued by the Bucs all had LeGarrette Blount as the No. 1 RB.

Joe sees no other significant changes to the depth chart other than those that reflect players waived today and Ted Larsen stepping up for injured Davin Joseph.

Of course, the cut-and-paste job at running back could be a Schiano move to confuse the Carolina Panthers or send a message to Blount. Regardless, Joe expects Blount will get his chance to run over Luke Kuechly on opening day.

Bad news came for 10 Buccaneers this afternoon as Tampa Bay made its first round of preseason cuts. The following names are now former Bucs:

WR Ed Gant
P Eric Guthrie
T Mike Ingersoll
LB Brian Smith
S Tramain Thomas
CB Marquese Wheaton
RB De’Anthony Curtis
LS Andrew DePaola
WR Greg Ellingson
TE Collin Franklin

Also, Davin Joseph was placed on injured reserve and Da’Quan Bowers is on reserve/PUP.

One of the great things about having the NFL Network from its inception is the tremendous content from NFL Films. It truly is artwork what the Sabols do.

(Out House customers: How does it feel now to know that your satanic cable outfit has you in shackles after Time Warner last week became the lone top 10 cable distributor refusing to allow sports fans to enjoy one of the most popular networks, holding football fans hostage while shoving channels down your throat like NY1, LOGO, countless shopping channels which is a gigantic waste of natural resources, and that nonsense yenta news channel that rebroadcasts tripe like a lost rabbit in Westchase 12 times a day?)

Last year, in its series, “A Football Life,” a particular episode was devoted to Bill Belicheat. An NFL Films crew shadowed Belicheat for a full year and it was really cool insight. During one game, Belicheat implored his team over and over to “just do your job!”

Apparently, that cry has been heard by Bucs defenders after being echoed by one of Belicheat’s disciples, Greg Schiano.

The Bucs defense played lights out against the Tom Bradys Friday. Better than any Bucs defense has played in some time in Joe’s eyes. Yes, it was preseason, but that was against the Patriots’ No. 1 offense.

What, you think Belicheat wanted Brady to get punished the way he did Friday?

What amazed Joe was that the Bucs shut down Brady and Company with several backup players filling critical holes.

Mason Foster was nursing a tender hamstring and didn’t suit up. Gerald McCoy was the victim of a borderline dirty hit to the knee and logged just four plays. Adrian Clayborn had the rare but dreaded elbow/scrotum injury.

And still the Bucs defense smothered the Pats.

Why? Michael Bennett told Joe it was simply a matter of players just doing their jobs.

“Coaches are doing a great job of coaching us and guys are buying in every single week,” Bennett said. “Guys are buying in more and more. The defense is working.

“Guys are out there doing their job. It’s good to see guys doing exactly what they are coached to do. I think that is exactly what happened. We can’t go with many highs and lows. I just want to be consistent each week. I try not to let the highs and lows of plays get to me.”

Guys are doing what they are instructed to do. Imagine.

Joe knows one reason why Geno Hayes was benched last year and is no longer with the team is that he tended to do a little too much freelancing.

There is no such thing as freelancing in the New Schiano Order. And just look at the results.

Joe likes to keep tabs on select former Buccaneers, and Joe finds it noteworthy that serial loafer Sean Jones is back on the free agent market after being cut today from the Lions.

With Cody Grimm teetering on the Bucs’ roster bubble, that means the Bucs’ starting safeties  from 2011 — aka The Wolfs — are battling to stay in the league. Though Joe has no doubt Grimm will latch on somewhere if he were cut from the Bucs.

Keeping with the same theme, Luke McCown was axed from the Saints, sackless Kyle Moore survived today’s first wave of cuts in Buffalo, and Kellen Winslow and Dezmon Briscoe caught touchdown passes this weekend. Briscoe has drawn great reviews up in Washington.

Joe knows many Bucs fans assume that Bucs rockstar general manager Mark Dominik is nothing more than a figurehead under the New Schiano Order.

Hell, Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times advised readers that Schiano is more powerful than Tom Coughlin, Mike McCarthy and Norv Turner.

Dominik, however, painted a different picture Friday, and surely a more accurate one during an interview with Gene Deckerhoff on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Deckerhoff asked Dominik about crafting the roster with Greg Schiano.

“We have sat down almost every day for multiple hours,” Dominik said. “We meet everyday on it, Gene.”

Joe realizes cynical Bucs fans likely believe Dominik is only running the overhead projector and managing the established room temperature in these meetings, but Joe’s quite confident Dominik retains significant power and influence, if not a tiebreaking say.

Dominik went on to tell Deckerhoff how prepared the Bucs are for the waiver wire and “that second draft,” when roughly 1,500 players are cut around the league this week.

Davin Joseph’s contract presents an interesting reality: He might never play another snap for the Bucs.

Per Rotoworld.com, part of the NBC Sports family, Joseph’s seven-year, $52.5 million deal signed before the 2011 season only included two guaranteed contracts, $9.5 million for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. After that the Bucs could cut ties with Joseph, who turns 30 next season, without cash ramifications.

Joseph’s patellar tendon injury is serious. That’s what screwed up Cadillac Williams — twice — and other NFL players have struggled to even return from it. Can Joseph even get back to training camp in 10 months?

Joe’s a big Joseph fan, and his injury is a huge loss. But the Bucs are forced to move on for 2012. If the new guard is solid, Joe doubts Joseph will put his hand on the ground for the Bucs again.

Friday night, Joe walked away impressed with the new defense led by Bucs coach Greg Schiano. The Bucs defense seemed to rise from the dead and stonewalled one of the most potent offenses in the NFL.

It seems the Bucs defense caught the eye of scone-loathing, cricket-watching, Marriott-hopping Peter King of Sports Illustrated. In his must-read Monday Morning Quarterback column today, King lauds Schiano for his work transforming a horrid lot into what is starting to look like a formidable squad.

Coach of the Week
Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano. In the span of a month, without top pass rusher Da’Quan Bowers, Schiano and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan have put a tough stamp on their defense. On Friday night, Tom Brady and one of the NFL’s three best offenses had the ball nine times. Five times Brady went three-and-out; once four-and-out. He had two long touchdown drives. By the time Ryan Mallett came in to replace Brady, the Bucs led 30-14.

Well, Joe thinks King left out some salient information that makes what the Bucs defense did Friday even more impressive.

The Bucs did not have the services of starting middle linebacker Mason Foster, who sat out the game with a tender hamstring. Then, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy went out early in the game on a borderline dirty hit. Then, defensive end Adrian Clayborn.

Three of the Bucs’ top defensive players in the front seven played sparingly, and they still put the hurt on Tom Brady and company.

Joe will have a story a bit later today with a little nugget on just how the Bucs defense has changed under the New Schiano Order.

As reports out of One Buc Palace over the past few days indicate, it looks like rookie running back Doug Martin will be the Bucs No. 1 running back come Sept. 9 when the Bucs open the season against the stinking Panthers.

And Joe is OK with that because it appears the running back race was won fair and square. As Joe told Toby David of WHFS-FM after the game Friday night, that just means Martin will be No. 1A and LeGarrette Blount will be No. 1B, as Bucs coach Greg Schiano has stated he will have a two-headed monster of a running back attack.

One person who isn’t ready to shovel sand in Blount’s face is Alan Dell of the Bradenton Herald. Dell rages in a column about how Blount has been demonized for reasons unknown and simply cannot understand why so many would be so quick to release a guy who two years ago averaged five yards a carry. It was “as if there were a Pulitzer at stake,” Dell writes.

Blount dismisses criticism that he can’t understand blocking schemes well enough to be on the field on third down and that his hands are made of stone. He says he can be an effective receiver out of the backfield, particularly with his size.

Blount says Martin’s arrival has not changed the way he approaches the game, that he was going to improve his ball security regardless.

“I am OK with Doug. He is a good player, and they drafted him for a reason. I know they appreciate what I do. If they didn’t I wouldn’t be here,” he says.

Joe thought it was an absolute joke how people claimed Blount couldn’t catch out of the backfield when Joe saw with his own eyes Blount catching passes in practice and last season.

If Blount was so awful, why would Earnest Graham sing his praises so?

Again, Martin ran the ball much better than Blount last week. Sure, Blount may have been dinged up, but that’s what depth at that position is for. And that’s exactly why Martin was drafted.

Blount’s biggest problem last year? Two words: Greg Olson.

The Bucs’ desire to ram the ball down people’s throats took a nasty blow Friday night when All-Pro right guard Davin Joseph went down with a season-ending patella injury.

If the Bucs are to go with the old Raheem Morris mantra “Next man up,” that would be reserve Ted Larsen. But after being questioned at his day-after press conference Saturday, Bucs coach Greg Schiano didn’t seem to hand the job over to Larsen so quickly, reports Brad Biggs of the NationalFootballPost.com.

“We’re going to try to work a couple of things,” Schiano said. “Right now, I’m not sure. Obviously Larsen has worked there. But some of that has to be competed for I think. I don’t think it’s a knockdown slam dunk who it is there.”

Nor should it be. As Joe has written and spoke about before, there is no such thing as a good time to lose Joseph. But if he had to be hurt and lost for the year, now is the time.

In the coming days, over 1,000 players will hit the open market, cut by other teams. Plus, perhaps rock star general manager Mark Dominik could swing a trade for a potential salary cap casualty in the final year of his contract for a late-round draft pick.

No, Larsen shouldn’t just be handed the job. It should be earned. And Joe’s of the mind the Bucs will bring in a few candidates to push or replace Larsen.

Joe didn’t mention this last week, but watching the Panthers’ first-teamers absolutely annihilate the Dolphins’ top defense sent Joe to Walgreens for a six-pack of Tums.

Cam Newton and the running game completely carved up the Dolphins in short order and jumped out to a 17-0 lead. It looked like the varsity against the JV. And it made the Bucs’ success against Miami seem less impressive.

And that brings us to tonight, when the Panthers’ top dogs line up for at least a half against the Jets at 8 p.m. on NBC. It’ll be interesting to see how the Panthers respond against a much better team, before a hostile crowd, and on the national stage.

Joe really wants to see what the Panthers’ ground game looks like. Stopping the run is still the Bucs’ biggest defensive hurdle to overcome.

Look for the Bucs to spread the tight end work around what likely will be three TEs on the roster.

The challenge, though, will be to avoid tipping off play-calls to defenses based on the tight ends in the game. Frankly, much of this revolves around Dallas Clark’s subpar blocking on a team that craves a punishing running game.

In a funny moment at Greg Schiano’s news conference yesterday, the leader of the New Schiano Order was pressed to explain and acknowledge the “tight end by committee” approach. The question came from Tampa Tribune scribe Woody Cummings and Schiano demanded to know where Cummings got his intelligence, “Who gave you that word?” Schiano asked, referring to “committee.”

Cummings let the head coach know it was revealed on the local TV broadcast of the Pats-Bucs game.

“Stinkin’ production meeting, huh,” Schiano joked with a reddened face. “When I say that ‘by committee,’ I mean, you know, there are certain guys that do different things well, better than the next guy. So I think what we’ll try to do is play to their strengths. You gotta be careful when you do that though, if you totally play to your strengths, then it’s like a blinking light, ‘Ok, here it comes.’ So you gotta be proficient enought at least at the things that aren’t your strengths so you can mix it up. But, yeah, I do think we’ll play several guys, which will be good.”

Hopefully, Luke Stocker can stay healthy. He’s no Dallas Clark, but Joe believes Stocker is far more versatile than many believe.

Also, Joe enjoyed Schiano’s analogy of the “blinking light” in relation to how an offense can’t telegraph what’s coming. That was exactly what the Bucs did repeatedly with LeGarrette Blount last season.

While some Bucs fans are concerned by Josh Freeman looking inconsistent and tentative at times this preseason, that doesn’t bother Joe much. Freeman’s learning a new offense, with new coaches and receivers. It will take time, and he’s not turning the ball over, which is a great sign.

But alarming Joe this morning is the Bucs’ relative lack of success in the running game this preseason. The Bucs are supposed to be mauling at the line of scrimmage with their expensive manbeast offensive line and strong pair of running backs.

Through three games, LeGarrette Blount is averaging 2.6 yards per carry, and Doug Martin is averaging 3.6 yards. And these are two guys battling to win a starting nod.

“Run the football” is the identity of the Bucs offense, so Bucs fans were told in the offseason. There have been flashes, but not much more than that.

Now Davin Joseph is down.

In two weeks, the Bucs will need to run the ball against Carolina, a team they had zero success running the ball on last season.

Joe’s as fired up for the regular season as the next guy, but the Bucs have got to get the ground game humming right out of the gate. Without a dominant running attack, Joe’s not seeing how the Bucs avoid going 0-3 to start the season.

Got tickets for the Bucs-Panthers game on opening day, Sept. 9?

Joe’s friends at Tilted Kilt in Clearwater are going to get you there — in style.

Bucs fans can start their opening-day tailgate at Tilted Kilt and then get on a chauffeured luxury bus at 3 p.m. to Raymond James Stadium for the 4:25 p.m kickoff against Carolina. Then the luxury bus will return you right after the game to Tilted Kilt, where you can keep the party going into the night.

And best of all, a seat on the luxury bus costs only $3.95 roundtrip per person!!

That’s a huge savings! Crap, parking at the stadium would cost you $15 to $25.

Parking is safe, easy and convenient at Tilted Kilt. And you can bring Tilted Kilt food on the bus, and your own adult beverages. … Joe’s friends at Paradise Worldwide Transportation are doing the driving, which means it will be top-shelf service.

Buy your seat now below. After purchase, you’ll get an instant receipt and parking/pickup specifics emailed to you within 24 hours.

Bucs rookie safety Mark Barron made his first splash play in the NFL (hopefully, many more to come) when he grabbed a tipped Tom Brady pass and returned it for six points.

To hear Barron speak after the game to Joe about his play, it was a combination of his teammates playing sound fundamental defense, and Barron being a bit fortunate.

“I think it was just a thing where everyone did their job,” Barron said. “I want to thank Ronde. If he didn’t make that tip, I don’t think I would have made that play.

“Everybody did their job. Everyody was in their zones, doing their jobs and breaking on the ball. That is exactly what [Barber] did and he got a hand on it.”

It hasn’t been lost on viewers of training camp practices that Barron has shadowed Barber constantly. That’s because Barron is trying to squeeze every tiny bit of information from Barber as he can.

“For me, [Barber is] a guy who has been in the league for 16 years,” Barron said. “It’s a privilege [to play with him]. He knows how to play the game. He has a feel for pretty much everything. Instincts, he has them. There’s a lot that he knows and a lot of knowledge that he has.”

While Barron joked that he will be able to tell his grandkids some day that his first NFL interception came off the great Tom Brady, he was still distraught about one aspect of the play.

“The only thing I messed up on was that I didn’t keep the ball!”

In his day after review of the Bucs win over the Patriots in the final home preseason game of the year, Bucs coach Greg Schiano announced right guard Davin Joseph is out for the year, which was released by the Bucs official Twitter feed.

@TBBuccaneers: Davin Joseph will have surgery on his left patellar tendon Monday and will be placed on injured reserve. … Coach Schiano says he believes the Bucs have the answer for Davin Joseph’s absence internally, but they will always see what us available.

So there you have it. Not surprising at all, but still depressing.

As Joe told both Toby David last night and Rock Riley this morning, both of WHFS-FM 98.7, there was no good time to lose Joseph to an injury. But if there is such a thing as a timely moment to go down, this is the time.

In the next week, there will be a glut of players hitting the free agent market, cut loose from their teams. Donald Penn was once such a player.

Also, if the Bucs get wind of a guard who will be cut due to a salary cap casuality, perhaps a trading a low-round draft pick for the guy would make sense.

Usually, teams won’t trade for a potential salary cap victim, as why would a team spend a draft pick when they can get the guy free. But not many teams will have a dire need for a guard like the Bucs. So spending a seventh- or sixth-round pick may not be outrageous if Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik can land a player that, while may never replace Joseph, will temper the blow.

Two weeks ago the Bucs started their game with Tennessee with three three-and-outs. Last night, the Bucs starting defense was smothering.

How smothering? Consider the stats pumped out by CBSSports.com’s Bucs Rapid Reports Twitter feed.

@CBSSportsNFLTB: Impressive showing for #Bucs D last night: Patriots starting O had 8 drives vs. Bucs’ starters, and only 1 drive went more than 14 yards.

Now consider how the Bucs accomplished this and just who it was against. Starting middle linebacker Mason Foster was a late scratch due to a slight hamstring. Three plays into the game, starting defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was on the receiving end of a borderline dirty low hit at the knee. He returned, but just briefly. Then, Adrian Clayborn went down with an elbow/scrotum injury.

So the Bucs did this without three key starters.

Then you look at the opposite side of the line of scrimmage and you see a big Patriots offensive line and All-World quarterback Tom Brady.

Impressive, indeed.

Even though we are not supposed to worry about preseason wins and losses, New England coach Bill Belicheat was clearly bothered by how the Bucs defense beat down the Pats offense in this Comcast New England video.