Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is a happy guy these days. Happy to be playing.

In his first two seasons in the NFL, GMC has missed 13 games. That’s bad for him and bad for the Bucs as the Bucs have won just three games the past two seasons when GMC was not in the starting lineup.

In the eyes of many Bucs fans, GMC is the new Barrett Ruud, the favorite player to hate. It seems Bucs fans always have to have a player to hate.

Even GMC knows he has to stay healthy for the Bucs to turn things around this season, that’s why he is not worried about getting injured because GMC explains, it is out of his hands, so the Associated Press quoted GMC.

”I truly believe if I was supposed to be injured, I was supposed to be injured so there’s not really anything I could do different,” he said. ”I know each offseason I prepare harder and harder for the upcoming seasons because I know I’m already two steps back. I have to prepare that much harder so I don’t miss a beat, and I think I did that.”

Bucs coach Greg Schiano is satisfied with what little he has seen of the former Oklahoma All-American.

”I think he’s got some elite ability,” Schiano said, ”but it’s important for everybody to stay healthy. If he can’t stay healthy, he can’t play. He’s had a bad stretch, a bad run. I’m hoping that’s all behind him because he’s a key to our defense. “

This will be a critical year for GMC, and the Bucs. History shows the Bucs play well with GMC in the lineup. NFL insiders rave about GMC’s talent and moves.

But for some Bucs fans, it just isn’t — and won’t be — enough. GMC is the target of hate.

Veteran sportscaster Dave Wirth, who works for Joe’s TV partners at 10 NEWS, WTSP-TV, has churned out this quality preview video of tomorrow’s Bucs-Titans preseason game. Ch. 10 will air the blacked out game tape-delayed at 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Wirth offers observations from Bucs practices, what to expect Friday, and more. Enjoy.

Ronde Barber explained one of the sideline rules under the New Schiano Order during a radio interview today.

During his annual cozy chat with Steve Duemig, the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Bucs icon Ronde Barber explained today that the image of him holding a clipboard on the sidelines Friday was nothing out of the ordinary under the New Schiano Order.

When you play for Greg Schiano and come off the field, you must keep working.

“That’s another one of coach’s requirements,” Barber said. “Everybody on the sideline is involved. There’s no spectators on our sideline.

“Whether you’re in the game actively, or whether you’re just kind of playing a part, you’re going to play some kind of part. When the veterans get off the field, or when the starters got off the field in the first part of that [Miami] game, he expects us to, you know, help coach up your position. I wasn’t the only one doing that. It was everybody.”

This is an interesting tactic by Schiano. Keeping players’ minds completely engaged in the game can only help every player to develop and perform.

Check out the entire excellent interview below. Joe enjoyed Barber relaying how Jon Gruden would tell players how to address him. “Don’t call me Chucky.” And Barber explains his mentality entering this season, that 2010 was no fluke and this is a season to build on that success.

Virtually all the news about Bucs receivers in the offseason was based on two players: the addition of stud receiver Vincent Jackson and the jettison of Kellen Winslow, Jr., who didn’t believe in toes on the line.

But easily forgotten is the addition of Kid ‘n Play-styling Tiquan Underwood.

Largely seen as nearly a favor to a journeyman who played for Greg Schiano at Rutgers, Underwood is perhaps the surprise of the just-concluded training camp. Day in and day out, Underwood has made play after play.

It’s one thing to make plays in practice and in underwear. Quite another to do the same in the heat of battled against guys with different colored jerseys, and Underwood has done just that. In the preseason opener at Miami last week, Underwood hauled in a 44-yard pass while sandwiched in traffic and should have been picked off if not for Underwood’s solid play.

Joe’s of the mind that Underwood, with the injury to Arrelious Benn, could very well be the Bucs No. 3 receiver.

It seems that Patrick Southern of CBSSports.com isn’t as sold. He breaks down the battle for the 53-man roster position by position with the Bucs and he believes Underwood just makes the team.

The top end of the depth chart looks far better than it did in 2011, with free agent Jackson providing an anchor and a deep threat. If Underwood continues to impress as he did during training camp, he should be on the right side of the cut line.

Right side of the cut line? Unless Underwood falls totally flat on his face in the next two weeks or is injured, he’s a lock for the roster and again, is making a serious run at the No. 3 position.

If Joe were Preston Parker or Sammie Stroughter, he’d be very concerned the way Underwood is playing.

With less than a month to go before the start of the 2012 regular season, Joe is loathe to write another beatdown piece of shamed former Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson.

So Joe will try, yet he has to confess the will power is not there.

It seems eye-RAH! Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune caught up with bruising offensive guard Davin Joseph, who all but predicted opposing linebackers will still taste the sweat of LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin with their breakfasts on Monday mornings.

“When you have backs like Martin and Blount, you have the talent in the backfield to have explosive plays,” Joseph said after Wednesday’s practice. “We have backs who can be home-run hitters.

“Having a good, solid running game gives you more options,” Joseph said. “It gives you a versatile offense. A good run game, when you really get it rolling, makes a defense a little timid. It puts them on their heels. When you’re able to dominate the line of scrimmage and get positive run after positive run, you wear teams down for four quarters. And with weather like this, it can make things very easy in the fourth quarter. We have the guys to be like that and we have the coach to push us in that direction to be a tough, physical team.”

Kaufman goes on to remind readers that the Bucs — despite having a running back on the roster who ran for five yards a carry the previous season — had the fewest rush attempts of any team in the NFL last season.

It wasn’t just that the ill-prepared Bucs defense found itself underwater in the first half so much the Bucs had to force the ball to Kellen Winslow throw the ball to catch up, it was that Olson had little to no desire to run the ball in the first place, which was part of the reason the Bucs were swimming up stream week after week.

Thankfully, with more than one talented running back, the Bucs seem to crave ramming the ball down a defense’s throat on a regular basis.

It’s impossible to dislike Adrian Clayborn. Aside from being half-man half-dog, a “BoyDog,” as Raheem Morris called him, even the most casual football fan can see that Clayborn is a driven player on the field. A real lunch pail, high-motor guy with plenty of raw ability.

Bucs beat writer eye-RAH! Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune has penned a nice feature story on Clayborn, and a quote that really struck Joe came from Clayborn’s older more experienced linemate, Michael Bennett.

“He’s ferocious. … Being an older guy (26), I still look up to Adrian for his tenacity and strength. The man’s work ethic is second to none,” Bennett said.

There’s plenty of other takes and quotes on Clayborn in the story, but Bennett saying he looks up to Clayborn is quite a tribute.

Isn’t it amazing that Clayborn can be such a tireless worker yet still be so busy Twittering? 

Those who followed Clayborn on Twitter this offseason were able to follow his constant battle to eat right and fight food cravings, and Clayborn spent time in Arizona going through to some grueling workouts with a soft-on-the-eyes personal trainer.

There’s no reason to think he won’t be a better player this season. The Bucs desperately need him to be a double-digit sack guy and take a step up in his run defense.

The leader of the New Schiano Order wants plenty of what he calls “execution” penalties

The leader of the New Schiano Order doesn’t want some pansy-ass soft football team that doesn’t commit penalties.

Being an aggressive Buccaneer Man means you’re going to drill skulls unintentionally at times, explained Schiano on WDAE-AM 620 Tuesday.

Schiano said he puts penalties in three categories: Selfish, Silly And Execution.

“Where you’re playing hard and you happen to fly over the top and hit somebody out of the hit zone” is how Schiano described “execution” penalties. “I don’t want to slow our guys too much down that way. Right? It’s a fine line between being physical aggressive football team and, you know, getting a flag. You gotta be careful. I don’t ever want to be the least penalized team in the league, because I don’t think you’re trying hard enough then,” Schiano said.

Well, what Bucs fan in his right mind wouldn’t get fired up if the Bucs had the kind of physical defense to draw those kinds of flags. Raheem Morris used to talk about being “violent,” but Schiano painted a much better picture with his definition.

During the interview, Schiano went on to talk about running when the defense puts eight guys in the box and how he defines “commitment to running the ball.” He also shared his philosophy on developing pass rushers. Take a listen below.

It’s easy to forget that Vincent Jackson and Josh Freeman are still building their chemistry and communication, and it’s easy to forget that the Bucs are running a brand new offense with loads of fresh elements under a first-time offensive coordinator.

But that newness was top of mind at one point in practice today. During an 11-on-11 drill, Freeman eyeballed Jackson on the left flank, and then Jackson turned back for the football while Freeman threw about 15 yards away from him to nothingness down the field. Freeman slapped his thigh. It was one of those moments that seemed to be all about a couple of guys still feeling things out.

On Friday in Miami, Vincent Jackson didn’t catch a pass. And Joe doesn’t recall a ball thrown his way.

There’s plenty of time for Freeman and Jackson to connect before opening day, but Joe would sleep better if Jackson was at least targeted a few times against Tennessee on Friday.

Greg Schiano has talked about using preseason games to “tick mark” things he wants to see individual players and the Bucs do against other teams. Hopefully, one of those ticks is Freeman throwing a good handful of routes to No. 83.

Earnest Graham talks all things Bucs

There was quite an intelligent converstation with Earnest Graham on WDAE-AM 620 this morning.

Graham talked all things Bucs, and he broke down LeGarrette Blount’s skill set and explained why he believes Blount is in Adrian Peterson’s class when he’s playing well.”LeGarrette’s competition is himself,” Graham said.

Graham also gets into Josh Freeman’s weight loss and Greg Schiano. Enjoy.

Troy Aikman weighed in today on Josh Freeman. Aikman is scheduled to call the Bucs’ first two road games.

Troy Aikman took in Bucs practice today, and he wasn’t in town for a good sweat or a quality lap dance on Dale Mabry Highway. Aikman was taking notes and talking to players and coaches to be prepared for calling two early-season Bucs games.

That’s right, the FOX Sports A-crew of Joe Buck and Aikman will work the Bucs’ first two road games, at the Giants and Cowboys. Of course, most of the country will see those games, and combined with the Bucs-Panthers opener being a featured 4:25 p.m. start on FOX, the Bucs are coming away with a hell of a lot of national television exposure for the first three games of the New Schiano Order.

It’s a great and uncommon spotlight for a team coming off a 10-game losing streak. Hopefully, the Bucs will rise to it.

Aikman believes great things lie ahead for Josh Freeman, so he told Joe after practice.

“I liked Josh a lot when he was coming into the league,” Aikman said. ” We had a chance to do a preseason game of his. And then I think we’ve had him just one other time against Green Bay last year. I think he’s a really talented player. Obviously he was exceptional a couple of years ago and I think his play last year was pretty reflective of the team’s. High expectations and just didn’t play with the same kind of efficiency. There’s a lot of reasons for that. And I think that some of the things they’re going to be doing within this offense and the way that Greg Schiano wants to approach this thing, I think it’s going to help him. I expect him to go on and continue to have a great career. I really do. I think a lot of him.”

Writing this really got Joe thinking more about the Bucs’ first three games. Man, these tough, high-profile games are going to set quite a tone for the season.

Joe believes the Bucs will be ready. Whether they’re good enough to hang with any of these teams is the real question.

Two years ago it seemed the Bucs found a major hidden gem in Michael Bennett. Now in his fourth NFL season, Bennett is the Bucs starting left defensive lineman.

While Bennett may not have topped his 2010 play last season — who on the defense did? — Bucs fans may be pleased with what they see from the Texas A&M product this campaign.

“I feel I understand the game better,” Bennett said after the final training camp practice of 2012 this morning. “I’m in my fourth year now so I recognize plays quicker and digest them faster. So it feels way better this [camp] than last year.”

Bennett should get ample time to match his play with his intelligence. With Da’Quan Bowers likely out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury, Bennett will have the lion’s share of snaps at left defensive end.

Many Bucs fans who have come out to training camp have seen Bucs first round pick Mark Barron practice.

But that is not the real Mark Barron, so Mark Barron says.

One reason Barron was drafted was that he lays the wood to opponents. He hasn’t done much of that yet, Barron said, because the Bucs don’t want him hurting others.

“In practice, we are limited because we have to keep each other healthy,” Barron said. “You can’t really strip because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s shoulder. So yeah, most of the time, a safety won’t stand out unless a day in practice when a safety has a lot of interceptions.”

Barron noted that his real self will be displayed in games, and Bucs fans are still waiting. Barron was hobbled by a bum toe last weekend and was a game time scratch at Miami to open the preseason slate.

Provided Barron’s toe is healthy, he will play Friday against the Titans, and show NFL fans how punishing he can be.

Wallace Gilberry was very active on defense for the Bucs on Friday, and former Bucs defensive end Steve White came away impressed and said he’d likely stick on the final roster. 

Count Greg Schiano among those who like what they see from the former Chiefs defensive end, who recorded seven sacks in 2010.

Today, Joe asked the leader of the New Schiano Order to talk about Gilberry’s impact and any history he had with him before the Bucs signed him as a free agent this winter. Here’s Schiano’s response:.

“I knew nothing of him before he got here. Mark [Dominik] and Dennis [Hickey] brought him in to me,” Schiano said. “I watched the tape . He flashed and did some things. You loved his effort. He’s a hard effort player. I think he’s been a good addition out there. He’s a positive guy. He works his tail off. It’s going to be interesting to see how this thing shakes out inside, but he’s definitely right in the middle of the mix. He’s a guy that can go inside and outside, too. That helpes his cause a little bit.”

Joe had a chance to chat with Gilberry, 27, who wants Bucs fans to know he’ll deliver for them in all ways. “High energy, I want to work hard. I’m definitely going to be an on-the field and off-the-field kind type of person they can get behind and cheer for,” Gilberry said.

As for rushing inside, Gilberry said he did plenty of that in Kansas City and has no preference as to how the Bucs choose to use him.

“Whatever I was told to do, I just do it,” Gilberry said. “You don’t really have a choice in this league, whatever you’re built for and whatever you’re good at, you hope the coaches bring it out of you, and that’s what happened for me in Kansas City and that’s what’s going on here. God blessed me with this talent and I’m just hoping to be able to use it.”

The battle for roster spots on the defensive line is intriguing. If the Bucs deem Gilberry capable of delivering as a reserve inside and outside, he might make banged up Amobi Okoye or Gary Gibson expendable. Or he just sticks as a backup defensive end. There’s not much to speak of behind Michael Bennett and Adrian Clayborn.

Joe was out at the final training camp practice for 2012 this morning and jotted down some highlights, and not-so-highlights.

* Cody Grimm was seen working with the third team defense.

* A morning practice is not complete without Greg Schiano barking instructions with his bullhorn.

* Eric Wright the past week or so has really stood out on defense. Early in practice he breaks up a Josh Freeman pass intended for Vincent Jackson.

* Ronde Barber fakes a blitz up the middle but it wasn’t needed as the run was stuffed at the line.

* Jackson breaks open over the middle for a completion.

* Michael Smith is shifty, even in heavy traffic.

* Najee Goode grabs a pass at midfield and turns it into a pick-six.

* Josh Freeman rifles a pass to the left sideline for Vincent Jackson who taps his toes just inbounds for a catch.

* Michael Smith takes it to the house on a kickoff return, much to the delight of Bucs fans. The next play, Sammie Stroughter matches the score by running up the left sideline.

* Mike Williams grabs a pass over the middle with Leonard Johnson draped all over him.

* Dallas Clark extends high for a pass just out of the reach of Lavonte David.

* Eric Wright with some perfect defense on Vincent Jackson, preventing the Bucs wide receiver from coming down with a catch in the far left corner of the end zone.

* George Johnson gets his left mitt on a Josh Freeman pass using an inside stunt to the left, nearly picking off the pass.

* Robbery! Greg Ellingson clearly burns Myron Lewis for a touchdown on the left sideline but one of the scab refs claims he never got both feet in the end zone. The play happened right in front of Joe and Ellingson has both feet well inside the line with plenty of green to spare. There was no replay to be had.

* A field goal sails so long on the north end zone that it drills a car in the parking lot, triggering the vehicle’s alarm system.

* Second day in a row that during two-minute drills when Schiano pipes in crowd noise, the fans in the bleachers begin yelling at full throat. This time, the fans stood as one, stomping on the bleachers while chanting, “DEE-fense… DEE-fense… ” Joe’s pretty sure a training camp tradition is born.

* Eric Wright and Gerald McCoy would have easily sacked Josh Freeman if not for Freeman’s green no-hit jersey.

* Sammie Stroughter gets the best of Eric Wright over the middle for a completion.

* Mossis Madu with a good gain catching a pass from Josh Freeman in the left flat.

* The scab refs catch an offensive lineman putting Mason Foster into a sleeper hold.

* Eric Wright blitzes and would have beheaded Freeman. Michael Bennett was also in Freeman’s face.

* The defense has played as well as it has played in a few days.

* Eric Wright continues to shine, just missing a field goal block by laying out on a dive.

* Tiquan Underwood hauls in 39-yard pass down the right sideline from Josh Freeman. Joe is getting the sense that Underwood may be your Bucs No. 3 receiver.

* In a very public display of bonding with players about working out in the Tampa heat, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik donned black garb, jogging down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. joined by director of player personnel Dennis Hickey.

The Bucs are exactly two weeks from their final preseason game in Washington. And now it seems that there’s no shot that Arrelious Benn will make his 2012 debut in that game.

Greg Schiano said yesterday Benn is “probably a few weeks” away from returning from the knee injury he suffered July 27.

Perhaps the Bucs stick Benn on the physically unable to perform list to start the season? That would force Benn to miss the first six games, and buy the Bucs some time. Of course, the Bucs could surprise and keep six wide receivers including Benn, a move that would be unexpected to Joe given all the injury and depth issues on defense.

As Joe’s written previously, Joe just can’t wrap his head around the New Schiano Order gifting Benn a roster spot when he hasn’t earned a job. The Bucs have little financial commitment in Benn, and Schiano surely has no personal stake in the 2010 pick.

Partially because of the addition of wide receiver Vincent Jackson, Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune believes the Bucs have never had this talented of an offense.

Joe learned in Day 1 of journalism school an objective reporter is not to get emotionally involved in his/her beat.

That was when newspapers had a monopoly on news content and often the messages put forth. Now, in the age of the Internet, objectivity is too often a curse. Look at CNN’s ratings, a news outlet that prides itself in its objectivity.

Consumers crave opinion, whether they like the opinion or not.

So when Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune made a rare appearance — in studio, no less — with Joe’s good friend, the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig, to discuss his analysis of the Bucs, Joe was taken aback with Cummings’ perception of the Bucs.

“I haven’t been this excited about a season starting probably since 2003, after the Super Bowl,” Cummings said. “That team was special. I don’t know if this teem is going to be as special of a team or have as much success but i don’t know if the Bucs have ever had a more talented of an offense than they ever had.”

Other cool tidbits from Cummings and Duemig can be heard by clicking the button below.

There’s a fun video up on Buccaneeers.com, behind the scenes from the Dolphins-Bucs game on Friday. If NFL Films type stuff gets you jacked up and ready to run through a wall, then you’ll enjoy it. Click the link. Tell your boss you’re doing it for him or her.

Among other stuff, you get a different look at the Tiquan Underwood bomb, Bryan Cox coaching on the sidelines, and the tipped pass that led to the Lavonte David interception.

Now Joe knows fans are irritated because the Bucs’ first preseason game will be blacked out Friday from a live broadcast.

Joe knows there is a lot of hand-wringing about this, but clearly, the public has spoken and buying a ticket (or tickets) to a preseason game isn’t high on people’s entertainment list.

What, should the State of Florida legislature pull an ObamaCare stunt and tax citizens a hundred dollars a year in order to pay for tickets to ensure sellouts? If people don’t want to go, they don’t want to go. It’s (allegedly) a free country.

This doesn’t mean the Bucs couldn’t someday be on TV more in the future.

Cricket-watching, scone-loathing Peter King of Sports Illustrated typed a piece yesterday where he mentioned that the high interest in the “look-ins” of team training camps broadcast last month on the NFL Network proved to be so popular, it has caught the eye of the NFL owners.

PEOPLE WOULD WATCH. “I would love to see NFL teams start to televise their training camps. The Pats have been averaging over 10,000 fans per practice this year. I know most teams don’t have that kind of following on a daily basis, but it seems to me that there’s an unmet need there. I’ve seen some coverage, but it’s been dominated by the Tebow and Manning shows. From a purist’s prospective, I would probably tune in occasionally just to see how my rookies, star free agents and previously injured players are doing. Not to mention that there might be a Fantasy Football draw as well.”
— From Ray, of Southboro, Mass.

The NFL has proven that it could televise anything and get ratings. As I’ve gone from camp to camp, I’ve noticed quite a few camps televised lived on NFL Network. Don’t think the league’s not thinking about it.

Yes, this could work. Joe would guess that Bucs fans would much rather watch a Bucs training camp practice than that glorified track meet known as the NFL Combine.

It’s actually a beautiful mix of needs and wants. Bucs fans would want to watch, all NFL owners want to make a shekel or two, and there are broadcast companies dying for content in the late summer.

Two years ago, the NFL Network-hostile Bright House Networks, which continues to hold local football fans hostage by denying them the greatest channel known to man while shoving every friggin’ shopping channel down consumers throats, broadcast live from the Bucs’ night practice but it was all interviews the entire night, no shots of the actual practice, likely because the cable outfit didn’t have the rights to broadcast the actual practice on the field.

Yesterday, Joe spoke with a prominent employee of Bright House Sports Network, who said the outfit is thirsty for content and programming this time of the year. There are only so many CFL, KHL and taped high school sports to regurgitate for 24 hours a day.

Same with Fox Sports Florida/Sun Sports. Outside of baseball, there is only so much fishing and poker playing that can be broadcast. Joe seems to recall Sun Sports broadcasting a controlled scrimmage from the Orange Bowl years ago between the Bucs and Dolphins, if memory serves.

The way the NFL continues to grow and grow and grow and grow, it wouldn’t shock Joe one iota if next year, a local cable network would secure the rights to broadcast Bucs training camp practices that are open to the public, and for the hundreds of thousands of fans that cannot take off work to come out to practice, they can DVR the broadcast for viewing later in the day.

It really makes too much cents sense for this to happen.