Despite a woeful final preseason game by Bucs backup quarterback Mike Glennon, the Mike Glennon Mob is alive and well.

Their outcries for Glennon to take over as Bucs quarterback may have quieted, but they’re only pushed back into the shadows, not gone.

Joe knows the don of the Mike Glennon Mob is Dave the Producer at WFLA-TV, Channel 8. So if Dave the Producer is the don, then popular radio and television sports personality Adam Schein is certainly a made man if not a capo.

Schein, once a believer in Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman, has given up on Freeman and in not quite the past year, has made no secret of how he feels about Freeman as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Schein recently has all but claimed Glennon would start before the end of the season and now, in his weekly NFL.com column, Schein has gone all-in on Glennon claiming it will be Glennon — not Freeman — who will save the Bucs season and is one of the nine NFL rookies to watch this year.

9) Mike Glennon, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Yes, you read that correctly: Mike Glennon. And yes, I know he’s not the Bucs’ starter. However, consider that Greg Schiano and Mark Dominik have built a team that’s ready to dance at every position but one: quarterback. There’s a reason they have yet to give Josh Freeman an extension: They aren’t convinced and need to see more.

If the offensive line is healthy and Freeman struggles, Glennon will play. And he should. He has a rocket for an arm and a ton of confidence. With Doug Martin in the backfield, Tampa’s going to run it 25 times per game anyway. The Bucs need someone to stretch the field and make better decisions.

In his Rutgers coaching days, Schiano liked to say that it’s better to put in the young quarterback “a day late rather than a day early.” But he had no problem reshuffling the depth chart when trouble hit. I just don’t see the coach allowing the season to slip away with Freeman. Plus, I like Glennon in the system put together by Schiano and offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan.

Now let Joe be very much upfront here: If Freeman struggles, the season is done. If Freeman is benched, he must be playing horribly, as in 2011 bad. If Freeman struggles, then it’s time to worry about the draft.

Schein does make a couple of salient points. The Bucs are built to win now (which is why Joe believes Freeman is the man, or Dominik trades for a veteran next winter). The thing Schein points out that bears monitoring is his claim of Schiano being afraid to juggle quarterbacks at Rutgers.

What exactly does Schiano do if Freeman struggles and the Mike Glennon Mob grows angrier and loud?

Are the Bucs making progress? What’s longtime WTST-TV, Ch. 10 sportscaster Dave Wirth talking about when he says, “that’s a bad football team?”

Wirth dives into his Sunday prediction and his 2013 season prediction in this exclusive video for JoeBucsFan.com. Enjoy.

Who did opposing quarterbacks worry about in the Bucs’ secondary last year?

Nobody. The fearsome foursome only tortured the souls of Bucs fans.

But now Darrelle Revis is here and supposedly healthy. And he’s already been injected into the heads of Jets receivers by Jets coaches. Rich Cimini, Jets beat writer for ESPN.com, explains that New York receivers have been advised that sloppy route-running won’t cut it this week.

3. Club Dread, an island adventure: Head coach Rex Ryan says the Jets won’t make a concerted effort to attack Revis even though he’s playing for the first time after major knee surgery. Do we believe him? Revis might not be Revis — not yet, anyway — but you get the impression the Jets still are deathly afraid of their former star. The receivers were told to place an extra emphasis on not tipping routes. If there’s a tell, Revis will jump the route, and then you’re looking at a potential interception. 

What the Jets should do is test Revis against the run. Unlike many cornerbacks, he’s always been aggressive in run support. Will he be tentative because of his surgically repaired knee? Don’t be surprised if they call a power sweep on the first series. 

All the attention on Revis is fun, but Joe doesn’t expect Revis or Bucs cornerbacks to be a huge factor in Sunday’s game.

The Bucs should — key word “should” — have no problem outscoring the Jets and Geno Smith. The Jets will take a ton of chances on defense, and the Bucs have the talent to make them pay.

Bucs Super Bowl winning quarterback Brad Johnson sees the Josh Freeman cup as half full. In fact, Johnson thinks Freeman is a great player, so he told Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune.

Johnson’s got a different perspective than most. In addition to 17 years in the NFL, Johnson didn’t become his starter until his fifth season at 28 years old.

“It seems to me like they’re always playing from behind a lot,’’ said Johnson, who watches the Bucs regularly in retirement. “As a quarterback, that can be tough, because no matter who you are, you need help. You need your defense to get you turnovers and you need your kick and punt returners to get you a short field now. And then and it really helps if you can just be able to play with a lead.

 “After a while, if you’re playing even or from behind, the game will catch up to you. And if you’re not surrounded by a great team, you’re just not going to win that much. But I think Josh is a tremendous quarterback.’’

Joe’s pleased to hear the endorsement from Johnson, but it’s moot is Freeman doesn’t win games. Johnson finished his regular-season career 72-53 as a starter.

Is anyone anywhere picking the Jets to beat the Bucs tomorrow? Joe sure isn’t.

In this Yahoo Sports video, former Bucs beat writer Anwar Richardson and Shaun King call the Bucs game and the rest of the NFL slate. King, one of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFL title game, says the Bucs are “too talented to lose” Sunday.

Yeah, this is a silly little time-waster as we all drink beer, watch college football, if not high school football, and count the minutes until the Bucs and Jets kick off Sunday.

It seems like craft-beer loving Mike Tanier, of SportsOnEarth.com, has beer in mind as well. Tanier, a good guy Joe chatted with at the combine last winter, decided to compare each NFL team to a beer.

For the Pewter Pirates, Tanier writes the Bucs are Corona.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Corona

Most fans only pay attention to the Buccaneers when they fly down to watch them host a Northeast corridor team when the weather gets cold. (Eagles at Bucs October 14th, visit Uncle Carlo in Clearwater while you’re there! Bills at Bucs December 8th; no one will blame you if you don’t book a return flight!) The half-frozen Baltimore-to-Bostonian emerges from the plane, sees palm trees, hears the words “Gulf of Mexico,” and thinks, “say, what is that flavorless watery nonsense they always serve at silly luau parties and Cinco de Mayo night at Tipsy McStereotypes? The stuff with a edge of lime in it to give it some taste and smell? Corona! Give us a bucket of those!” When the Yankee arrives home sunburnt and hung over, his only memories are of a pirate ship, two or three interceptions, and conch fritter barf.

Joe isn’t quite sure what “conch fritter barf” is like, and to be honest, Joe really doesn’t want to find out.

Joe does know one thing: Fruit and beer do not mix. Not ever. No way, no how. Just the thought of a Bud Light Limarita makes Joe’s stomach turn. Yick!

Maybe that nasty taste of lime juice in a bad beer is what interceptions are supposed to taste like?

The pride of Jersey City, linebacker Jonathan Casillas, a guy who chose to play for the rigorous New Schiano Order versus other opportunities after four seasons with the Saints, is one of the more personable guys in the Bucs’ locker room.

Greg Schiano has talked about how Casillas is a ferocious hitter, and he and Dekoda Watson are expected to share duties at strong side linebacker.

In this WDAE-AM 620 locker room interview today, Casillas says Jets rookie QB Geno Smith doesn’t yet look like a second-round pick on film and explains that the Bucs will look to confuse him. The defense is “not going to be too vanilla.” Catch the entire interview below.

The SNY-TV Jets crew is at it again breaking down what the Jets need to do to try and get a victory against the Bucs with shaky rookie Geno Smith under center. Enjoy.

Greg Schiano revealed today that starting fullback Erik Lorig is very much questionable for Sunday’s game.

So in Joe’s mind that means it’s likely Peyton Hillis will earn a helmet on Sunday and see meaningful action against the Jets.

Rookie Mike James is not a fullback, and veteran running back Brian Leonard readily admits he hasn’t been fullback-sized since blocking for Ray Rice in college.

Hillis told Joe this week that he’s been getting work at fullback and is healthy and ready to go. Hillis, a superstar with the Browns in 2010, is brimming with confidence. Joe had to ask Hillis if he was surprised to make the final Bucs roster, and Hillis was adamant that he’s not in Tampa as a hanger-on. Hillis said he believes he proved as much as the other backup running backs through training camp and preseason.

Fullback was Hillis’ college position, and he’s played the position in the pros and he definitely has the size. He’s also got proven NFL hands out of the backfield.

Yes, the Bucs lined up with tight ends in the backfield in preseason — that’s how Tom Crabtree got hurt (he’s out for Sunday) — but keep in mind that’s preseason, which doesn’t mean much.

Hillis might get quite an opportunity to revive his career and inject a surprise spark into the Bucs offense Sunday. If the Bucs play to their capabilities against a crappy Jets team, then it would be great to see Leonard and Hillis close out the game on the ground in the fourth quarter with Doug Martin getting valuable rest.

So how do you feel, Josh Freeman? Are you jacked up? It’s opening day of your fifth season with stud talent around you, and you’re damn talented yourself.

“Extremely relaxed” is how Freeman described his demeanor yesterday.

Media types prodded Freeman a little more about seemingly fishing to find out if Freeman is fired up for opening day, and Freeman wanted no part of that. Freeman repeated that he’s “relaxed” and confident, essentially his typical cool, mellow self. You can watch what that looks like here, via Buccaneers.com.

Much like many Bucs fans screamed and hollered about how Father Dungy wouldn’t scream and holler on the sidelines, there are many fans who don’t like their franchise quarterback to be so relaxed. These fans want a fiery leader, a veteran QB who’s voted captain by his teammates, but that’s not Freeman.

And that’s perfectly OK, as long as the Ws come more often than the Ls.

The Jets are expecting the Bucs to come after their prized rookie

The Jets may or may not test Darrelle Revis, but the Bucs surely will be coming after the guy who replaced him on the Jets.

In some ways, the Jets traded Revis to the Bucs for rookie cornerback Dee Milliner out of Alabama and a third-round pick.

Milliner is who the Jets snagged in the draft with their 2013 first-round pick after sending Revis to Tampa Bay and before they grabbed DT Sheldon Richardson with the 13th overall pick they got from the Bucs. The Jets replaced one stud corner for a guy they think can be another — and he earns about $13 million less per year than Revis.

Milliner, of course, has loads to prove. The Jets, via The Star Ledger, were open yesterday about expecting Josh Freeman to target Milliner all day long on Sunday.

Despite a long recovery from a torn knee ligament, Revis commands immense respect. The Jets feel Milliner, the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft, can one day be viewed with such esteem. For now, though, there is a different expectation.

“Are we expecting them to throw balls his way? We sure are.” Dennis Thurman, the Jets defensive coordinator said. “We’re expecting him to make his share of plays as well.”

Expectations in the NFL, Thurman said, provide a scale by which players can be judged, and inform game plans, as well.

“If you’re not successful, they’re going to come back at you until you are successful,” Thurman said. “That’s the nature of the beast in this league. We’ll see if he’s up for the task. If he is, he’ll go out there and perform. That’s what we expect him to do.”

Despite missing the Jets’ final two preseason games with an Achilles injury, Milliner will start Sunday. He has practiced fully this week.

So Milliner’s coming off an injury and will be flanking experienced, athletic Mike Williams. That’s a mismatch in the Bucs’ favor, as Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie matches up with Vincent Jackson.

Josh Freeman’s familiarity with the Bucs’ offense and nearly 200 career connections with Williams should translate into some huge chunks of yardage.

Seen here is the TV coverage map for the FOX early games (1 p.m. Eastern window), in which the Bucs play Sunday.

Green areas will see the Bucs-Jets game from their over-the-air FOX affiliate. Red zones will get the Dixie Chicks and the Saints. Blue can watch Minnesota and Detroit, and yellow areas will be polluted by the Seattle-Carolina match. Map courtesy of the506.com.

More than a few Bucs fans have thrown their hands in the air in disgust about how the Bucs stunt so much along their defensive front.

Former Bucs defensive lineman Steve White is an outspoken critic of the constant stunting. Joe also remembers Bucs Hall of Famer Warren Sapp incredulously asking Gerald McCoy, “Why are you running over there when the quarterback is over here?” making the case that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

In his weekly press conference yesterday, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan explained the number of stunts isn’t so much to find a hole in the blocking or to find a mismatch or to be cute, but simply to get offensive linemen to whiff on a block.

“The main thing is you’re trying to get misses in the line of scrimmage from a blocking standpoint,” Sheridan said. “A lot of teams are zone blocking or man blocking plays and when we move our guys horizontally; left to right, off an offensive linemen, you’re hoping you get some misses and penetration the line of scrimmage. For the most part, it’s really called for run downs, especially on first and second downs. We’re doing that with the intention of disrupting the run.

The way we do it, because our second level players – even though they have coverage on people – if those guys stay in and block, they end up becoming additional rushers. So a lot of times, especially on first and second down, when those quarterbacks are hanging on to the ball off the play action, we actually end up having additional guys rush in there, you can see that on the film . It’s normally called for a run down. Again, we’re trying to disrupt the blocking patterns and – not just be stationary where they know where we’re going to line up and this is how they’re going to block us. We might be moving inside or outside off the different shades we play. But, again, if they hang onto the ball, – the more guys they keep in, a lot of times we get additional rushers coming in.”

While this may sound good in theory, thus far in practice, it has holes — not the kind the Bucs are looking for.

When it comes to running stunts on the rush, well, the Bucs led the NFL in rushing defense last year.

When it comes to running stunts to get to the quarterback, the results speak for themselves. The Bucs were pathetic at putting quarterbacks on the ground.

Given the fact the Bucs were on the extreme edges of defensive production last year, perhaps a moderation of sorts in the stunts may work to the Bucs’ benefit?

Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson doesn’t think much of Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman.

There are all sorts of angles to monitor Sunday when the Bucs travel to the New Jersey Swamplands to face the Jets to open the season. There’s Darrelle Revis, there’s the Bucs’ pass rush, there’s the Bucs secondary, there’s the instability on the Bucs’ offensive line.

And, as usual, there is enigmatic Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman. In his last 15 starts on the road, Freeman is a troubling 4-11. That simply isn’t acceptable if the Bucs hope to play meaningful games in January.

It seems Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson is aware of these numbers, and more. Wilkerson, speaking to BSPN New York’s Rich Cimini, all but stated Freeman is soft mentally and thus, is not a concern to him or his fellow Jets defenders.

“We feel like we have a great game plan to get him off his mark and get him uncomfortable,” the veteran defensive end said Wednesday.

Asked if Freeman is vulnerable, Wilkerson nodded his head.

“You see it on film,” he said. “You get him off his mark and get him kind of rattled, and he kind of just makes mistakes on his own. It’s not even so much the defense, it’s just him not being comfortable. If we do that, we should definitely be fine and come out with a victory on Sunday.”

Joe has stated all along that Freeman wilts under pressure, especially in big games. His 6-15 record against teams with winning records documents this disturbing trend, a pattern that must end if the Bucs want to make the postseason. Or perhaps more importantly to Freeman, it must end if he is to be wealthy beyond his dreams.

It’s interesting that a veteran NFLer like Wilkerson, who studies tape and does research much more than Joe, senses the same thing with the Bucs’ starting signal-caller.

Wednesdays and Thursdays are busy days at One Buc Palace. All sorts of players and coaches are available to talk about games and strategy.

Today was no different. Here are some players and coaches to listen to at your leisure: Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman, safety Dashon Goldson, guard Davin Joseph, offensive lineman Gabe Carimi and wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

Also, the weekly press conference from defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan and the daily press conference from Bucs coach Greg Schiano.

As always, audio courtesy of Joe’s good friends at WDAE-AM 620.

Xs and Os guru and SiriusXM NFL Radio host Pat Kirwan, and prickly Pete Prisco, team up in this strong CBS Sports preview of the Jets-Bucs season-opener.

Prisco shows why he’s prickly, and Kirwan, a former Jets coach and Buccaneers scout, busts off ugly Josh-Freeman-on-the-road stats and talks about how much the Jets will come after Freeman. Kirwan says pressure on Freeman is the Jets’  only hope of winning the game. Kirwan also said Jets QB Geno Smith “looked lost” when Kirwan visited Jets training camp and predicts Smith’s play will be “brutal” Sunday. This is one of the five wins Kirwan expects from the Bucs this season, a 17-9 victory.

Well, the headline says it all. Bucs defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan delivered the scouting report on the Bucs’ defensive line this afternoon at One Buc Palace.

Confidently citing “depth” and “natural pass rush ability,” and the freedom to rotate D-linemen, Sheridan said “I’m anticipating a much better pass rush.”

Joe can’t wait to see it. Seeing surely will be believing.

Newcomer veteran DE Trevor Scott is a huge X-factor, and a guy Sullivan mentioned as a rotating pass rusher. The Bucs need someone to help fill the Michael Bennett sack void, especially if they want to get “much better,” as Sheridan predicts.

Some great takes in this SNY-TV video out of New York. Former Jets quarterback and current Jets analyst Ray Lucas dives into the question on many fans’ minds: Should the Jets test Darrelle Revis. Lucas explains why he’s all in favor of it.