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Much has been made of the Da’Quan Bowers Odyssey, where the Bucs (mistakenly?) have put a whole lot of trust in a whole lot of production. From Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s own words, one can easily infer the move may have been premature.

Last year Clayborn went down with an ugly knee injury, but he’s back and in incredible shape so Joe has been told. Clayborn for the first time in his life had football taken away from him, the story goes, and it fueled an even deeper passion to rip off an opposing quarterback’s head.

Slowed by a groin injury early in training camp, Clayborn seems to have bounced back and Schiano couldn’t be happier from the sounds of his words after yesterday’s closed practice with the Patriots. Schiano about Clayborn playing tonight for the first time since his knee injury.

“That will be good,” Schiano said. “AC [Adrian Clayborn] brings not only his play, but his tenacious attitude and his energy. It going to be fun to have him back out there on the field.”

The Bucs need a pass rush worse than Joe needs Advil after a long Friday night pouring session at Hooters. We all know Gerald McCoy will be fine. Getting rushes from the edges is imperative.

If Bowers is not up to the task as the Bucs had hoped entering the season, then it is even more important for Clayborn to be healthy and active. Bucs fans should get a taste of how well Clayborn has recovered tonight.

Joe knows in the wake of news that Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman had one of his notorious Six Flags days yesterday and was roundly outplayed by a glorified third-string quarterback, the Mike Glennon Mob was happily wringing their hands in glee.

Joe is sorry to burst their bubbles, even those of the lunatic fringe, but Glennon will not sniff an NFL field this season in a meaningful game, short of Freeman going down from an injury. Even the crowd at ProFootballFocus.com, who get their calculators all in a bunch over Freeman, have noted that Glennon is not ready prime time, writes Rick Drummond.

Proper Motivation?

In our first look at Josh Freeman’s designated motivator, rookie QB Mike Glennon (-2.6 passing) came off less than polished. To be expected for sure, but the giraffe-like passer didn’t do much to avoid cementing early thoughts that had him pegged as a clumsy-footed, inaccurate slinger at this stage in his progression. A couple of big gains — escaping pressure to hit his wide-open tight end on a busted coverage to end the first quarter, and an underthrown deep ball to end the half – couldn’t outweigh the handful of other off-target attempts he put on tape. After showing sophomore promise in 2010 and not much since, Freeman’s desire to right the ship in time for his next contract — and not the rookie breathing down his neck — should still be the driving force behind hope for an improved 2013 campaign.

No matter how many times Joe types it, no matter how many times Glennon says it, the message is the same: the rookie from North Carolina State is simply not ready to play.

Yet the Mike Glennon Mob believes (hopes?) otherwise.

JoeBucsFan photo by Michael Hamm

With all the analysis of the Bucs-Patriots practice happenings yesterday, Joe found Pats writer Jonathan Lemons’ notes to offer the most bold takes.

Joe referenced Lemons take note of the Bucs’ tackling work ethic earlier, but below Lemons answered the question Bucs fans ask most often: ‘How did Josh Freeman and the Bucs look?’

The Pats won practice, per Lemons, and No. 5 was “awful.”

Former Bucs QB Shaun King is no fan of this summer’s handling of Da’Quan Bowers

There’s a blow torch under the buttocks of defensive end Da’Quan Bowers. That’s not up for debate.

But is it a good tactic? Former Bucs QB Shaun King is not waiting for the end result to cast judgment. One of three QBs to lead the Bucs to the NFC Championship game, King says Greg Schiano’s tactics are beneath his office.

 “That’s Little League coaching. I mean that’s what college coaches that don’t have a lot of experience in the National Football League do. You know, and it ultimately goes to what I’ve been saying, you know, the entire last couple of years. That’s what happens when you depend on guys to do things that they’ve never done,” King said today on the Ron and Ian show on WDAE-AM 620. “And when you look at this Tampa Bay defense, they have, you know, four, five, six guys that they’re going to ask to do some things and produce at a level that they’ve never done before. You know some of those guys are going to underachieve. In a perfect scenario, you’re just hoping one of them pans out. But we’re dependent on probably on five, six guys to really step up. …

“I don’t know if that’s a way that they’re trying to motivate Da’Quan Bowers. I mean, I wouldn’t take that route because they have no other options.  You know, if you get Bowers in a situation where he just mentally checks out, then what?”

Joe can’t judge the Bowers approach yet. Joe’s must see the final product. But King does have a point regarding the Bucs counting on at least four unproven defensive players to come through in big ways. Akeem Spence, Bowers, Dekoda Watson, Johnthan Banks, and whoever is the official/unofficial third cornerback.

You can catch King’s full interview below, and you can find King during football season as an NFL analyst on NBC Sports Network.

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Multiple members of the Boston media have been wide-eyed with surprise this week at the Bucs’ daily routine of Pop Warner tackling fundamentals practiced by the New Schiano Order.

The tackling focus should be nothing new to readers here. Heck, last year Gerald McCoy made waves saying he was learning how to tackle. Mason Foster, a tackling machine in college, recently told Joe how much he’s learned about tackling over the past year. Johnthan Banks, honored as college football’s top cornerback last year, even told Joe recently that Schiano and friends have completely overhauled his tackling technique.

But for most New Schiano Order outsiders, teaching Tackling 101 at the NFL level is something fresh.

Pats writer Jonathan Lemons was among them, so he mentioned in his practice-notes highlights yesterday from Foxborough.

3. Tampa Bay spends a lot of time on tackling fundamentals

Before the teams practiced against each other they ran through drills separately. During Tampa’s warm ups, the Bucs were grouped by position and rotated through five stations, each of which emphasized a different aspect of form tackling: getting the helmet in front of the ball carrier, wrapping up with the arms, driving up with the hips and stripping the ball loose.

Bucs cornerback Michael Adams, who joined the Bucs in late June after six years with the Cardinals, told Joe he credits the Schiano focus on tackling for him being regular-season ready for last week’s preseason opener against the Ravens.

“I’m coming from [Arizona] where we didn’t tackle anybody, or anything like that, until the [preseason] game. I felt real good [against the Ravens] tackling. I didn’t feel like I should miss any tackles. The drills have made me a better tackler already. I know I felt ready because of them,” Adams said.

Without being asked, Schiano praised Adams’ tackling following the Ravens-Bucs game.

Overall, the Bucs were stout tacklers last year. That wasn’t among their many defensive weaknesses. The continued push on fundamentals should keep that area sound.

Yes, Joe posted this information last night, but it bears being put under the microscope for further examination: The Da’Quan Bowers Odyssey.

Yesterday, Joe read a report that noted Bowers was mostly participating on passing downs during the Bucs-Patriots joint practices in Foxborough. This seemed a odd to Joe as the Bucs are bound and determined to make Bowers an every down defensive lineman. Shoot, the Bucs played Bowers the entire first half last week in the preseason opener. Rarely are starters left out in a preseason opener longer than, say, 20 minutes into the game.

That was eye-opener No. 1. Eye-opener No. 2 was Greg Schiano’s comments about Bowers and the starting left defensive end gig.

“There are no starting jobs right now. Guys are competing on the defensive front. You’ve got Gerald McCoy, that’s a guy who is definitely starting,” Schiano said. “If AC [defensive end Adrian Clayborn] can come back healthy, then he’s definitely starting. After that it’s wide open.”

Whoa.. whoa… whoa… whoa! Wait, what? Bowers not starting? Joe can just hear Vince Lombardi yelling, “What the hell is going on out here?”

Bucs fans were told in the offseason that, in part, the Bucs didn’t re-sign 2012 Bucs sack leader Michael Bennett because he was damaged goods and that Bowers was ready to fill the void. The Bucs turned their noses up at John Abraham because, in part, Bowers was ready to be the bookend to Adrian Clayborn. The Bucs looked the other way on Osi Umenyiora and Dwight Freeney, in part, because it was now Bowers’ time to shine.

Now we are being told Bowers may not even start? Good grief, how quickly Bowers has fallen in the eyes of the Bucs. He went from future Pro Bowler to perhaps a part-time player in a matter of weeks.

Joe had a hunch all along it was a gamble — a big gamble — to put so many eggs in Bowers’ basket, a guy who came out of Clemson with a lot of potential but has been injured and has yet to come remotely close to reaching that potential.

If Bowers, three weeks from the season-opener against the Jets, hasn’t locked up a starting gig, how silly do the Bucs look at being penny-wise and pound-foolish with Bennett? Sure, he was/is damaged goods, but for the (relatively) minimal amount he would have cost and all the cash the Bucs have under the salary cap, what the heck. If Bennett couldn’t hack it, you make an injury settlement or cut him and walk away.

Something really smells fishy here (and it’s not the empty beer bottles at Joe’s side). Joe totally understands how Schiano wants competition, but my goodness, what has happened to Bowers?

If Bowers can’t cut the mustard with Schiano, Joe thinks it is safe to say that Clemson defensive ends are just like Penn State quarterbacks and Florida wide receivers: Stay away. Stay very far away.

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The quick dry wit of Adrian Clayborn is on display in this NESN video, as Clayborn deals with the New England media getting in his face like gnats on a hot summer night. Joe loves it when players reveal some of their personality.

In one of Joe’s worst, diabolical nightmares, an opposing team led by misplaced fullback/quarterback Tim Tebow leads said team to victory over the Bucs and roundly outplays Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman.

(This nightmare isn’t as bad as the one Joe has experienced prior: a world without beer.)

Coincidentally, Joe read the Twitter feed of Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune who, from Bucs-Patriots joint practice in Foxborough yesterday posted this most unsettling information.

@RCummingsTBO: The most effective QB wearing the number 5 out here today has been Tim Tebow. By a mile. Not a good day for Josh Freeman

Joe had to do a double-take. Joe thought, naively perhaps, that Freeman may have put his Six Flags days behind him. The past two weeks he had been mostly exceptional. But to be roundly outplayed by Tebow of all people, Freeman must have hit rock bottom.

Yes, Joe did think Freeman had gotten past this. But maybe this is just who Freeman is and who fans can and should expect. Six Flags. The highest of highs, and then getting shamed by Tebow, if you can imagine such a thing.

Let’s hope that big ol’ rollercoaster gets stuck at its peak.

Joe’s good friends at WDAE-AM 620, by way of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have some quality audio from today’s memorable joint practice with the Patriots. Joe already brought you the words of Greg Schiano. Now it’s defensive end Adrian Clayborn, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and quarterback Josh Freeman.

Last but not least is Pats coach Bill Belicheat, who spoke before practice.

Again, the audio is courtesy of WDAE-AM 620 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It’s the new Wednesday tradition, Joe sits down with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio at 5 p.m. on WDAE-AM 620. All sorts of chatter in the mix today. Remember, Joe hit the airwaves shortly after all the Tom Brady injury news was breaking. Enjoy.

There’s not much more Joe can add to the Greg Schiano quotes on Da’Quan Bowers (see below) following Bucs practice in New England today, courtesy of the Bucs’ media relations team.

Schiano is demanding production. The heat is on, Mr. Bowers.

(On who will start on the defensive line)

“There are no starting jobs right now. Guys are competing on the defensive front. You’ve got Gerald mcCoy, that’s a guy who is definitely starting. If AC [defensive end Adrian Claybrn] can come back healthy, then he’s definitely starting. After that it’s wide open.”

(On Da’Quan Bowers getting increased playing time)

“Yeah, as soon as we know that he can. He needs to play situational football, he needs to play a bunch of plays in a row, but not at the cost of [production].  So, it’s a double-edged sword that we’re trying to make sure we are on the right edge of.”

(On if Bowers will play in the game against the Patriots)

“Yeah.”

(On how the team is evaluating Bowers)

“Everything is being evaluated. I told you what I wanted and what I expected but I’m not going to make it happen if it isn’t there. It’s got to be there. We’ll see, he’s got an opportunity Friday night and we’ve got another game next week, so we’ll just keep playing it out and see how it goes.”

You can hear Schiano talk about this and more in the WDAE-AM 620 audio below, via the Buccaneers Radio Network.

Here’s the film-heard-round-the-NFL from Bucs practice today. It’s not Clayborn’s fault that the Pats couldn’t block him.

Joe will have much more later from practice in Foxborough.

Beat writer and sports radio host Rick Stroud offered some harsh words for the Bucs’ GM

The will-he-or-won’t-he-play-in-the-preseason chatter swirling around Darrelle Revis has taken on new life.

Yesterday, rockstar general manager Mark Dominik told BSPN that Revis may play next week but later Greg Schiano and Darrelle Revis lowered those expectations publicly.

Tampa Bay Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud is no fan of the mixed messages. “Mark Dominik needs to stop talking,” Stroud said on The Sports Page on WDAE-AM 620 this morning.

Joe really can’t get all caught up in the nonsense. Joe thinks Revis could use the confidence that would come from a few preseason series. He is, in fact, human. But if Revis is not fully recovered, then there’s no point rushing it. Superman Adrian Peterson managed to dominate without playing last August. (Click below to hear Stroud’s full take, and his impressions of Tom Brady versus the Bucs defense yesterday.)

What happens when you put Tampa Bay sports radio icon Steve Duemig and Joe in the same studio to talk all things Bucs for an hour?

Find out today at 5 p.m. on WDAE-AM 620. The new, Wednesday “JoeBucsFan Hour” rolls on. You don’t want to miss this.

Now Joe knows the Bucs hope Dekoda Watson wins the starting outside linebacker gig. They have all but given the job to him. But Bucs commander Greg Schiano is big on competition. He says he doesn’t believe in handing out starting jobs just for the sake of playing Robin Hood.

Well, if competition is what Schiano wants, competition is what he is getting at strongside linebacker. Jonathan Casillas is doing everything he can to push Watson if not win the starting gig outright.

Casillas has continued his strong August in a new locale, the practice fields of the Patriots where the Bucs and Pats are participating in joint practices. Casillas made some of yesterday’s better plays, noted Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times.

Bucs LB Jonathan Casillas blew up Patriots S Duron Harmon when covering a kickoff, coming downhill at full speed and literally putting Harmon on his back for the day’s most violent hit. Casillas is gaining a reputation in camp as a big hitter.

Not just that, but a reputation as one of the Bucs better linebackers. There was a drive in the Bucs’ preseason opener against the Crows last week where Casillas, in consecutive plays, had a tackle for loss, a tackle for a short gain, and a pass breakup. He shut down a drive single-handed.

If Casillas isn’t doing enough to overcome Watson to be the starter, he sure as hell is making loud noise about getting on the field when opponents have the ball.