So here we are. No franchise quarterback Josh Freeman who, after being made inactive and missing “more than one” team meetings this week, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, has been ordered off the sidelines and forced to watch the game from a suite.

Fun times, eh?

At this point, Joe can’t blame Schiano at all for banishing of Freeman. Dude will be lucky to make $800,000 next year much less his current salary of $8 million. Meanwhile, the Bucs are facing the Desert Rats. Let’s see how well Glennon can play. What a circus this whole place has become.

Feel free to e-mail each other illegal streams of the game, but if you paste a link, you are begging to be banned.

Have fun and go Bucs!

The awaited exclusive Josh Freeman interview just aired on BSPN and, among other things, Freeman revealed that his missed team photo shoot was caused by a wee-hours power outage that left his alarm clock blinking and showing “12:00.”

Freeman said he saw the clock on the sun up on Labor Day and felt awful. “I think I took it a lot harder than anyone else” on the team, Freeman said.

On the switch to Mike Glennon, Freeman said he thinks Glennon has good skills but “I don’t really understand the decision.”

Freeman said teammates were uncomfortable with the move to Glennon.

Speaking on BSPN’s pregame show, Keyshawn Johnson said the benching of Freeman is the start of “the blame game” from a coach on a very hot seat. Others on the BSPN crew said it should be obvious that Freeman’s performance led to the change. Chris Mortenson went on to say many of those outside the Bucs organization, who once worked alongside Freeman in the organization, are telling him that Freeman’s career is salvageable because of the great leadership and work ethic reputation he had.

Here are your Bucs inactives for today. Josh Freeman, somehow, got demoted from No. 2 QB on Wednesday, per Greg Schiano, to inactive today. So now Greg Schiano believes Dan Orlovsky gives the Bucs a better chance to win in case of an injury to Mike Glennon.

Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams are ready to roll:

CB Michael Adams
T Gabe Carimi
TE Tom Crabtree
QB Josh Freeman
DT Derek Landri
CB Rashaan Melvin
DE Trevor Scott

Game 4

Desert Rats (1-2) at Bucs (0-3)

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

TV: WTVT-TV, Channel 13 locally (the game is not blacked out). Outside the Tampa Bay area, DirecTV Channel 711.

Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network (in Tampa WFUS-FM 103.5, and WDAE-AM 620); SiriusXM Channel 112.

Weather: Per Kate Wentzel of WTSP-TV Channel 10, expect a  sun-kissed Florida Chamber of Commerce day with a high of 87 under a bright sun with a slight breeze from the northeast which may affect field goals. For you hard core partiers, be careful. Kate believes there is a chance of rain around 5 p.m.

Odds: Per FootballLocks.com, Bucs -2.5.

Outlook: Today, the reign of franchise quarterback Josh Freeman officially ends as rookie Mike Glennon will start for the Bucs and the Mike Glennon Mob will be chugging beers toasting the Bucs’ first drive.

Obviously, starting a rookie quarterback, his first start, there’s really no way to guess what will happen. In the preseason, specifically against Miami, Glennon looked terrible. Now Bucs commander Greg Schiano likes to think his practices are about game-like speed and energy. But Joe thinks we all know now that’s a bogus concept. If Schiano is basing his belief that Glennon can help the Bucs win more than Freeman on practice, then it could be a long day.

Glennon is a stationary target. No shock there for Bucs fans. Good thing that Darnell Dockett, once a feared pass rusher, is a shell of his former self. Father Time is a cruel, cruel man. Joe believes the Bucs will do well against Carson Palmer. He, too, is past his prime and some believe should call it a career. If the Bucs can rattle Drew Brees, then they should do just fine against Palmer.

Key to this game is who is playing. If the Bucs are without Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, or they are slowed by their injuries, then the Bucs will be lucky to break double figures. Expect Doug Martin to get the workout of his life today. It wouldn’t shock Joe if Martin got the ball on traditional passing downs if Jackson and Williams are unable to dress.

This morning, BSPN NFL insider Chris Mortenson reports this morning that Josh Freeman has not sparked trade talks but has got teams investigating a potential trade with the Bucs.

Apparently, Mortenson heard the rumors of Freeman’s off-the-field troubles and explained that NFL teams are digging.

“Under the CBA, it is an inquiring team’s right to know of any player’s otherwise confidential status in the substance abuse program, whether or not Freeman is one strike away from a suspension,” Mortenson said. “Thus, his performance, his remaining salary of more than $6 million, his pending free agency, and off field concerns need to be clarified for Freeman to emerge as an attractive trade option who would bring value to the Bucs before the trade deadline.”

The anxiously awaited Josh Freeman BSPN interview didn’t air yet this morning, but the network did just play a new snippet to tease readers.

It’s a cut of Freeman saying, “Physically, I’m playing the best football I’ve ever played.”

It’s an interesting comment by Freeman. Did anyone ever question his physical gifts? He looked — “physically” — pretty darn good four years ago shaking off pass rushers and using his legs.

The Bucs want to trade Josh Freeman. But as Joe’s stated previously, the Bucs can afford to be patient before the Week 8 trading deadline.

There’s no reason to give Freeman away for the first seventh-round pick that comes Tampa Bay’s way. And there’s little reason to worry that Freeman will become some sort of locker room cancer. That’s not in his personality, and even if it were, Freeman knows that would hurt is trade prospects.

So the Bucs are very much on an injury watch. If Alex Smith gets roughed up in Kansas City, if Andy Dalton blows a knee, if Jake Locker separates a shoulder, then Freeman could suddenly become a hot commodity. There are many other potential teams that would be willing to gamble on Freeman saving a potential playoff season if their current starter was lost.

Joe’s not about to root for another player’s injury, but it’s something to watch closely. Quarterbacks go down every year, and there are few, if any, backups better than Freeman.

Mike Glennon will have his share of surprises today in the Arizona Cardinals’ defense. With a injury-devastated linebackers corps, talk all this week from Cardinals coaches was about how the team will move away from its 3-4 defense and use a lot more 4-3 looks because they’re shorthanded at linebacker.

Simply stated, the Cardinals will be mixing it up not just to confuse Glennon but to cover holes in their front-7.

Also, John Abraham, officially a linebacker in the Cards defense, is healthy. And he’s expected to move into a full-time role versus the pass-rush specialist situation he was in.

Consensus out of Arizona is that the Cardinals will make Glennon beat them, loading the box against the run and blitzing him relentlessly. Arizona has playmakers in the secondary, so it’s hardly a bad strategy.

It looks like a beautiful day today in Tampa Bay, but as we all know, the weather locally can change in a snap. WTSP-TV Channel 10 meteorologist Kate Wentzel brings news of what Bucs fans can expect.

Greg Schiano told everyone that would listen prior to Wednesday that Josh Freeman was just a small piece of the Bucs’ offensive troubles in 2013. Schiano even defended Freeman on Monday. But then Freeman got the axe, without any other apparent changes to the offense.

Joe wondered whether Freeman taking the fall would mean other players felt guilty about letting their signal caller down. Wide receiver Kevin Ogletree acknowledged his slippery-fingers role and reminded Joe of the cutthroat business of the NFL.

JoeBucsFan.com: From Doug Martin to yourself and other receivers, there have been a lot of dropped passes this season. Is there any kind of feeling in the locker room of, ‘hey, we let Josh down.’

Kevin Ogletree: Yeah. You know, of course. But at the same time we’re all working our hardest. Collectively we haven’t gotten it done. So we’re just going to go about it with a workers mentality committing to getting better every day and finding out how we can improve.  That’ll be taken on by the receivers and the running backs. Obviously, things haven’t gone like we wanted them. There have been too many plays that we want to have back. I’m sure Josh understands, just like any other big time quarterback in the NFL. You know, it is a business. That’s all.

Joe’s glad Ogletree mentioned the “business” side of the Freeman move. It’s often forgotten.

Joe was told by someone of extreme importance this week that it is accurate to equate the Freeman defrocking with the trade of Aqib Talib last season. Talib, per Bucs officials at the time, became expendable because the team had decided he would not return under any circumstances in 2013. So while Freeman’s performance was at the core of the change to Mike Glennon, his contract status played a role.

But make no mistake, Joe remains sure that Freeman would still be the Bucs’ starting QB today if Tampa Bay was 1-2, versus 0-3. 

If you’re even CONSIDERING buying a new truck or SUV… pay attention. You don’t want to miss this!

GET PROFESSIONAL GRADE GMC’S AT INVOICE!

PAY THE INVOICE PRICE FOR BRAND NEW GMC’S!

WAY LOWER THAN MSRP!
LOWER THAN THE CLEARANCE PRICE!

Right now at Ed Morse GMC at the Auto Plaza on U.S. Hwy. 19 in Port Richey.

IT’S THE NATURE COAST’S LARGEST GMC INVENTORY… AT INVOICE!

2013 TERRAIN – $229* a month!
2013 SIERRA – $219* a month!
2013 ACADIA – Buy for $28,973*

PLUS GET ONE YEAR OF COMPLIMENTARY SIRIUS XM RADIO!

DON’T WAIT! THEY WON’T LAST LONG!
*See dealer for details

Three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Troy Aikman, appearing on FOX Football Daily, gives his take on the benching of Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman in this video.

There is too much beer to swill to get stuck in traffic going to the Cardinals-Bucs game Sunday. So let award-winning traffic reporter Holley Sinn of WTSP-TV Channel 10 guide you through the mess. Holley even gives up her shortcut to the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway.

Leave to the excellent Playbook crew and their NFL Network video team to document seven drops that victimized Josh Freeman in New England on Sunday.

Here’s the video. (Two drops not analyzed were ones Joe mentioned earlier by Doug Martin.) It’s former Pro Bowl center Shaun O’Hara who says he didn’t know that Josh stands for “just off somebody’s hands.

If the Bucs caught, say, four of those seven, Sunday’s scoreboard and Freeman’s stats likely look significantly different.

This could be great news for Bucs fans!

The offensive gurus of the New Schiano Order studied this film and determined Mike Glennon still gives the Bucs the best chance to win Sunday.

Supposedly, a strength of the Bucs is the offensive line. That hasn’t been the case. Had the Bucs had better blocking in the first game against the Jets, not one Bucs fan would be yelling the empty words “game-planning” or “play-calling” as crutches for why the team lost.

The plays (that franchise quarterback Josh Freeman could hear in his helemt) were just fine. The blocking wasn’t.

Part of the trouble is former Pro Bowler is and all around good guy David Joseph isn’t quite 100 percent ready after his knee surgery last year, documents Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

Pro Bowl RG Davin Joseph has been back in the lineup for close to a month after recovering from a 2012 knee injury. While Schiano thinks Joseph has played well, he doesn’t think Joseph has regained his Pro Bowl form.

“Is he back to his old self? I don’t think so,’’ Schiano said. “He just hasn’t had enough reps yet. But I do think he’s playing at a high level and now the job is just to shine it up.’’

Well, here’s the thing: The Bucs better get healthy and in football shape pretty damned quick. There is little to no margin for error any longer.

With Mike Glennon now the Bucs quarterback, his speed springs to mind what former Boston pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee once said about Detroit slugger Al Kaline. “He’s so slow he has pigeon s(p)it on his shoulders.”

Glennon is about as stationary of a target as it gets in the NFL. With Doug Martin almost assuredly going to get at least 25 carries tomorrow — and the Cardinals loading the box to stop him —  the offensive line will have to be at its best, or it will be a long, long, long day for Bucs fans and their punter.

Former Bucs secondary coach Herm Edwards offers tough love advice for Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman in this BSPN video.

Let Joe offer a riddle: Say Bucs quarterback Mike Glennon gets hurt because he is such a stationary target. What then? What does Schiano do when the Bucs face the Eagles after the bye?

Yeah, it looks like the immortal Dan Orlovsky is the answer, as expected thanks to Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s non-denial yesterday that Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman is the No. 3 quarterback. Unfortunately, Orlovsky is beyond abysmal.

Former Super Bowl quarterback Rich Gannon believes the Bucs cannot return to Freeman. So he told his partner of “The Blitz,” Bruce Murray, heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

“I was a little surprised [Freeman’s benching] happened so soon,” Gannon said. “It sounds like they have pushed the panic button. You look at how poorly he has played you get the sense he is holding back the rest of the offense. I think they are looking for a spark. Problem is when you make this change so soon, it is almost impossible to go back.”

So what if Glennon is hurt and Orlovsky is atrocious? What then?

It sure seems as if, by going against the team’s (and Schiano’s) direct orders not to go to BSPN, that Freeman has burned whatever goodwill may be left between himself and Schiano.

It sure smells like Freeman will never take another snap with the Bucs.