O-line coach Bob Bostad says Jeremy Zuttah will handle line calls. That was a duty of Josh Freeman’s last season.

Jeremy Zuttah walked into Chucky’s giant playbook as a rookie and had no problem mastering all positions on the offensive line quickly in 2008. Zuttah filled in as a starter for Davin Joseph and Zuttah’s name wasn’t heard over four games, a great compliment to his brain and skills.

Joe remembers Davin Joseph raving about Zuttah’s aptitude during his old radio show, sharing that it took him a solid year to figure out Chucky’s playbook but Zuttah was an incredibly quick study.

Well, it seems that Zuttah is impressing again. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad told Joe today that Zuttah will be making line calls. It was a job Josh Freeman held last season.

“He has a great grasp knowledge-wise of what we’re asking him to do,” Bostad said of Zuttah. “He’s a guy that certainly can be that quarterback of the offensive line.

“[Josh Freeman] starts the whole process, but it’s really within the line that the line calls are made and they direct it from that center position.”

The change in line-calls responsibilities may not be significant, but it would represent a shift in philosophy from Greg Olson, who strongly believed that having a quarterback make the calls was an important step in a QB’s development.

Perhaps this will take some pressure off Josh Freeman, who has said multiple times that he put too much pressure on himself last season.

There’s having a guy’s back, and then there’s talking about admiring someone.

Moving to the latter is a big leap of love, and Ronde Barber went there today when talking to reporters about Aqib Talib. The Bucs icon has been impressed by the man that has depressed so many Bucs fans over the years.

“One thing about Aqib’s offseason this year, and you can ask anyone in this building, he’s been here from February on. I think he’s really committed,” Barber said. “He hasn’t changed, but he’s committed to changing that perception about himself. And I admire him for that to be honest with you. He’s dealt with a lot in his four years or five years with us. Those can’t be issues for him anymore. We have to talk about what kind of football player he is and let all the other stuff die away as it should be because he’s incredibly talented.  And his talent should speak for itself. We shouldn’t be talking about everything else.”

Joe sincerely hopes Talib has turned a page. The guy’s got every  incentive in the world to change himself. A fat fresh contract awaits him in 2013, if he can stay healthy and out of trouble.

Talking to reporters today at One Buc Palace, Bucs icon Ronde Barber made it clear that daily during the offseason he heard Greg Schiano talk to the team about the new conditioning standards that would greet them in the form of a conditioning test on the day they reported to training camp.

Well, that was today, and an undisclosed number of players failed the test, Schiano said. And Barber didn’t seem to have any pity for his brethren who knew what was coming.

Their punishment/limitations were not disclosed by Schiano, who made it clear that he was “disappointed” but not surprised by those that didn’t meet the “cardiovascular” demands.

But Schiano’s body language at the podium was not one of concern. Schiano said this is common across the NFL but he would expect 100 percent success from the Bucs on future Day 1 testing.

Now Joe’s not about to go on a rant blasting players without knowing how close they were to the standards. A trusted source told Joe that Carl Nicks was one of the guys that didn’t pass. But for all Joe knows, for example, Nicks missed the cut by 3.3 seconds on his final sprint. Schiano said there were different standards for different body types.

Regardless, it’s not a great start, but hopefully a learning experience. And it’s going to be interesting to see how Schiano disciplines those that missed the mark.

The Bucs have yet to hit the field, but there is a significant injury in the house. Donald Penn, the hero of minicamp, has a calf strain and will miss “maybe a couple of weeks, said Greg Schiano.

The injury occured after minicamp broke, Schiano said. Penn notified the team and reported early for medical treatment. Joe got wind of Penn’s injury yesterday but his agent, Rocky Arceneaux, would not return calls or emails requesting comment.

Offensive line coach Bob Bostad told JoeBucsFan.com that the challenge now is to keep Penn mentally sharp and get him all the mental reps. And Penn’s other focus, Bostad sadi, is he has to be to get “them to kick him out of the training room. He’s got to get back as quickly as he can.”

Joe’s not concerned. If Penn can get back on the field for the third preseason game — four weeks from now — Joe would think that’s plenty of time.

Demar Dotson is next on the depth chart.

Great music, great food and great entertainment tonight at the Original Hooters on Gulf To Bay Boulevard in Clearwater!! Check it out below! Get there early and have a blast!

Eric LeGrand and the Bucs made it official today; the former Rutgers defensive lineman paralyzed in a game while playing for Greg Schiano has retired.

LeGrand was on the Bucs’ 90 roster since Schiano and the Bucs signed him this year, in what became a story that warmed hearts worldwide.

No word yet on who will fill LeGrand’s shoes.

As Bucs players show up today at One Buc Palace to check in for training camp which begins tomorrow (yes, Joe will be there today), virtually everyone from players to team staff members to members of the pen and mic club to fans know training camp practices can be brutally hot.

However, The Weather Channel has been doing research and found there are worse places to hold NFL training camp, specifically Miami and Houston.

Tampa Bay’s camp average high temperature and dew point is similar to the Dolphin’s camp. However, the percentage of time the temperature is above 85 degrees is less. Relatively high dew points will ensure low temperatures will be uncomfortably high during camp.

There tends to be a little more cloud cover in Tampa from the leftover debris clouds that were thunderstorms from the eastern Florida shores. The probability of precipitation on any given day is a very high 72 percent when camp starts and slopes downward toward to 60 percent near the conclusion of camp.

Monthly precipitation totals for Tampa are a moist 7.07 inches in July and 7.77 inches for August. Although dew points remain high in September, the Buccaneers host both Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins who will be used to the heat and humidity…Arrrggghhh!

The study by The Weather Channel factors in July/August average highs, percentage of hours above 85 degrees, average dew point and percentage of hours with overcast sky.

While Tampa may only be third as the most grueling training camp weather, most people going to One Buc Palace in the coming days will argue to the contrary.

Imagine practicing in this stuff?

Josh Freeman is still firing guns at gun ranges, but Joe’s not worried about that. Joe’s more concerned about the potential perils Freeman faces handling his personal exotic snake collection.

Freeman opened up about his various hobbies recently to NFL Network host Rich Eisen, via the Rich Eisen podcast on NFL.com. Freeman shared stories of Calypso, his 8 1/2-foot albino burmese python, among the other snakes around Freeman’s home.

A snake lover since third grade, Freeman said he loves his Boa constrictors and is upset by snake neglect stories.

Calypso, though, is getting too big and dangerous, Freeman said, and he’s planning to find a zoo home for her. 

“I’m not going to dump it into the Everglades like everybody else does,” Freeman said. “She’s not a happy woman.”

It’s a classic interview that showcases Freeman’s deadpan sense of humor. Other Freeman hobbies outside of the gun range are his bulldog puppy running amidst the carnivorous reptiles, and he likes to play soccer.

How Greg Schiano transforms from a college coach to an NFL head coach is a key question for the Bucs as training camp looms.

There are a lot of questions about the Bucs as the players will begin to mingle tomorrow at One Buc Palace and begin training camp Friday.

Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com has one simple question for the Bucs, and it has to do with their new head coach, Greg Schiano.

How will Greg Schiano adjust to being an NFL head coach?

Schiano did an outstanding job transforming Rutgers into a relevant football program once again. But even college coaches who won national championships — Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Dennis Erickson and Schiano adviser Butch Davis among them — failed to make a successful transition to the pro ranks. Schiano’s last taste of NFL coaching came in 1998, when he handled defensive backs for Chicago.

Yes, yes, Joe has heard it before: What about Jim Harbaugh? He was a college coach, too! But Harbaugh has significant NFL experience as a player. For every Harbaugh, there are five Dennis Ericksons.

Schiano, however, can’t hardly do any worse with the Bucs as the team hit rock bottom last year, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

If Schiano was ever going to make a dent as an NFL head coach, taking over a team loaded with young talent that just hit the bottom floor is about as good of an opportunity as any college coach could get.

Joe remembers last year when the Bucs signed Mossis Madu, Joe received a text message from a respected member of the Tampa Bay pen and mic club stating the signing was a steal, that Madu had been stuck in a nasty logjam at running back at Oklahoma, languishing on the bench behind eventual third round pick DeMarco Murray.

“This guy has some talent, he may be a big time sleeper,” Joe recalls of the text about Madu. The source of the text once covered Oklahoma.

Well, it seems Madu may not be much of a sleeper any longer. Yesterday while appearing on “Rome,” hosted by popular sports personality Jim Rome seen exclusively on CBS Sports Network, Rome asked Bucs coach Greg Schiano about the battle between LeGarrette Blount and Doug Martin for top running back.

Schiano informed Rome that it wasn’t just two running backs fans — and opponents — should be concerned with.

“I agree with you we have a great battle there and not just with those two guys but with Michael Smith and Mossis Madu as well. I think we have some good depth at running back and the battle will be something to watch. I have a lot of faith in LeGarrette. LeGarrette has bought in to what we are doing and he is working incredible hard and if you watch, you see the things he does is great, I mean really great running back plays. He just needs to put those things together consistently, again.”

It seems Madu, if there are battles, will battle Smith for the change-of-pace scatback position using his speed, where Blount and Martin will do the heavy lifting.

Below is the full interview that Schiano had with Rome yesterday, courtesy of the CBS Sports Network.

There’s a lot of hot air blowing in from the north

As if the thought of the Bucs home-opener against the Panthers wasn’t exciting enough, Panthers Pro Bowl lineman Ryan Kalil has now pronounced Carolina the next Super Bowl champs, via a full page ad he coughed up cash for in the Charlotte Observer

Joe appreciates the attitude, but that’s as far as it goes. For Joe, a full-page ad apologizing to Clifton Smith for destroying his career — and nearly his life — would be more appropriate.

Joe sincerely hopes the Bucs learn how to stop the run and tackle in the next six weeks. A loss to the Panthers after this kind of bluster would be too much to bear.

The inevitable and proverbial “hot seat” season is here, when fans and media try to figure out what coaches, executives and players have a season or less to prove themselves or be shown the door.

Is rockstar general manager Mark Dominik among those feeling the heat? Tampa Tribune Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings doesn’t think so, per a Q & A session on TBO.com.

Q: With the hiring of head coach Greg Schiano, is this a make-or-break year for GM Mark Dominik, or has he bought himself a year or two to prove that he can build a competitive roster?

Peter Rubaek, Copenhagen, Denmark

A: I think Mark Dominik has bought himself a few years here. He was brought in to rebuild the Bucs primarily through the draft and he seems to have done a decent job. On paper at least this is a very talented team. A lot will depend, however, on how Josh Freeman, Gerald McCoy, Adrian Clayborn, LeGarrette Blount, Mike Williams, Doug Martin, Mark Barron and Mason Foster perform over the next year or two. Those are the cornerstones of his rebuilding project. If they work out and the team becomes respectable and competitive again he’ll be fine. If they struggle and it’s proven out that mistakes were made in drafting them, he could be in trouble. — Roy Cummings

Now Joe has to disagree with Cummings. If the Bucs churn out the 3-13 record Pat Kirwan and others seem to think is on tap for 2012, Joe would expect Dominik to be looking over his shoulder. Team Glazer clearly didn’t have a problem jettisoning Bruce Allen, who had years left on his contract, as does Dominik.

That’s just life in the NFL. Losing brings consequences.

Dominik’s reign definitely has been polarizing, thanks to both incredible successes and colossal failures.

Joe suspects Dominik will be just fine, though. Joe expects the Bucs to make strides this season, And as Joe’s written previously, Joe would only pin 15 percent of the blame on the front office for the Bucs’ collapse under Raheem Morris.

Joe’s confident Dominik will benefit greatly from the new coaching staff knowing how to use the Bucs’ talented roster.

There’s no doubt that the greatest mysteries of the 2012 season are up the gut of the Bucs defense.

Can Gerald McCoy avoid injured reserve? Is Mason Foster ready at middle linebacker? Will Brian Price bounce back? Is Ronde Barber a safety? Is Mark Barron the real deal?

Perhaps the first answer coming into focus is about Brian Price. Bucs beat writer Woody Cummings of The Tampa Tribune tracked down Price’s agent and learned Price now weighs less than he did in college and is set to impress his new coaches this week.

“Physically he’s ready to go,” Price’s agent, Charles Price (no relation), said Tuesday from his Los Angeles office. “He’s under 300 pounds, he’s put in a lot of time and effort and he is in substantially better condition than he was when last year’s training camp opened.” …

… an offseason spent working largely with personal trainer Alex Guererro, who worked with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady after his knee operation and specializes in breaking up scar tissue, has seemingly left Price in the best shape of his pro career.

“He is still working through tremendous amounts of scar tissue that, when they bump up against the sciatic nerve, send sensations throughout the body,” Charles Price said. “But I think everyone will be pleased with where he is.

“For at least another year, there are always going to be lingering issues from the procedures that he’s had to have done. But the Bucs are going to be pleased with the way this kid looks when ne gets to camp.”

Joe is fired up to hear this news about Price’s health. Frankly, Joe expected little from Price this season. But a healthy Price should make quite a difference, especially if he is kept fresh via an effective rotation with Gary Gibson and Omobi Okoye.

In the waning hours before Bucs training camp begins, the Interwebs have been abuzz over the claims by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times that the Bucs’ top running back, LeGarrette Blount, had a constant and continued inability to get to One Buc Palace on time for meetings and practices unless a car service was used to pick him up.

Here was Joe’s initial response if you missed it.

Joe has zero problem with the car service. Bob Knight, when he lorded over the Hoosiers basketball program at the University of Indiana, employed a similar tool to make sure his players not just got to practice on time, but to class. If the end game is to make sure a player is on time, then what’s the big deal about a car service ensuring said player’s attendance?

Appearing on “Rome,” hosted by popular sports personality Jim Rome, seen exclusively on CBS Sports Network this afternoon, new Bucs coach Greg Schiano bluntly threw cold water on the degree of Blount’s tardiness.

When Rome asked Schiano point blank about Blount’s tardiness, Schiano, who seemed to grin throughout the interview, changed his body language when the subject of Blount was broached. His response was documented by Mike Florio, the creator, curator and overall guru of ProFootballTalk.com.

“I think that probably got blown out of proportion a little bit,” Schiano said, waving off the question. “He probably had some troubles — I’m not really familiar with the facts — but that’s all behind us.”

Schiano went on to laud Blount for buying in to his program, his work ethic, and yes, his punctuality.

What Stroud reported about Blount wasn’t exactly a state secret. Joe has written about this subject before, and as he did before, Joe asks, if Blount’s actions were as mutinous as some would have you believe (coughformercoachescough), then why the hell was Blount on the active roster?

If Blount truly couldn’t show up on time to his own funeral if not for a car service, then it’s glaring evidence that the previous Bucs staff enabled Blount. If Blount being late to One Buc Palace daily isn’t enough to get the guy benched or deactivated, then why harp on this?

At worst, former coaches dredging up Blount and his inability to be punctual last year is nothing more than a weak attempt at a scapegoat for the grotesque 10-game losing streak to end last season.

Respected Pat Kirwan, the former Jets front office executive and linebackers coach, ex-Bucs scout and current analyst for CBSSports.com and host on SiriusXM NFL Radio, is yet another pundit that thinks the Bucs will be worse in 2012 than in 2011.

This is insanity.

Perhaps Kirwan’s judgment here is somewhat clouded by his longtime connection to Raheem Morris? Joe can’t come up with another explanation. Kirwan projects the Bucs will win three games and land in fourth place in the NFC South behind Carolina (7-9).

Tampa Bay — 3-13: Greg Schiano will eventually turn this franchise around, but it will take time. The Bucs defense gave up over 37 points a game in the second half of last season. Tampa Bay might want to be a running team, but what will they do in game when they’re trailing in the second half?

As Joe’s written previously, the Bucs have a win-now offense with all kinds of offensive talent. They had a top-10 offense for the second half of the 2010 season, and this current bunch should be at least as good.

Only one team in the NFL last season among the top-13 ranked offenses had a losing record. That was Carolina (6-10) with the seventh-ranked offense. That’s no coincidence.

Joe doesn’t know if Mike Sullivan is a sound playcaller. Nobody does. But there is no reason to believe the Bucs should finish 3-13. If the 2012 Bucs finish 3-13, then another housecleaning is in order.

Another stunning deal from the Ed Morse family of dealerships across the Tampa Bay area!

They are giving away complimentary passes to Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo for July 28 or July 29. Just be sure you “like” Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa, Ed Morse Cadillac Brandon, Ed Morse Mazda Lakeland, Brandon Auto Mall, or Brandon Auto Mall Fiat on Facebook. Visit the dealership and show you “like” that dealership on Facebook on your smart phone. Supplies limited, first-come, first-served basis.

Yes, there is a New Schiano Order in town. That could likely mean bad things for many Bucs vets who were part of a tailspining team the previous season.

Read between the lines if you wish, but Joe thought it was interesting to hear from new Bucs coach Greg Schiano that because of the week-long head start the rookies have had in training camp, he expects the rookies to be up to speed on his new system and perhaps be a step ahead when the veterans take the field at One Buc Palace Friday.

“I just think another opportunity to expose them. Every time you are able to install something and go out —- even if you are not doing it full group —- but walk through it, jog through it whatever it is techniques. It will probably even prove to be even more important going forward a year from now when the rest of the organization has done it for a year. Now this is really a chance for those rookies to get caught up. You wish you could do it with the whole team.”

If players didn’t know Schiano is a no-nonsense guy before, they will surely grasp this concept very shortly.

Schiano is not a man who wastes a minute. For him and his staff to be putting in all this extra work for the rookies, he will expect the rookies to absorb everything the past week and be as nuanced with the new gameplans as a veteran would be.

Tampa Bay Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud says Donald Penn doesn’t play well when he’s too fat.

Per Stroud, “not coincidentally” Penn had a bad December last year because he wasn’t required to weigh-in for team officials during that month.

How Stroud is sure that scale anxiety and fear of a small fine is enough to screw Penn up on Sundays is a mystery. Perhaps Stroud has a medical degree?

Here’s what Stroud penned the other day:

Once the games start, [Penn] has to be no more than 330 pounds to receive his money.

Coaches say he ballooned to 360 pounds at times last season, his sixth in the league. Mindful of an upcoming weigh-in, he would wear a rubber shirt under his jersey during practice. Some claimed the routine made him irritable and dehydrated and likely affected his performance on Sunday.

It’s unclear if or how many times he failed to reach his weight limit. By agreement, he doesn’t have to step on a scale the final month of the season. Not coincidentally, that’s when he played his worst football in 2011.

Against Jacksonville Dec. 11, he allowed a first-half sack to Jaguars defensive end Jeremy Mincey that resulted in a Josh Freeman fumble, which was recovered for a touchdown in a 41-14 loss. Freeman was harassed all day, sacked three times, and threw two interceptions as the Bucs turned the ball over seven times.

Sorry, but this all doesn’t make sense to Joe. If Penn has to weigh in at 330 to avoid a fine, then what the hell good is a rubber shirt going to do for him if he weighs 360? 

And if we’re to believe Penn was cranky and dehydrated during, say, a Wednesday padded practice with his rubber shirt on, was that somehow going to affect him all the way to Sunday? That’s ridiculous.

Penn has made 76 consecutive starts. He’s durable. He’s done great things on the field. He’s fat. So what.

Joe really doesn’t buy that Penn’s weight is an issue in his performance. Though it might hurt his durability long term if he can’t get it under control.