Former Bucs DE Steve White

By STEVE WHITE
JoeBucsFan.com analyst

 

 Former Buccaneers defensive end Steve White (1996-2001) is a devoted student of the game. He’s even authored a coaching guide and coached defensive linemen at the University of South Florida. And after all those years breaking down film with former defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and the other architects and legends of the Bucs’ defense, White shares his knowledge with JoeBucsFan.com readers in his must-read Bull Rush column. 

You’ve read various reports about this morning’s training camp session. But those are laughable compared to White’s breakdown below. Grab a cold beverage and enjoy.

The first thing I want to talk about is tempo. Or rather the lack thereof.

Now today admittedly was my first time visiting the Bucs’ training camp since I played here, but the tempo wasn’t up to par today.

I know it was hot, very hot. And I know it was the third day in pads. But the one thing we prided ourselves on back in the day, especially on defense, was how hard we practiced every single day.

I was reminded today of a situation back when I was playing where we signed a veteran linebacker one offseason to back up the starters. Well, during training camp we’d run what’s called a “pursuit” drill, where the whole defense has to sprint 40 or so yards down the field through the goal line. If one person in your group doesn’t bust his tail all the way through, the whole group has to do it again.

Well, this free agent guy happened to be in a group that had to go back twice. And I BS you not, this guy was so gassed that he retired pretty much on the spot. That’s the kind of effort that used to be asked of us no matter what the conditions, and I just didn’t see that today at One Buc Place.

Roy Miller Shows His Work Ethic

Now its just one day, and again maybe this is the norm now. Still, it just didn’t sit right with me.

On the defensive line there were some guys who were going balls to the wall, most notably, in my opinion, was Roy Miller. But as a group they just looked like they were going at about three-quarter speed. Or at least three quarters of the speed I’m used to seeing.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of position-specific drill work for the D-line. Again it was just one day, and I wasn’t there for the two preceding days of practice. But they didn’t do the bags today and the drills they did do were more akin to linebacker drills.

Why does that matter?

Well, we have two second-year guys and two rookies who are going to play a LOT for us this season on the defensive line. And those guys need to get as much drill work as possible so the team work comes easier for them.

Wax On; Wax Off

The thing about Rod Marinelli is that he put us through 15 to 20 minutes of hell to start off every practice. Along with going through the bags, we had to do a bunch of change-of-direction drills, get-offs, and quick hands work. This had a kind of Mr. Miyagi effect where you did it over and over and over again, and then when you got to team work you reacted basically off instinct. You didn’t have to think to turn your hips on a pass rush; you just did it. You didn’t have to concentrate to knock an offensive lineman’s hands down; it was just second nature.

Now I am not about to make a judgement after seeing just one practice, I’m just making observations.

One guy who could definitely benefit from change of direction drills everyday is Gerald McCoy. I had heard that he had been up and down so far in the first two days of practice, and I immediately could see why.

Two things I noticed about him today. First, his stance is kind of elongated instead of compact which makes it a little harder to get off. It would help if he had his feet under him a little more and he bent his legs more. That would give him a more spring loaded action out of his stance. Second thing is that he was taking too long of a step on the snap.

When that happens, guys lose their gaps because they aren’t able to react to the guard’s block while their foot is out of the ground. By the time he got his step down he was playing catch up whether it was a reach block (outside) or a slip block (inside). He did ok when it was a pass, but even then he got caught a couple of times with a punch before his foot came down and that made it easier to get him off balance.

Roy Miller, in addition to being a ball of energy today, also was solid when I saw him. He is good keeping his ground at the point of attack on a double team. And he is slippery with his pass rush.

Competition Lacking For Price

I had seen reports that Brian Price was tearing it up in camp, so I was looking forward to watching him work. It’s true that he was dominant against our second team offensive line. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much.

He is very quick off the ball, but at times it appeared that he wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go, and at other times his effort wasn’t consistent. He does use his hands well, and when he understands the effort level needed play in and play out, he looks like he will be more than ready to handle his own. Still, I didn’t exactly see the “beast” that everybody else described.

The first team defensive line today consisted of Kyle Moore, Gerald McCoy, Roy Miller, and Stylez G. White. They held their own most of practice today but neither Moore nor White made a whole lot of plays. Some of that is because of the plays run against them, but you would like to see your starting ends show up a little more, even in practice.

Something that caught my eye was on the second team D-line, where Michael Bennett was backing up Moore on the left side and Tim Crowder was backing up White on the right.

Now I don’t know if this has been consistent all camp but it was still curious to me. I mean, I like Bennett’s potential and everything, but Crowder in my opinion has a better chance of pushing Moore for that starting left end spot. If they have really moved Crowder to the right side backing up White for all of camp, then to me its a sign that the Bucs have handed Moore the starting spot on a silver platter.

Don’t get me wrong, I predicted this after the season was over. But still I thought there would at least be a competition. I think Crowder pushing Moore for that spot would only make both guys better and whomever ended up on top would be better for having gone through the competition. I don’t necessarily think Moore won’t give it his all, if that’s not the case, but it’s hard to understand the move if only because Crowder showed that he could play well there last season.

I also noticed that they have Ryan Sims running as the undertackle with the second team. I’m sure that’s mostly to make sure Price gets enough reps at nose tackle to develop. But, to put it bluntly, Sims just isn’t an undertackle. I don’t know what that says about his future with the team, but it will be interesting to see how he performs there during preseason games.

Reality Check On Ronde Barber

I thought the linebackers practiced well today. Quincy Black had an outstanding pass breakup sliding underneath what appeared to be an out route to knock the ball down. Barrett Ruud and Geno Hayes were both physical against the run and really flew to the ball when it was thrown to the short routes. Hayes had a good PBU himself being physical with a guy to get the ball out.

The backups were ok but nobody particularly stood out. I did see Rico McCoy make a couple of plays and Dekoda Watson looked good in blitz period.

It was hard to focus on the secondary and the front seven at the same time but everyone seemed to hold their own. The offense scored on a few red zone passes, but for most of the day the secondary kept everything in front of them.

I will say that a lot was made of a catch Mike Williams made on Ronde Barber in 1 on 1s. I should say first off that the drill is one of the most unrealistic in all of football practice. The receiver has the ability to run any route he wants with the knowledge that there is no rush to make the quarterback hurry the throw and there is no underneath coverage to impede their progress down the field.

Williams put a double move on Ronde and admittedly made him look bad. But the thing about double moves is that they usually take a long time to develop. That’s why you don’t see a lot of successful double moves in the actual games. So, in my opinion, it was much ado about not a lot. But to Ronde’s credit he came back and made a beautiful interception right along the side lines and kept both feet in.

I thought our offensive line did well today. Keydrick Vincent ran with the starters, and I didn’t personally see a lot of Jeremy Zuttah.

Vincent is a powerful blocker and he is really good on double teams. Donald Penn looked as good as I have seen him both in pass and run blocking. The right side of the line with Jeremy Trueblood and Davin Joseph looked solid all day. There were refs at practice today, and although there were a few jumps during blitz period, for the most part the guys held their water during the later team periods.
 
As for the backups….
 
All I can say is that we all should be praying that our starters on the offensive line stay healthy. Like I said before, Price showed flashes of dominance against the second team offensive line but I think my old behind could get out there and give those guys fits. They just don’t seem to be very physical or athletic.

One of the things I noticed about the offense was that they ran a lot more split-bellys and counter-plays today. Translated, that means a lot of downhill runs, which is what I think fits our personnel best.

Cadillac Williams sat out at running back but Derrick Ward and the rest of the guys took up the slack. Kareem Huggins looks just as explosive as advertised both as a runner and as a receiver. I really like the kid and I think he has an excellent chance of making the final roster if he stays healthy and keeps it up.

His primary competition for a roster spot, Clifton “Peanut” Smith, is quick but he doesn’t seem to possess the power Huggins has and that will make a difference when either guy actually has to break a tackle. Of course, Smith is also a former Pro Bowler on special teams so its wayyyy too early to count him out.

Kellen Winslow sat out practice this morning and I didn’t see a lot out of the other tight ends, but Jerramy Stevens did catch a touchdown on a rollout from Josh Freeman that was pretty impressive. I still didn’t see the physicality out of them as a group that I think we need to run the ball effectively.

Freeman Looks On Track

At quarterback, I had seen reports where Josh Freeman had been off the first two days of practice. Well, he seemed to practice well today. He didn’t throw a lot of deep balls but he was sharp taking what the defense gave him and hitting the underneath routes.

The one thing he has to realize is that he now has some guys who can make things happen after the catch. Arrelious Benn, Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter, Kellen Winslow and plenty of other guys can turn a short pass into a pretty good gain. So every pass doesn’t have to be past the first-down marker. Sometimes you just have to deliver it to those guys in space and let them work and Freeman seems to be starting to understand that concept.

I didn’t get to see all of his throws but by my count he was 5-for-7 or so during 7-on-7 and, as I referenced before, he had a really nice touchdown throw to Stevens on a bootleg play.

Josh Johnson was ok but not great. He throws a somewhat flat ball without a lot of air underneath it, but it seemed to get where it needed to more often than not. He also had what appeared to be a touchdown on a quarterback draw during the redzone portion of practice.

Rudy Carpenter fumbled the snap and didn’t look great overall, but he did have a nice touchdown throw on a slant to Benn.

Overall, I would say it was a good practice and the stands were full even in the heat.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

A rather mellow Raheem The Dream took to the airwaves today on WDAE-AM 620 with the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, Steve Duemig, who was live at Bucs training camp.

The head coach addressed a variety of topics but Joe was most intrigued by Raheem The Dream explaining that this year Josh Freeman will be assessed in preseason by his performance in exhibition games, rather than what he does in training camp practices.

Of course, that was hardly the case a year ago.

Raheem The Dream went on to explain that after the extraordinary work ethic Freeman showed in the offseason, the coaching staff is supremely confident that he’ll work like a manbeast in practice on all the details associated with installing the offense.

In essence, the head coach said fans should worry about his play against opponents.

Before the post-practice media throng, Raheem The Dream said he was very pleased with Freeman committing no turnovers during this morning’s red zone drills.

Joe knows many observers have been critical of Freeman’s performance in training camp thus far. Joe just can’t go there now.

The offense is typically behind the defense at this point, and Freeman’s working with new receivers. Joe’s with Raheem The Dream on this; let’s wait til he plays a quarter or two against Miami next week.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

Joe’s raved about Brian Price earlier based on his own observations at Bucs training camp.

And the media hounds were all over Raheem The Dream today to talk about his new defensive tackle, even one reporter asked if he was better than Gerald McCoy.

Raheem The Dream shared a little insight this afternoon from Price’s teammates into how well Price is doing.

“It’s nice when offensive vets come to you and say, ‘Hey, man, Brian Price got something to prove. Look like he’s pissed off he got picked in the second [round]’ and things like that. It’s always a good sign for us.”

Raheem The Dream went on to praise McCoy. “He’s doing well. He’s got a serious demeanor,” the head coach said.

Of course, Raheem The Dream had some love for Roy Miller’s weight loss, Dre Moore and Ryan Sims.

Everyone gets the love this time of year.

JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett

Like any football fan with a pulse, Joe enjoys watching receivers go one-on-one with cornerbacks in drills.

But let’s get real; without a pass rush and the receiver getting a chance to make multiple moves, it’s not exactly a fair fight.

So Joe wasn’t ooohing and ahhhing when Arrelious Benn made Ronde Barber look bad for a touchdown. Mike Williams and Michael Clayton also had TDs in that specific drill. But Joe’s blood was pumping when Barber made a great break on the next pass to Benn for a sweet one-hand interception.

It’s practice.

Not that training camp isn’t a godsend, but Joe’s already itching for some real football. The preseason opener against Miami on Aug. 14 can’t come soon enough.

Mingling around training camp today, Joe was looking to see if Cadillac Williams would be around.

Yesterday, Raheeem The Dream reported that Williams had a minor ankle sprain and would miss practice.

Well, Joe found Cadillac wearing his jersey and walking around the practice field. He wasn’t limping at all.

Later, Cadillac told Joe that “I’m just fine.”

In the meantime, Kareem Huggins continues to impress with his speed, although Joe can’t get all excited about that without seeing him get it done in the preseason games.

Keydrick Vincent, center, appears to be taking his opportunity with the Bucs very seriously. JoeBucsFan.com photo by Kyra Hallett.

 It was an intriguing moment on the Bucs practice field today, when new left guard Keydrick Vincent stopped a one-on-one (O-lineman vs. O-Lineman) drill to call over line coach Pete Mangurian.

Vincent was working against Davin Joseph, who was pretending to be a defensive tackle, and Vincent wanted to talk, show and debate technique with his position coach. The interaction turned into a pretty animated session of them each displaying footwork and handwork on Joseph.

The rest of the Bucs offensive line was left to sweat, watch and wonder when they’d get to stop standing around.

Clearly, Vincent is very serious about his craft. (Or he’s sucking up to his position coach, although Joe surely doubts that.)

One thing that stood out to Joe is just how much larger Vincent is than Jeremy Zuttah, who he’s here in Tampa to push. It’s a noticeable size difference.

Joe’s not discounting Zuttah’s commitment, for some reason he was wearing LONG sleeves on yet another ridiculously hot day.

Vincent just looks like a veteran very determined to be his best self.

The third day of Bucs training camp is complete and so too is the video report from the proprietor of WhatTheBuc.net and fill-in host on WQYK-AM 1010 Derek ‘Old School’ Fournier.

Haven’t heard enough about Bucs rookie wide receiver Arrelious Benn thus far in training camp? “Old School” explains why.

By any measure, Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud is a nice guy. But his contract situation with the Bucs has tested his normally cool demeanor.

In recent days, Ruud, never known to cooperate with the pen and mic club, has shunned reporters if not had a tepid response, saying, in so many words, he has nothing to say.

Cornered today after practice, Ruud let loose. Questioned about his reaction to Donald Penn getting his payday after sitting out offseason drills, a ploy Ruud tried last year which failed to move Team Glazer and/or general manager Mark Dominik, Ruud minced no words, Twitters Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed.

Barrett Ruud on the Penn deal – “I’m happy for Donald but as for me, I feel how you would feel if it happened to you.”

Later, Anwar Richardson of the Tampa Tribune got Ruud to open up a bit more and he was no less angered.

“Obviously, I’m very disappointed,” Ruud said. “I’m not real happy about it. I’m very happy for Donald. Very happy for Gerald (McCoy). Very happy for all the guys who signed the last couple of years, but definitely it’s pretty frustrating on my end.”

Whoa! Ruud is certainly peeved! While Joe feels for the guy, Joe hopes he can turn this rage into the best season he’s had on the field.

Like he wrote yesterday on Twitter, Joe hates being repetitive, but rookie defensive tackle Brian Price is a freaking beast.

His early stellar play in camp continued Monday morning as Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, posting on the TBO Bucs training camp update feed, documented.

So far, DT Roy Miller is having a good camp. The only problem with that is that fellow DT Brian Price is having a great camp. Price beat a double team to make a stop behind the line during a running game drill earlier today.

This is not a knock on any other Bucs rookie. But Price is not playing like a rookie, he’s playing like a man possessed. He’s lightning quick off the ball and has running back-like speed to peel off the line and chase down ballcarriers. Oh, and he’s strong as a Clydesdale.

The way this guy is playing Joe’s isn’t sure just how the Bucs are going to keep Price off the field.

As the Bucs are about to begin their third day of training camp, The Mad Twitterer and Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times look back at yesterday’s practice.

In particular, the duo discuss tight-lipped Barrett Ruud. By all appearances, Ruud is peeved that offensive tackle Donald Penn got his payday and Ruud didn’t.

Gerald McCoy is just one example of a changing roster for the Bucs.

Joe came across an interesting column that was recently typed by the Tampa Bay area’s sports voice of reason, Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune.

There were many elements of the column that Joe could cite, but the general gist of the column is that changes for the Bucs are good and needed for the team to improve.

In short, Henderson believes that, short of wins this season, a roster overhaul will demonstrate positive progression for the Bucs.

Times are changing. Faces are changing. Now the Bucs need to show that things have changed sufficiently from last year. That includes solid growth by Freeman as a starting quarterback and dramatically improved play on the defensive line.

Would six wins be a positive enough result for now? Seven? Eight?

That judgment belongs to the people who buy the tickets. If they decide the Bucs are building something sustainable and competitive, a team the city can once again embrace, they might start coming back to Ray-Jay.

Henderson also writes what Joe and most reasoned fans should expect this year: Growing pains. Bunches of them. As great as defensive tackle Brian Price has looked for the Bucs in practice, he’s still a rookie and the Bucs are banking on a lot of rookies to succeed this season.

That’s a dangerous expectation for any team wanting more W’s at the end of the year than L’s. But it very likely will mean good things down the road.

Don’t like Peter King? Think he’s full of it?

Not Joe. In Joe’s eyes there are few better (if any) NFL writers than Peter King. The longtime Sports Illustrated columnist — who periodically sends Joe a direct message via Twitter and has had very nice things to say about Joe — invites any and all Bucs fans who don’t like him to hound him today.

King will be at One Buc Palace this morning when the Bucs begin their third day of training camp and egged on his haters this morning in his must-read Monday Morning Quarterback.

I think if you’d like to come and heckle me at one of my remaining stops, bring it on. My schedule:

• Today: Tampa Bay (but leaving early for NBC “Football Night in America” meeting in New York)

There you go Bucs fans. Head over to One Buc Palace and mock Peter King. You may also badger FoxSports.com’s Jay Glazer who will also be there and was rubbing elbows with Bucs players last night at International Plaza.

So today was the first day Joe laid eyes on coveted first round draft pick Gerald McCoy.

Joe’s observation: Hey, he’s a rookie.

At times, GMC flashed why he was one of the highest rated defensive tackles in the draft. Most of the time though, GMC looked like a rookie.

He always went against the Bucs first team offense, often butting heads with seasoned veterans Jeff Faine and Davin Joseph. Often, the veterans got the best of the rookie.

In the times GMC got a step or two on his offensive linemen teammates, GMC quickly learned he wasn’t playing against Colorado any longer.

In one play where GMC got a step on his foe to his right, in this case Xavier Fulton, Fulton quickly pushed GMC to the ground. So even though he got past Fulton the play was hardly over.

Another time GMC used a nice swim move to get a step behind Faine. But Faine quickly regrouped and blew up GMC, taking him out of the play.

That’s the not-so-good. Now the good.

On a bubble screen to Mike Williams, GMC read the play like a book, slid through the would-be blockers and then GMC and Williams danced as the rookie receiver tried to juke and duck his way past GMC. It didn’t work.

In fact, the way GMC shifted his feet, countering Williams’ every move, it looked like a leopard who had cornered his prey.

Then GMC made a play that was every bit the kind of a play one might expect from a third overall pick. It appeared GMC pulled a Warren Sapp ghost move on Joseph as he got around the All Pro guard to GMC’s left. Once he got a step on Joseph, GMC kicked in the afterburners and rocketed past Joseph to make a play.

While GMC wasn’t lighting things up like his fellow rookie defensive tackle Brian Price was, GMC showed flashes of why he was rated so highly.

Last year Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud held out of offseason workouts, much like offensive tackle Donald Penn did this year, in an effort to get a new contract with the Bucs.

It didn’t work.

So Ruud, whose contract is up after the season, was likely as surprised as anyone when Penn was re-upped to a new, significant deal.

As a result, it appears Ruud is peeved. He wouldn’t talk to reporters yesterday after the first day of training and he pulled the same stunt today, so reports Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.

Always-accessible LB Barrett Ruud blew off reporters for a second straight day today as the Bucs completed their single practice this afternoon.

Ruud has been requested by media who wish to ask his reaction to the Bucs’ decision to sign LT Donald Penn to a long-term contract, but Ruud continues to decline those requests. Today, he ran off the field, responding to me and another reporter by simply saying, “I don’t got anything today, guys.”

Asked if Ruud was upset about his lack of a contract extension — he is playing on a one-year restricted free agent tender for $3.168 million — coach Raheem Morris said, “You guys know Barrett. We’re not going to manufacture drama.” Morris said Ruud has been professional about the matter and hasn’t shown any lack of effort on the field.

Whatever the hell is eating at Ruud, Joe certainly hopes he puts it behind him by the time the regular season begins. Last thing the Bucs need is for a starting middle linebacker to be so hacked off his head is elsewhere than the game at hand.

Aside from the way Bucs rookie defensive tackle Brian Price has toyed with his offensive teammates, the biggest surprise to Joe thus far in training camp has been the fan reaction to blocking icon Michael Clayton.

The fans love him!

If anyone remembers last summer the way the fans roared virtually every time Cadillac Williams touched the ball, it’s not that far removed from the crowd reaction to Clayton this summer.

Based on phone calls to local sports radio stations, and various comments on a host of sites including Joe’s, by far the most vitriol thrown at a Bucs player is towards Clayton.

So when Joe began hearing fans applaud Clayton’s catches yesterday, and then heard fans go wild at Clayton’s every move today, it really threw Joe for a loss.

Clayton was adorned with so much praise today, that at one point he acknowledged the fans’ applause by looking at the bleachers and pumping his fist in the air. After practice, he jumped into the bleachers and sat among the fans, basking in their warmth while signing autographs.

Now Joe has written several times how nice of a guy Clayton is, he just wears his emotions on his sleeve, which gets him in hot water at times.

Clayton, thus far, has looked like the Bucs’ most reliable wide receiver. He’s catching everything thrown his way. Sadly, is Clayton’s solid training camp thus far a repeat of past years? Clayton often has good training camps, but other than his rookie year, rarely did that play carry over past the first game of the season.

The way Clayton is playing in training camp this summer, he’s either a lock to make the team or get traded. If he sticks with the Bucs, can that strong play in practice in August stick with him in September and beyond?

Joe’s good friend Derek “Old School” Fournier of WhatTheBuc.net has another solid video on the day’s happenings at One Buc Palace as the second day of training camp came to a close.

The way Bucs rookie defensive tackle Brian Price is playing early in training camp, he will introduce himself to opposing NFL quarterbacks this season in a very rude manner.

OK, it’s Aug. 1 and Joe’s not trying to get too hyped up. Joe’s trying to temper his excitement.

Earlier today, Joe’s good friend Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune Twittered how no Bucs player is impressing like running back Kareem Huggins.

Joe respectfully disagrees. Brian Price is lighting things up.

The Bucs rookie defensive tackle, drafted in the second round, quite possibly is having the best camp of any Bucs player. Folks, this guy is a friggin’ beast!

While Joe didn’t see Price get a sack today, Price is tearing up the Bucs offensive line, the first string no less. Every play, and Joe means every play, Price is getting pressure on the quarterback and disrupting plays. The dude is lighting quick off the ball and with his brute strength is able to fight through double-teams even.

In one particular play, against the Bucs first string offense, Price fought through a double-team and flushed quarterback Josh Freeman out of the pocket to his right where he threw an incomplete pass in the flat.

This is exactly what the Bucs sorely lacked last year. Sometimes pressure is equally important as a sack because it blows a play up and that is exactly what Price was doing all day today.

Another cool thing about Price is how, when the ball (run or pass) gets past the line of scrimmage, how Price peels off the line and hauls ass downfield. In one play, Joe cannot remember who the receiver was, Price pulled off the line when Freeman let go of a pass to the right sideline, and Price damned near got to the sideline as quick as the ball. Had it been a complete pass, it’s very likely Price would have caught the receiver from behind. Surely the receiver heard Price’s footsteps.

At one point against the second-string offense, Price just lit up would-be blockers and chased Josh Johnson for his life. It was during this play Joe heard a fan scream while Price was wreaking havoc, “Look at him… look at  him… LOOK AT HIM!”

After two practices, Price is easily the best defensive lineman.

Yes, it’s early and this could all change tomorrow. But the way Price is playing, if he continues, Joe doesn’t know how the Bucs are going to be able to keep this guy off the field.

In short, if Bucs fans are looking to go to BucGear.com to buy a new jersey, after the first weekend of training camp, No. 92 should be on top of your shopping list.

It seems Drew Brees had nothing better to do with his offseason than help counsel a young quarterback in his division.

That QB would be Josh Freeman.

Either Brees is a sweetheart of a guy, has no respect for the Buccaneers, or Greg Olson has very seedy photos of Brees from their days together in college football.

Per Dan Pompei, of Nationalfootballpost.com, Olson got Brees to mentor Freeman for several days this summer.

Bucs second-year quarterback Josh Freeman had help from an unlikely source this offseason — Drew Brees of the division-rival Saints. Freeman spent a week in San Diego picking Brees’ mind and working out together. Usually, division rivals don’t try to help one another, but this was a little different because Freeman’s offensive coordinator in Tampa, Greg Olson, also was Brees’ quarterbacks coach at Purdue. Olson set up the get together. Olson also told me he used the offseason to emphasize several points with Freeman: he has to take care of the ball better, he needs to make better decisions, he should play with more balance, and he has to strive for more consistency with his drops. Olson said he likes what he’s seen from Freeman so far.

Joe’s happy for Freeman, and Joe’s happy that Brees doesn’t give a crap that he’s helping the franchise player on a division rival.

If Joe were a Saints fan, he’d be having an absolute fit right now.

Imagine new Falcons minority owner Warrick Dunn getting Ronde Barber to help out some young Atlanta cornerback. Crazy stuff.