DL Will Gholston got heartfelt praise from Lovie Smith yesterday.

Yes, readers of this here corner of the Interwebs know Joe is a Will Gholston kind of guy. After hearing about his nightmarish upbringing and getting to meet Gholston — Joe isn’t about to say he knows any Bucs player — it is hard not to pull for the guy.

We all know his Bucs story. He began on the fringe of the bubble, an uphill climb to even make last year’s squad. [read more]

Goodbye, Eric Page. Thanks for being the 13th-ranked punt returner in the NFL last season, among players with 15 or more returns. Joe’s writing your Bucs eulogy this morning.

Lovie Smith is going with a rookie at punt returner, a rookie who happens to be older than you and a guy who didn’t even return punts in college. [read more]

Bucs TE and fan favorite Luke Stocker received high praise from Lovie Smith yesterday.

A sect of Bucs fans cannot wait to run certain players from the team. Yes, Joe joined these folks when it came to the likes of Sabby the Goat and Myron Lewis, to name a couple. It seems this season, these fans have aimed their ire at tight end Luke Stocker.

In his fourth season, Stocker’s days have been injury-riddled and forgettable, largely because it is hard to remember him being on the field. When he played, he didn’t always have reliable hands.

With Tim Wright already on board and the Bucs going out and getting Brandon Myers in free agency, and then surprising the NFL world by selecting Austin Seferian-Jenkins, it seemed like Stocker was on the endangered species list. [read more]

Lovie Smith changed his tone on Alterraun Verner this afternoon

Bucs fans feeling the urgency of opening day in just 20 days – 20 days — will like the message from Lovie Smith today.

The head coach says he needs bodies on the field against Buffalo on Saturday otherwise the team will have a setback. [read more]

Starting right Patrick Omameh was lauded for his play Saturday night by Lovie Smith today.

Bucs fans climbed off ledges and drove away from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Sunday after the Bucs’ offensive line looked like they could block a little bit. It was relieving if not refreshing.

Images of the loss to Jacksonville to open the preseason were all too fresh in Bucs fans’ minds. That night, sans Demar Dotson, the line couldn’t block a tackling dummy. It was every bit the word “trainwreck” sounds like. [read more]

Another 20 percent emerges

The man who first leaked that the Bucs would be running an “up tempo” offense was back at home Saturday night when Tampa Bay’s first-team offense rolled out a taste of it for the home crowd. [read more]

For players on the bubble, the next two weeks are critical. NFL teams must shave their rosters to 75 players on Aug. 26 at 4 p.m., the first of the two major cut down dates. NFL teams must be at the regular season-mandated 53-man roster on Aug. 30.

Sometimes, if teams believe they have to move on from a veteran, they will release said player early, almost as a favor to provide plenty of time and options to latch on with another club. [read more]

Only one arm of giant-winged second-year defensive end Will Gholston is available to bat down passes and disrupt plays in the backfield.

Joe’s partners at WDAE-AM 620 are reporting that Gholston has an arm in a sling today. [read more]

A prominent former Buccaneer is blown away by the preseason dominance of Gerald McCoy but is wondering aloud where his defensive linemates are? [read more]

With Rashaan Melvin dinged up (again), the recent rash of cornerbacks injuries may force the Bucs to begin shopping.

One position, on paper, that was deep before training camp was cornerback. With the addition of guys like Alterraun Verner and Mike Jenkins, it seemed the Bucs were set when they joined promising returning starter Johnthan Banks and talented Rashaan Melvin.

Not quite three weeks from the regular season, that may not be. Consider: Verner is still not 100 percent coming off a July hamstring injury, which is always dicey. Jenkins, who Joe thinks has a helluva lot to prove, also is hampered by what the Bucs mysteriously refer to as a lower leg injury. Melvin, who has a reputation of being injury prone, has a bum ankle of some sort suffered in Saturday night’s game against Miami, and per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, is wearing a boot. [read more]

When you’re a 20-year-old rookie (yes, 20), the NFL is a wildly new experience. And when you’re as football raw as first-round pick Mike Evans, that means you’re almost always learning and adjusting.

Evans learned a hell of a lesson Saturday when he was stripped a few inches shy of the end zone, but there was more education in store. [read more]

Starting left guard Oneil Cousins won’t be sending former Bucs tight end Anthony Becht a Christmas card

The Tampa Bay offensive line looked improved Saturday night but that’s not saying a whole lot.

That was the message from former Buccaneers, Jets, Rams, Chiefs and Cardinals tight end Anthony Becht. [read more]

New big-money left tackle Anthony Collins had a message for Bucs fans and media before the first preseason game in Jacksonville: “Get your popcorn. Time to show the game.” Joe had questioned Collins about the skeptics who are unsure he will thrive because he’s never started half a season.

Sadly, the first batch of popcorn tasted charred and was filled with those nasty unpopped kernels. [read more]

Luke Stocker got his share of first-team action Saturday

You saw him. Big No. 88, healthy at last, healthy at last, was spotted on the field with the first team offense on Saturday night.

And no, Luke Stocker wasn’t there to squirt Gatorade in Vincent Jackson’s mouth. [read more]

The spreadsheet crowd has fresh proof. Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.

Joe started hearing the rumbling last year from a guy who rumbles the walls when he speaks. Joe raised an eyebrow (picture Derrick Brooks) when last year Warren Sapp tried to tell Joe that Gerald McCoy was better than he was.

Joe wasn’t biting. Or buying. [read more]