Bucs Update

The starting strong safety position is a wide open battle between incumbent Sabby Piscitelli and newcomer Sean Jones. Jones, 28, feels like he can really make an impact for the Bucs' defense. What does he think about the competition? And what did Coach Morris say about Jones?

Last season was tough to watch for Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans. With newly appointed head coach Raheem Morris at the helm, the Bucs suffered through a disappointing 3-13 season.

While the offense suffered as it went through two offensive coordinators and three starting quarterbacks, it was the play of the defense that really seemed to baffle people.

After all, that's what the Bucs are known for.

Tampa Bay finished the 2009 season ranked as the no. 27 defense in the NFL and ranked dead last against the run. The one bright spot was the pass defense, which the Bucs were no. 10 in.

While the Bucs did not make many moves during free agency, they felt the need to add another playmaker to help improve the defensive side of the ball.

Enter safety Sean Jones.

Jones, a seven-year pro, was signed by the Buccaneers back in mid-March to a 2-year contract. Jones brings experience to the secondary, evidenced by having started 53 games since he came into the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.

Right now, Jones is battling Sabby Piscitelli for the starting strong safety position. Jones and Piscitelli have been rotating as the starter every other day during training camp and the clash between the two is turning out to be a good one.

"It's going well," said Jones. "Sabby has been doing a great job, but I came down here for a purpose - that's to start first of all, make plays, and be an impact player for this team. I'm definitely working hard and trying to do everything I can to help this team win."

Another thing Jones is battling is the heat. Jones has spent his whole NFL career up north with the Browns and Eagles after playing his college ball at the University of Georgia. When asked how this camp differs from the ones he has been apart of in the past, the first thing Jones mentioned was the heat.

"First of all, it's a lot hotter down here," said Jones. "It prepares us for our season and when teams come down here they are going to feel this heat. But for the most part, we just want to come out here and compete. Competition makes the best out of all of us and we just want to go out there and win games."

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Jones feels like can be a real asset to the Buccaneers and he is trying to work on his game to became a well-balanced player.

"In the past, when I was with Cleveland, I was known for my interceptions and as my career became longer and longer, I got more physical," Jones said. "I just want to blend all those ingredients and just be an overall safety that is going to come down and hit and at the same time, take the ball away from the offense."

For his career, Jones has amassed 347 tackles, 16 interceptions, and 30 passes defensed. His numbers are why Bucs brought him in, but it has been his play so far this offseason that has impressed his coaches.

"He's progressing very, very nicely," said defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake. "He's really getting the package now, especially from the OTAs. During the OTAs we saw the movement and we loved his movement. Now we're in training camp and he's getting used to the package. He knows both spots and I'm really interested in watching him grow. I'm really looking forward to seeing him against live bullets in Miami."

Coach Morris also shared similar thoughts on Jones.

"What I have seen from him is great angles," said Morris. "[I've seen] him picking up the system, him learning everything, him going out there and competing with Sab and T-Jax every single day. And I see a happy guy, a guy who is just absolutely ecstatic to be back in the south playing football."

The opportunity is there for Jones. He has a chance to go out there and take the starting job away from Piscitelli. If Jones can do that, he will get to play alongside fellow safety Tanard Jackson, and cornerbacks Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib in the secondary.

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A few days ago defensive tackle Brian Price shined during a Buccaneers' practice and he got some acclaim from head coach Raheem Morris.

Since then Price has not been able "wreck" practice as Morris put it. That's because Price has been standing on the sidelines the last few days.

The second-round pick is still nursing a hamstring that caused him to miss time during OTAs in July. According to Price, the injury is no big deal though.

"We're taking a precaution. We're getting it 100 percent. We got a preseason game coming up," said Price.

When asked if he will be back soon Price said, "Without a doubt."

Also missing practice today was running back and returner Clifton Smith. Morris said Smith was suffering from a hamstring injury just like Price.

Other players not in practicing today: TE John Gilmore, DE Tim Crowder, DE George Johnson, and WR Mario Urrutia.

"All those guys are day-to-day," Morris said. "No one is going to miss an significant amount of time. They're all day-to-day. They're all precautionary."

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Head coach Raheem said he wanted to have a more violent team. It looks like some of the young Buccaneers took that too literally.

During one-on-one today between the offensive and defensive linemen, things got a little heated between RT Demar Dotson and rookie DE Erik Lorig.

Dotson and Lorig were going one-on-one when all of a sudden the two started pushing and shoving each other.

"It's just part of the game," said Dotson. "We came out the first time and he beat me, and I came back and won the second one. Then I wanted to get back in and get a grudge match, cause I don't like losing. I wanted to get in and get that loss back, you know, and it got a little chippy."

Their teammates quickly put an end to the scuffle and practice resumed like normal.

Meanwhile, Dotson talked about moving back over to the right side of the offensive line now that Donald Penn under contract.

"I was getting more comfortable on the left, but I'm more comfortable on the right because I spent the whole year there last year, so it's more natural," Dotson said. "If I had year at left I'd be more comfortable there so, it really didn't make any difference. I feel more comfortable, so I'm going to work and work and get better."

The former basketball player also discussed what it is like to learn from a guy like Jeremy Trueblood, who is similar in stature to himself.

"That's a guy who's been playing five years in the NFL, and I just learn a lot from those guys - how to pass set, how to run block, how to stay low - you know, said Dotson. "Trueblood is 6-foot-8 like I am, so he teaches me how to stay low and bend my knees, and I just watch those guys and I sit back when I'm at practice and when I'm in the film room and watch those guys and see what they do and how they practice and some of the moves they got."

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Derrick Ward had 62 yards and a score in the 2009 opener but surpassed 60 just once more and scored no more touchdowns.


TAMPA — Derrick Ward rolled into training camp last week sitting behind the wheel of a slick, new black Lamborghini.

A message? No, he wasn't trying to make the Bucs ditch Cadillac.

That's impossible as Ward discovered last season.

But to be honest, Ward says, when he left the Giants for a four-year, $17 million contract, he was under the impression the Bucs planned for him to be their feature back; especially because their favorite mode of transportation, Cadillac Williams, was still recovering from his second torn patellar tendon in as many years.

"But things happened throughout the course of the offseason," Ward said. "I never knew what a patellar tendon was. I didn't know the significance of it.

"But I knew he had been through a lot of injuries throughout his career. For him to come back off those two injuries, I give him kudos for that."

In 2008, Ward rushed for 1,025 yards and two touchdowns while gaining 5.6 yards per carry. In his debut with the Bucs, a 34-21 home loss to the Cowboys, Ward played as advertised. Splitting time with Williams, he carried 12 times for 62 yards (5.2-yard average) and a touchdown and caught two passes for 21 yards.

But three quarterbacks in eight games, the firing of offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski 10 days before the season opener and a swiss cheese defense conspired to make Ward one of the more unproductive free agent purchases in club history.

The Bucs quickly scrapped the Giants-like 2-2-1 blueprint (two backs get two series each then one gets one) among Ward, Williams and Earnest Graham and went primarily with Williams.

Williams led the team with 823 yards and four touchdowns. He had nearly twice as many carries as Ward (211 to 114), who finished with 409 yards and that lone touchdown. Ward's 3.6-yard average was the second lowest of his career, and he surpassed 60 yards only once after the opener (67 in Week 15).

"You can't have the numbers I had in New York playing from 21 (points) down," Ward said. "We're last in run defense, and teams are running the ball. So I can't get on the field to do the things I did in New York. People last year thought I was a bust. But I just put it to the back of my mind. I know football, and everybody on my team knows football."

Ward is right. In six of their first seven games, the Bucs trailed by 14 or points in the third quarter, forcing them to pass often.

Starting over with a new team at age 28 wasn't easy for Ward, either. He knew only one player: fullback B.J. Askew, who had spent time with the Jets.

Teams have little cliques, and new players — even productive veterans — have to, in essence, start over to earn their way in.

"It's a process. You don't really know anybody. They've had this team for a couple years now, and I was the new guy on the block," Ward said. "I had to get accustomed to the way they ran the organization and the way things were in the locker room.

"It's a young team. I came from a team where you had Michael Strahan and Amani Toomer and Tiki Barber, Plaxico Burress and all those guys. I went from a veteran team to where I'm one of the oldest guys on the team. It was a big deal, but we've had a year under our belt, and I'm excited. I've never been so excited for a season to come."

Talk to Ward, and it's immediately evident he is more relaxed.

"I'm happier," he said.

One reason is the Bucs have scrapped much of the zone blocking scheme and returned to a power game. And coach Raheem Morris has promised to "go with the hot back."

"We're going to formulate an immaculate tandem this year," Ward said.

Still, the Bucs love to ride Cadillac, and Morris admits Williams has "more equity in my emotional bank account."

"I've got to make some deposits," Ward said. "But I've got a little saved up."