Bucs update

He may have been only a seventh-round draft pick, but rookie safety has done a good job getting noticed during the offseason.

During OTAs, Grimm was tied for the team lead in interceptions with CB Aqib Talib and LB Quincy Black. Just a few days ago, he was able to get a pick off the arm of starting quarterback Josh Freeman during a live, tackling situation.

Grimm continued to show his potential during Friday's A.M practice.

"I think I had a pretty good day," said Grimm. "Right now, it was a good day for me to not make any mistakes. I didn't have any mental errors today so that is always a good feeling. I was just reacting a lot faster, rather than doing a lot of thinking. I'm starting to learn a lot more about the defense and feeling comfortable about the calls."

Grimm played near the line of scrimmage as a quasi-safety/linebacker at Virginia Tech, and is trying to get used to playing deep at the NFL level.

"It's a different view, but it is football," Grimm said. "In every position really, except the D-line, you are going to have a gap to fill and a zone to cover. It's the same stuff, just different zones and different gaps. I just have to used to backpedaling a little bit and get better at covering receivers and I should be good to go."

Grimm knows that he is not the most athletic guy on the field, but he is trying to remedy that by playing sound coverage.

"I proud myself on trying to not make mistakes," Grimm said. "If you don't make mistakes and you are in the right place, that will make up for athletic ability. I might not have all the ability, but if I get myself in the right situation and get there early enough I won't have to worry about it."

Fans hoping to get a look at Grimm under the lights on Saturday are going to have to wait. Grimm will not be with the Bucs for the team's night practice at Ray Jay, as he will get the chance to see his father, Russ Grimm, get inducted into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame.

"I'm excited for him,'' Grimm said. "I know it took him a while to get in. But he's an even-keel guy so he didn't say much in the years he didn't get in. This year, I was actually at his house when he got in and he was just overwhelmed with joy about it. He's super excited about it.''

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A star-studded group of former NFL players is being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday and Bucs head coach Raheem Morris is extremely interested in the selection of former Dallas running back Emmitt Smith, who is the league’s all-time rushing leader with 18,355 yards and 164 rushing touchdowns. Smith played for the Cowboys from 1990-2002 and finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals from 2003-04.

On Saturday, Morris recalled his love for watching Smith run the ball and helping to turn Dallas back into America's Team.

“My dad poisoned me – made me a Cowboy fan,” Morris said. “In 1988, they drafted Michael Irvin. In 1989 they drafted Troy Aikman. Then in 1990 they got Emmitt Smith. I was there for the 1-15 season getting bashed in school, and I was there for the 7-9 season when they started to get a better. After that, they started to win Super Bowls. And I was America’s Team all the way, from Jersey, around a bunch of Giants fans, so I argued that thing down.

“I said Emmitt Smith was the best. I argued him against Barry Sanders for the longest amount of time. I didn’t care who really was the best. I was just going to say Emmitt was the best that day. He ended up being the all-time leading rusher in this league and broke a lot of records and had a lot of amazing games. I watched a lot of those games in my room. My mom said I was a psychopath because I used to lock myself in my room. I didn’t want to sit next to anybody, talk to anybody. My high school girlfriend had to sit on the couch while I was in my room watching the Cowboys. I had issues!”

Because Morris grew up a Cowboys fan, he despised the San Francisco 49ers, which was the other dominant NFC team in the 1990s.

“I was a Cowboys fan growing up, and I can’t stand Jerry Rice because of that,” Morris said.

But as a former defensive back and a secondary coach in the NFL, Morris has a strong appreciation for Rice, a 13-time Pro Bowler who is the league’s all-time leading receiver with 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns.

“Jerry was special,” Morris said. “I hated him because I was a Cowboy fan, but he was always fun to watch and I was a big fan of the playmaker. It was exciting. You never knew when he was going to break open a game. He was dangerous. He was explosive.

“In 2002 once I got into the league and I became a Tampa Bay Buc, people would ask me, ‘You’re not a Cowboy fan anymore?’ And I said, ‘No. They’re trying to get me fired!’ And all that stuff went out the window, and I just became just a studier of the game, watching him play, watching his craft and watching how hard he worked, even at the end of his career, was just something that was really impressive to me with both of those guys. I know they both ended in different places. One was in Oakland, well, actually, Seattle, and Arizona for Emmitt. I got a chance to play against both of those guys, and that’s always legendary. That’s always something I can look at and something I can tell my kids.”

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Just because Bucs head coach Raheem Morris also occupies the role of defensive coordinator doesn’t mean he’s a homer. When asked on Saturday to single out the best and most competitive unit during the first week of training camp, Morris didn’t name one of the squads on defense. Instead, he named the young and inexperienced – yet talented – wide receiving corps.

“You talk about competition, you’ve got to talk about those wideouts,” Morris said. “We talk about how fast Mike Williams is able to start, and now you’re talking about how Arrelious Benn is really coming on this last week or so. We talked about it earlier. We said it – and I knew this was going to happen – Arrelious Benn’s game is in the pads. Now we have pads on and you’ve got to tackle this man, and you’ve got to be around this guy. You’ve got to get blocked by him and you’ve got to put him back there on kickoff return and watch him run through people and arm tackles. It’s a little different. It’s a big man’s game, and he’s starting to show up. So you talk about that competition with Arrelious Benn, Mike Williams, [Maurice Stovall], and you’re talking about Sammie Stroughter, you’re talking about Reggie Brown and Michael Clayton. I mean – you’ve got some guys in there that are just physical beasts.”

The Bucs receiving corps averages 6-foot-2, 208 pounds and the unit was staying after practice doing a long series of push-ups after practice in a circle with the aim of getting even bigger. Of the 11 receivers on the roster, six are 6-foot-2 or taller. The smallest receiver is Stroughter, who is still compactly built at 5-foot-11, 189 pounds.

While Williams has flashed since the rookie mini-camp and appears to have a firm grip on the starting split end (X receiver spot), the flanker position is open. Veteran Maurice Stovall is currently running with the first team, but is receiving pressure from Stroughter and Benn, who is coming off his best practice of camp on Friday.

When it’s all said and done, Benn, this year’s second-round draft pick, will likely emerge as a starter opposite Williams. But regardless of who starts, Morris likes the wide receiver position from top to bottom.

“The young guys – [Preston] Parker, [Chris] Brooks – these guys are playing fast, and I don’t think we’ve seen this dynamic of a group in Tampa in a long time,” Morris said. “Not to take any credit away from Joey Galloway or Antonio Bryant or what one in particular person was able to do in a special season, but this type of a group, I don’t know if I remember being a DB coach here, going out every day, going, ‘Man, Mike Williams, Sammie Stroughter, Arrelious Benn,’ and seeing these guys move around like they do.

"Sometimes I stand back there and I talk to Aqib Talib and let him tell me about who he thinks is the best. I tell him, ‘Pick your top six receivers.’ He changed 20 times yesterday. [He said,] ‘Oh, man, I forgot about him, dawg.’ It’s a good thing, so I’ve got to say receiver is one of those positions.”

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The details on what the Bucs paid to LT Donald Penn and DT Gerald McCoy have come out courtesy of ESPN's Pat Yasinskas. Penn received a $2 million dollar bonus, and has workout incentives in his contract. McCoy received a $3.6 million dollar bonus and is scheduled to earn $12.4 million in base salary over those five years.

Over the past couple of years many members of the media and fans of the Buccaneers have been critical of the Bucs ownership for being cheap. ESPN.com's NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas has got the contract details of the money that Tampa Bay paid out last Saturday in contracts to left tackle Donald Penn and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. Yasinskas writes:

The Bucs handed Penn a $2 million signing bonus, and he'll make $4.5 million this season. ... Through 2015, Penn is scheduled to earn $35.5 million in base salaries, and that's just at this moment. There are escalators that could kick in for 2014 and '15. There also is another $3 million in likely-to-be earned incentives. ... The deal includes a $400,000 bonus for each year if he shows up for a certain amount of offseason workouts.

McCoy got a $3.6 million signing bonus. At this moment, he's scheduled to earn a total of $12.4 million in base salaries through 2015, but that's really just a start. Right now, 2015 is a voidable option year. But the option bonus on that comes due in 2011 and the Bucs will be writing another massive check then. McCoy's option bonus is for $9.98 million.

Penn's contract maximum total value is $48 million over those six years with about $20 million guaranteed. McCoy's five-year deal has a total value of $63 million with $35 million guaranteed. Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik and director of football operations deserve a lot of credit for getting both complicated deals done while pulling an all-nighter on Friday night and through Saturday morning when both contracts were completed.

The Buccaneers did whatever it took to make sure Penn would be in camp to protect franchise quarterback, Josh Freeman. The contracts given to some of the bigger name players over the past two years, such as Kellen Winslow and Derrick Ward, have included little-to-no signing bonuses. It has been that way since Dominik took over as the general manager. Rather than commit big money in signing bonuses, the Bucs have gone to guaranteeing a large amount of money in base salary.

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Is Stylez G. White looking forward to Tampa Bay's night practice at Raymond James Stadium? What did he think about playing outside linebacker in the Bucs' 3-4 defense? What are White's thoughts on Greg Lloyd, CB Aqib Talib, goal line defense, OT Demar Dotson and DE Erik Lorig? Get the inside scoop straight from Stylez.

I’m tired. I’m just trying to get through training camp at this point. We’re entering Day 8 on Saturday of non-stop practices – most of them in full pads. I’m not only trying to get better, I’m just trying to get through camp. It’s tough.

I’m not looking forward to the night practice – not at all. Most fans think we like night practices because we get to practice in cooler conditions, but that’s not the case. It’s a late practice, so that means we won’t have any chance to chill with our families Saturday night before going to bed. Family day is Sunday, which is our day off. That doesn’t leave much time for families. It would have been nice to have Saturday night off and Sunday, too.

I’ve seen the format and I’m not going to be partaking in any of the skills competition during the night practice. I’m happy that it’s only the skill players and they have counted me out on this one. If I was going to participate – being the athlete that I think I am – I could beat Aqib Talib in one-on-ones. I could box him out all day with the short and underneath routes. Count me out on any go routes, but I would kill him on the short patterns!

I am tired. This schedule of 2-1-2-1 (two practices one day followed by one practice the next) in pads, pads and more pads is wearing me down, and I’m not the only one. Sunday can’t get here soon enough!

On Thursday we finally got to run some 3-4 defense, which is my favorite defense. I’m trying to get [head coach] Raheem [Morris] to play more 3-4 defense this year. It’s a good look for me to be in that defense. I enjoy playing some outside linebacker instead of banging heads with [left tackle Donald] Penn all the time on the line.

I was real excited to hear that we had former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Greg Lloyd here as one of our [NFL minority fellowship] coaches this year. When I first saw him, I didn’t recognize him. I didn’t think he was that small. I thought Lloyd was much bigger. He played way bigger than he looks. He was a beast when he played.

He’s given me some pointers about situational football and how to pass rush in those situations. In red zone, you are only going to get a three-step drop. You need to pay attention to down and distance because that will give you a clue about how the QB will set up and how many steps he’ll get in his drops. This guy is a Pro Bowler and it’s a little different coming from a guy like that – with no disrespect towards Coach [Todd] Wash. I grew up watching Lloyd. He’s a monster.

Demar Dotson got into a scuffle in practice yesterday with our new D-end Erik Lorig. That’s the second fight for Dotson, who got into one with James Ruffin in the OTAs. All I can say is that it’s camp and people’s patience is growing thin right now. We’re getting tired of hitting each other already. We’re ready to start hitting other people in the preseason and in the regular season, but this is camp and it’s a necessary evil.

Dotson may be getting in more fights this year, but he was just as aggressive as he was last year. That’s why he made the team. He’s the same guy. He’s quiet off the field. You rarely hear from him. But he’s as strong as anybody. He’s aggressive. That’s his game.

What these young guys like Lorig don’t understand is that after you fight, you still have to practice and those little skirmishes can leave you kind of wiped out. Those fights can take all of the energy out of you during training camp, but they’ll learn. I do like seeing some of the tenacity in the young guys. I like that they don’t let guys push them around. That’s a good thing.

I’m looking forward to seeing some of the unheralded young guys live in the preseason games when the bullets are flying for real. Guys like Lorig, [Brandon] Gilbeaux, [James] Ruffin and George Johnson. Johnson was really coming along at the start of camp before he got hurt. I like him a lot. Now all of them are at the same level. They are just learning the defense so they can play faster.

On Wednesday we did some goal line and the defense won that. Goal line is all attitude. Technique kind of goes out the window and you are just scrapping. Goal line is just a big fight. That’s all it is. We did a good job on Wednesday. They scored once or twice, but that’s still too many. However, I think if it were against any other defense they would have scored some more. We’re going to be good on defense this year, and our O-line is going to play better, too.

I may be a little biased, but I think our defense as a whole is really coming on. We’re playing fast and hard – even the second- and third-string guys. That’s good to see. Aqib is really playing well – except for Friday’s practice.

I said to him, “Aqib, you’re a little quiet.”

He said, “Yeah, I got my butt handed to me in one-on-ones.”

I like his honesty. Aqib is accountable. I like that about him.

He said, “It’s okay. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

I like that about him, too. He’s really maturing and that’s great to see.

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Tampa Bay’s offense will face a healthy dose of the 3-4 defense to start the season as three of its first four games are against 3-4 teams. Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson is using some training camp time to prepare for the likes of Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

The 3-4 defense is no longer the boogeyman it used to be for the Buccaneers. When Tampa Bay played the likes of Houston and Pittsburgh years ago when only a handful of teams used the 3-4 scheme, the Bucs offense would typically struggle because it was not used to playing that type of front.

But as the 2010 NFL regular season approaches, nearly half the league is playing the 3-4 defense and Tampa Bay is spending much more time practicing against the formation.

“Since about half the teams in the league are running a 3-4, it doesn’t present as big of a problem as it did in the past,” said Bucs offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “When you only were facing about three or four teams in the league that run a 3-4, a handful of teams, then you weren’t working on it as much. Now, we’ve done a little bit of it here. So you get a chance to work on it everyday, so it’s created some problems, but I think we’re better prepared for it now than we have been in the past.”

The 3-4 features four linebackers, two defensive ends and a nose tackle. Where facing the 3-4 becomes a challenge is guessing which linebackers are blitzing and which ones are dropping into coverage.

The three defensive linemen up front play a different style than what Tampa Bay traditionally plays in the 4-3 defense, which features two defensive ends, two defensive tackles and three linebackers. Instead of worrying about linemen penetrating a gap, the Bucs offensive linemen usually face a two-gap style of play from the three defensive linemen, whose job is primarily to tie up the offensive linemen and free up the linebackers to make plays.

“The problem is blocking assignments,” Olson said. “Depending on who those outside linebackers are, you have to decide whether or not we’ve got a running back that’s physically able enough to handle the outside rushers. That creates a difference in your scheme up front on whether you’re going to fan with your offensive line and out to the big guys and leave your running backs up inside. To have a way to account for those guys and try to eliminate the mismatches with your running backs.”

What has helped Olson’s offense is the fact that Bucs head coach Raheem Morris has incorporated some 3-4 defense into his game plan as a change-up to the 4-3. Olson says that has bettered prepared Tampa Bay’s offense for the 3-4 than in years past when former defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin only stuck with the 4-3.

“There’s a difference in protections every week,” Morris said. “You have to prepare for a different protection. Whatever protection you want to use for the 3-4, it’s different from a 4-3 team and it’s different from what you want to use for a (4-6) Bear team – the old Mr. Ryan’s team. It’s just a difference in protections, a difference in schemes and the mismatches. It’s getting big linebackers on smaller backs and taking advantage of some of those matchups. The difference you can bring from brining people from all over the place, it just creates differences for you that you have to work on them being that we are a 4-3 team. You have to find ways to be able to work on those 3-4 concepts and be able to block them.”

Tampa Bay’s preseason schedule features two 3-4 teams in Miami and Kansas City right off the bat. Houston used to be a 3-4 team, but now plays a 4-3 scheme.

“Our preseason opponents are going to give us a chance to work on some of the schemework that we’ll do,” Olson said. “Obviously, as you guys know, you don’t show everything, but it’s a real good work for us.”

Olson said the Bucs are already preparing to play the first four opponents on their regular season schedule. Three of which – Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati – all play the 3-4.

“We’ve got to spent a lot of time in our group install period, we’ll spend a day – (tomorrow is) the Cincinnati Bengals’ 3-4 period – so we’ve got a 15-minute period broken down in training camp on every day, and we’ll pick a team. Pittsburgh Steelers is the defense in place for the day, tomorrow it will be the Cincinnati Bengals, and we go through, and the players understand, ‘Okay, now I know who we’re preparing for.’ And now you go through the rest of the practice and we play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but we always set aside time in practice to work against the opponent.

“This year, because of those teams – and because our defense is predominantly a four-down-front team – we just decided that is something we need to make sure that we’re spending more time on, so it is different than past, normally we’ll use that period—that group install period—to work on a blitz pickup period, or we may say, ‘Here’s some looks we’re going to see later on today from our defense, so let’s practice them up here.’ But now, we’ve just said, ‘Hey, let’s identify those teams that are gong to create some problems for us and let’s get a jump start on them in training camp.’”

Olson is encouraging his players, especially the linemen, tight ends and backs, to start doing film study of the Browns and the season opener is just five weeks away.

“Already, yeah,” Olson said. “Players are watching tape on them as well during training camp. We’re always encouraging them. The way technology is today, they all have computers in their own room, and all the blitz packages are broken down for every opponent on the season, so they stay on top of it.”

The fact that Morris’ defense mixes in some 3-4 fronts as part of Tampa Bay’s game plan, and the Bucs will face two preseason opponents that run a 3-4, the team should be well versed in facing the scheme, which is not quite as unique and exotic as it was nearly a decade ago.

“It really created, six, seven years ago, because of the few teams that were running it, it was hard to prepare for in a one week period,” Olson said. “Now that so many teams are running it, we’ve had a chance to work on it in the spring, and we had a chance to work on it in June, and now we’re getting a chance to work on it now. It does still create some problems. It’s not the old traditional four-down front that in NFL football for years most of the teams played. We’ve just had a [greater] chance to work with it.”