Buccaneers Get To Imagine Life without Key Players

Just imagine that the Buccaneers had to play without Antonio Bryant.

Imagine that they were missing Michael Clayton.

Take lineman Jeremy Trueblood out of the lineup.

Let's sit starting center Jeff Faine while we're at it.

Oh, and spiffy return man Clifton Smith, park him on the bench.

Angelo Crowell?  Heck, he's been the "Phantom of the Training Camp."  Count him out.

It's getting ugly, isn't it?

Better get Kellen Winslow and Jerramy Stevens up in the bullpen.

How are those Luke McCown targets looking?

Dial up Maurice Stovall, Brian Clark, seventh-round draft pick Sammie Stroughter and  don't forget the "Deacon of Drops": Dexter Jackson.

Yes, Luke will have a great time throwing to those fellows.

Especially against Tennessee Saturday night. Titans coach Jeff Fisher says this year's Tennessee secondary is one of his best.

Yep, better get Earnest Graham and Derrick Ward fired up and get them some daylight.

Oops, forgot that Trueblood and Faine may not play.

The "dinged-up" list at One Buccaneer Place has become a prominent document.

Bryant is out for the preseason. Clayton's nursing his $10 million hamstring. Ward just got rid of his boot and says he's good to go.

But you get the picture.

Not a lot of experience at wide receiver.

Let's let former Buccaneer Ian Beckles from the 620 WDAE "Ron and Ian" show sum it up for us. It's good to hear from guys who played in the league as opposed to writers.

"There's not a lot of game experience," Beckles said on Tuesday morning. "Guys can look good in practice, but they get in a game and they poop on themselves. I hate young guys. They have to make their mistakes."

He's right. It's tough for young receivers to learn on the job. They basically learn from their mistakes. It's tough but it's a fact of life in the unforgiving world of the NFL.

There has been a little less contact the past few sessions at One Buc Place.

Perhaps Raheem Morris is finding out the hard way that harder practices and more contact produce a pretty lengthy "ding list."

And as of Tuesday, kicker Matt Bryant re-aggravated his kicking leg and joined the list. And it's crucial for Bryant to be kicking and kicking well.  Mike Nugent is looking over his shoulder, making a play for his job.

Still, the Bucs have been fortunate not to have that "catastrophic, season-ending" type of injury in this camp. With the exception of Bryant, it's a lot of dings. Still, the ding-list is not something this young ball club needs.

And it certainly doesn't need to imagine life without a bunch of key performers.

Imagine that.

They don't want to but come Saturday, they could get a preview of coming attractions.