Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preseason Nightmare: Josh Freeman's a Spectator

A thumb hasn't been this important since those ancient Roman days when the emperor stood up and decided the fate of a particular gladiator.

Thumbs up was good news for those concerned. Thumbs down, well, that's that.

The thumb heard 'round Tampa Bay Saturday night was the one on the throwing hand of your quarterback, Josh Freeman. That Josh Freeman, you know, No. 5, the man who holds Raheem Morris' contract in his hands.

One quick follow-through that landed Freeman's throwing hand on a Kansas City helmet broke the tip of that famous thumb. Good news and bad news.

The good news is that Freeman will probably be able to start in the season opener against Cleveland.

The bad news is that he will be a spectator in practice from now until the week before that game against the Brownies and that means we have to wonder how effective he can be when he hasn't played or practiced and how strong will that thumb be when he wraps it around a football.

Other than this messy thumb situation, the 20-15 victory over those mighty Chiefs on Saturday night was another run-of-the-mill exhibition game. There weren't many there to witness the action, 41,000 or thereabouts was the report of tickets sold. Some tell us there were 30,000 butts in the seats but it looked like less than 20,000.

Be that as it may, these quick observations on preseason game number two for your Buccaneers:

Derrick Ward

Why is this man making guarantees? He spent the week telling everyone how outstanding he'd be in this game. He was a complete flop for the second week in a row and it's time for Mark Dominik to admit his "free agent" mistake and send DW and his racing car off to Sebring or wherever you go to drive those things really fast.

Mike Williams

As bad as Derrick Ward is, Mike Williams is that good. He's done nothing but stand out in these two games and although that's a good thing, the bad news is that when teams watch the film on this wonderful rookie, they're going to plan on double-teaming him when the regular season begins.

Josh Johnson

Not as bad as the first game. Josh was good in some spots, lousy in others. Good news is he's going to get a LOT of work the next two weeks.

Rudy Carpenter

Played well, throw a good ball and managed the game well.

Kareem Huggins

Continued to impress for the second week in a row and should be the writing on the wall for Derrick Ward.

Sammie Stroughter

Continues to impress.

Gerald McCoy

Found some mojo on Saturday night, played well. Made his presence felt.

Quincy Black

Showed that he can be a force on defense.

Michael Spurlock  The man who will put Michael Clayton out of a job. Great game for Spurlock.

Final Thoughts

It's still to early to tell about this defense. It looked good at times but Kansas City was still able to run the football more than you'd want to see.

Over at One Buccaneer Place, they're probably mulling over the possible need for a veteran backup quarterback.

Clifton Smith is a puzzling case. Now they're telling us he's got the gout. Used to be that was an affliction for fat old men who sat on thrones.

This week's game against the Jaguars is basically the dress rehearsal for the season. That's typically the mode for the third preseason game. The fourth preseason game is a waste. Starters don't play and it's a bunch of guys struggling for those final six or seven undecided roster spots.

We're two games into the preseason and all we know for sure is that this season was a thumb away from disaster.