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Scenes from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs…. | ||||
By Stephen F. Holder, Times Staff Writer
Up until Saturday evening, after the Bucs’ arrival in Jacksonville, there remained uncertainty about the status of QB Josh Freeman. • Having missed the previous week’s game against Carolina with a shoulder injury, Freeman returned to practice late last week and, after testing his arm in pregame warmups, took the field as Sunday’s starter. • But he admitted it wasn’t without discomfort. And Freeman continued to battle the difficulty he was experiencing when his shoulder got cold — during timeouts and defensive series — which resulted in it stiffening up. • Freeman was 16-for-30 for 181 yards, throwing two interceptions. It wasn’t his best day, but the Bucs had no second thoughts about playing him. • “Obviously, he didn’t play well,” coach Raheem Morris said. “But you put him out there. You’ve got to play him. He was healthy. We make no excuses about it. He took a couple (hits) and was able to get back up. Obviously, you can’t say (he played) without pain. He played through it. He’s a fighter. This guy is for his team. He wants to go out there and win for them. But we won’t make excuses that he had bad throws because of his bad shoulder. We had bad throws because of decisionmaking. I wouldn’t put him out there if he wasn’t ready to go.” RB LeGarrette Blount‘s punishing running style makes defenders leery about tackling him, a trait that would seem a good quality for a running back. • But defenders have learned that, when unable to get Blount to the ground, there’s a second option: strip the ball. • Blount fumbled twice Sunday, losing one, giving him three lost fumbles in a span of three games. Blount lost two fumbles at Tennessee two weeks ago. • “Once you get to the second level and these guys see they can’t tackle you, their second thought is to go for the football because they know they can’t get you on the ground,” Blount said. “It’s just fighting for all that extra yardage. Being the kind of player that I am, that’s what I do. I’m not going to (divert) from how I play, but at the same time, I have to learn how to hold on to that football and just continue to play the way I play. I have to be conscious that they’re going to come and get the football.” • Blount’s first fumble Sunday, in the second quarter, was recovered by G Jeremy Zuttah. But his second, coming with 7:59 left in the third quarter, proved costly, coming at the end of a 23-yard run. With defenders struggling to take down the powerful second-year back, Blount kept fighting for yardage, giving LB Russell Allen time to punch the ball out. • “Defenses are going to go for the ball more so against guys who fumble it a lot,” Blount said. “I don’t want to get that label. … It’s something that’s creeping into a lot of people’s heads, so I’m going to have to try and erase that memory, including for myself.” . The Bucs have been largely pleased with the performance of WR Preston Parker, both as a kick and punt returner, and as a slot receiver. But if there has been a weakness in his play, it would be his tendency to cough up the football. Parker entered Sunday’s game with six fumbles this season, getting enough fortuitous bounces that the Bucs lost just one of them. But his lucky streak ended in Jacksonville, where he had two fumbles. Parker, who declined postgame interview requests, fumbled in the first quarter while fielding a punt and absorbing a hit from Montell Owens. Morgan Trent recovered for the Jaguars. The good news? The Bucs defense held, forcing another punt. Parker was not as fortunate the second time around. As he fielded a punt at the Tampa Bay 20-yard line, he again took a shot from Owens. The ball was jarred loose, bouncing into the hands of Colin Cloherty, who returned it 8 yards for a touchdown. That prompted Bucs coaches to pull Parker. He was replaced on punt and kick returns by veteran Micheal Spurlock, who fielded one punt for 1 yard. . The Bucs did something Sunday they had been after all season: score an offensive touchdown in the first quarter. It seemed the day was full of possibilities. “I’m sitting there on the sideline at 14-0 thinking this could be a blowout,” C Jeff Faine said. “I wanted to feel great for once this season. But obviously we keep shooting ourselves in the foot.” The fast start ultimately went to waste when the Bucs yielded 28 second-quarter points to the Jaguars via an assortment of turnovers. “We came out and started fast, and our offense was clicking right off the bat,” RB LeGarrette Blount said. “You have to let that momentum carry you through the game, but it didn’t.” The Bucs marched 80 yards in 10 plays on the opening possession. QB Josh Freeman, who notoriously has been sluggish in first quarters this season, was 4-for-6 for 59 yards on the drive. Among his completions was a 28-yard strike to TE Kellen Winslow on a well-executed fourth-and-1 play. The Bucs used play action to Blount and rolled Freeman to his right, allowing him to hit Winslow in stride. They capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Blount. The Bucs took advantage of an interception by CB Ronde Barber at the Tampa Bay 48 late in the first quarter to set up their second touchdown. Freeman hit FB Erik Lorig for a 22-yard gain, then the quarterback ran up the middle for the final 13 yards for the score. Seven turnovers later, the quick start was rendered moot. The Bucs did a better job against Maurice Jones-Drew, the NFL’s leading rusher entering the game, than just about any team this season. He was held to 85 rushing yards, his fewest in five games. He averaged just 3.1 yards per carry, his lowest in any game this season. • Yes, Jones-Drew scored four touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving) to establish a Jaguars record with his 73rd career touchdown. Jones-Drew surpassed Jaguars great and former Gator RB Fred Taylor, who had 70 TDs. • “To break a record that Fred (Taylor) set, it means a bunch,” Jones-Drew said. “Words can’t really explain how excited I am to have a guy that mentored me the whole time, taught me how to play this game the right way, how to take care of my body and do those things. To come out and break the touchdown record makes me very excited.” • Jones-Drew’s scores came on a pair of 1-yard runs and a pair of 5-yard receptions. • “He runs hard,” Bucs MLB Mason Foster said. “He makes plays, and he runs well behind the offensive line.” Players: Don’t blame Raheem . As the Bucs tried to collect their thoughts in a somber locker room after the loss, some players were adamant that coach Raheem Morris shouldn’t take all the blame. “We don’t look like a team that can compete right now through 60 minutes,” CB Ronde Barber said. “That’s everybody’s fault. You can’t put that on the coach.” Ultimately, coaches are held responsible for their team’s play. But players don’t escape unscathed, and that’s something several veterans made reference to, saying players need to realize their jobs are on the line, too. “We have to win for us,” Barber said, referring to himself and his teammates. “There’s no doubt about it. If they don’t know it, they will. This league will chew you up and spit you out if you let it. I think they know that. We just have to be a better football team.” Veteran C Jeff Faine offered a similar warning. “People are going to say it’s an indictment on the coaches, but it’s on the players,” he said. “We’ve been playing this game since guys were 5 years old. We know the ball is everything. Ball security is everything. We’ve got to play smart. “It’s a terrible position we’ve put (Morris) in. The way that we’ve lost and the fashion in which we’ve lost, it is a terrible position for us as players to put him in. This is a very, very young team. Unfortunately, I think a hard lesson is going to be learned this offseason. This is the NFL. They don’t play around here. There are going to be a lot of decisions made very soon.” Quick hits . DE Adrian Clayborn recorded a sack in the first quarter, increasing his team-leading season sack total to 6½. . CB Ronde Barber‘s first-quarter interception was his third of the season and 43rd of his career, the most in team history (well ahead of second-place Donnie Abraham‘s 31). . Rookie LB Mason Foster‘s third-quarter interception was the first of his career. The seven turnovers . Including what the Jaguars did on the ensuing possession: Play Quarter Result Preston Parker fumbled punt return First Punt Parker fumbled punt return Second Returned for TD Josh Freeman fumble Second Recovered for TD in end zone Freeman interception Second Touchdown Freeman interception Third Interception LeGarrette Blount fumble Third Punt Josh Johnson interception Fourth End of game [Last modified: Dec 11, 2011 10:51 PM]
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose seventh straight, 41-14… | ||||
By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE — After the Buccaneers committed seven turnovers Sunday, including three during a gift-wrapped stretch of 7:32 in the second quarter during which the Jaguars scored 28 points, discarded gloves were strewn across the locker room floor at EverBank Field. But the equipment staff didn’t bother searching for the owners of the abandoned mitts. Because, like the loss, everybody had a hand in it. The Bucs fumbled six times and lost four — including two that turned into touchdowns — blowing a 14-0 lead to fall 41-14 to a Jaguars team that had not scored more than 20 points in a game all season. The seventh straight defeat for the Bucs (4-9) also featured three interceptions, including two by starter Josh Freeman. “You have to hold onto the ball,” coach Raheem Morris said. “You’re carrying everybody’s livelihood in your arm.” So how did the Jaguars (4-9), the second-lowest scoring team in the NFL prior to Sunday (now the fourth-lowest), pile up 28 points over the final eight minutes of the first half? • Preston Parker, who fumbled away the first punt he attempted to field under a weepy sky, got the snowball rolling with the Bucs leading 14-0. After he was hit by Montell Owens (who also forced Parker’s first fumble) at the Tampa Bay 20, the ball bounced to the 8. Colin Cloherty scooped it up and ran it in for a touchdown with 7:36 remaining. Parker was replaced as the punt returner in favor of Micheal Spurlock and refused to comment after the game. • Safety Tanard Jackson bit on a pump fake by Jags rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert, allowing tight end Marcedes Lewis to slip through the secondary for a 62-yard reception to the Bucs 2. That set up the first of four touchdowns by running back Maurice Jones-Drew, this one a 1-yard plunge to tie the score with 2:05 left. “One of our better players can’t guess,” Morris said of Jackson’s mistake. “You’ve got to go do your job.” • Freeman, playing despite a sore right (throwing) shoulder, was sacked and lost a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by tackle Nate Collins. The touchdown, which came 12 seconds after Drew’s score, gave the Jaguars a 21-14 lead. • Just 51 seconds later, Freeman’s first of two interceptions set up Gabbert’s 5-yard touchdown flip to Jones-Drew with four seconds left that made it 28-14. “It was a bit of a snowball effect,” Freeman said. “Everything was going perfectly. We had the first fumble and recovered from that. The second fumble, third fumble, interception — that’s three turnovers in like half a quarter.” Freeman admitted he played in some pain and lost some velocity off a few passes, but he wasn’t making excuses. “Regardless of how everything felt, being out there as the quarterback of this team, I’ve got to go out there and execute better, point-blank,” Freeman said. “Some of those things that really didn’t go our way, I’ve got to find a way to right the ship and get it done. “A few (passes) kind of died on me and got away from me. But like I said, you can’t make an excuse. I took practice reps, and I just have to play better.” For good measure, Josh Johnson replaced Freeman late in the game and — what else? — threw an interception on his very first attempt. Running back LeGarrette Blount, who fumbled twice in the rain at Tennessee two weeks ago, put the ball on the ground two more times Sunday, losing one. Dragging defenders for a 23-yard run in the third quarter, he was stripped by linebacker Russell Allen, and end Jeremy Mincey recovered. “When you have five, six, seven turnovers in the game, and your running back can’t hang onto the football, now you have a problem,” said Blount, who has lost just those three fumbles this season. “The guys I go against are professionals also. They watch game film and see that I’ve fumbled the ball a few times. They’re going to go for it. That’s a weakness I have to work on to make stronger.” After the game, Morris said the Bucs will work on fundamentals during practice this week, such as holding onto the football. As they proved Sunday, turnovers and losing go together like a hand and glove. “You get a bunch of turnovers,” he said, “they’re going to score a bunch of points.” Rick Stroud can be reached at stroud@tampabay.com. [Last modified: Dec 11, 2011 11:28 PM]
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Tampa Bay’s 7 & 7: Buccaneers commit 7… | ||||
So this was routine. The Bucs had seven turnovers in Sunday’s 41-14 loss at Jacksonville, another paltry performance for a team that has lost seven consecutive games. “Right now everything is going the wrong way,” Bucs guard Davin Joseph said. “We’ve got to get better. We have to mature. We have to learn how to turn things around when things are going bad. We don’t have ‘it’. We don’t have ‘it’ to be able to change the pace of the game or to take momentum and run with it.” The Buccaneers (4-9) helped set up each of Jacksonville’s four touchdowns in the second quarter. The Jaguars (4-9), who hadn’t scored more than 20 points all season, scored four times in a span of 7:32. They scored in all three phases in the same game for the first time since Nov. 1, 1998, at Baltimore. That also was the last time Jacksonville had scored 28 points in a quarter. “We’re a frustrated football team,” Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. “Guys can’t keep things going the way they want them to go. They took control of the football game and maintained control. We can’t get back in gear on offense and we don’t help ourselves on special teams, don’t help ourselves on defense by getting the ball back fast enough.” Josh Freeman and Preston Parker had a lot to do with Jacksonville’s scoring frenzy. Freeman, back after missing last week’s game against Carolina because of an injured throwing shoulder, threw two interceptions and fumbled near the goal line. He completed 16 of 30 passes for 181 yards and was benched late in favor of Josh Johnson. “Yeah, once again, turnovers,” Freeman said. “It seems every time we started to get something going, we’d shoot ourselves in the foot. It makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to win a football game when you turn the ball over like we did.” Parker’s day was nearly as bad. He fumbled two punts, both caused by special teams ace Montell Owens, and had a costly penalty. Colin Cloherty, signed off the practice squad Friday, scooped Parker’s second fumble and returned it 4 yards to give the Jaguars a spark. Parker declined to speak to reporters after the game. Blaine Gabbert found Marcedes Lewis behind the defense for a 62-yard gain on the next drive, setting up Jones-Drew’s 1-yard score that tied the game at 14. Two plays later — after Parker was flagged for holding — Freeman fumbled at the 1-yard line as Daryl Smith sacked him. Nate Collins recovered in the end zone to make it 21-14. Freeman threw an interception on Tampa Bay’s next possession. “This is Football 101 stuff,” Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber said. “It’s frustrating. It’s happening every week. Turnovers, you’ve got to hold on to the football. It’s hard to win a game with seven turnovers. Everybody’s frustrated. We’ve got to get better.” Jacksonville turned the short field into a 28-14 lead when Gabbert found Jones-Drew with a short pass near the goal line. Drew stretched the ball over the pylon for his 71st touchdown in 90 career games, breaking the team record held by Fred Taylor. “It means a lot,” Jones-Drew said. “To break a record that Fred set, it means a bunch. Words can’t explain how excited I am to have a guy that mentored me the whole time, taught me how to play this game the right way, how to take care of my body and do those things.” Jones-Drew wasn’t done, either. The player Morris dubbed a “rolling ball of butcher knives” earlier in the week made it 35-14 in the fourth when he caught a short pass near the goal line and plowed through two defenders for another score. He also scored from a yard out late. LeGarrette Blount, meanwhile, carried 18 times for 74 yards and a touchdown. But he fumbled in the second half at the end of a 23-yard gain. “It’s been an issue,” Blount said. “It’s something that can’t happen … I can’t let it happen. Our team looks to me as a playmaker, to make big things happen. On the way to trying to make those things happen you have to be fundamentally sound.” Notes: Parker declined to speak to reporters after the game. … Bucs WR Arrelious Benn suffered a concussion. … Tampa Bay led 14-0 after TD runs by LaGarrette Blount and Freeman. … The Jaguars hadn’t scored 40 or more points since Dec. 23, 2007 against Oakland. … Jacksonville’s seven turnovers were the most in franchise history. The previous high was six. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Thanks for visiting our blog =). Posted in 1, Arrelious Benn, bucs-news, Josh Freeman, Josh Johnson, LeGarrette Blount, Raheem Morris | Comments Off
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to Jacksonville Jaguars… | ||||
By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE — After the Buccaneers committed seven turnovers Sunday, including three during a gift-wrapped stretch of 7:32 in the second quarter during which the Jaguars scored 28 points, discarded gloves were strewn across the locker room floor at EverBank Field. But the equipment staff didn’t bother searching for the owners of the abandoned mitts. Because, like the loss, everybody had a hand in it. The Bucs fumbled six times and lost four — including two that turned into touchdowns — blowing a 14-0 lead to fall 41-14 to a Jaguars team that had not scored more than 20 points in a game all season. The seventh straight defeat for the Bucs (4-9) also featured three interceptions, including two by starter Josh Freeman. “You have to hold onto the ball,” coach Raheem Morris said. “You’re carrying everybody’s livelihood in your arm.” So how did the Jaguars (4-9), the second-lowest scoring team in the NFL prior to Sunday (now the fourth-lowest), pile up 28 points over the final eight minutes of the first half? • Preston Parker, who fumbled away the first punt he attempted to field under a weepy sky, got the snowball rolling with the Bucs leading 14-0. After he was hit by Montell Owens (who also forced Parker’s first fumble) at the Tampa Bay 20, the ball bounced to the 8. Colin Cloherty scooped it up and ran it in for a touchdown with 7:36 remaining. Parker was replaced as the punt returner in favor of Micheal Spurlock and refused to comment after the game. • Safety Tanard Jackson bit on a pump fake by Jags rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert, allowing tight end Marcedes Lewis to slip through the secondary for a 62-yard reception to the Bucs 2. That set up the first of four touchdowns by running back Maurice Jones-Drew, this one a 1-yard plunge to tie the score with 2:05 left. “One of our better players can’t guess,” Morris said of Jackson’s mistake. “You’ve got to go do your job.” • Freeman, playing despite a sore right (throwing) shoulder, was sacked and lost a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by tackle Nate Collins. The touchdown, which came 12 seconds after Drew’s score, gave the Jaguars a 21-14 lead. • Just 51 seconds later, Freeman’s first of two interceptions set up Gabbert’s 5-yard touchdown flip to Jones-Drew with four seconds left that made it 28-14. “It was a bit of a snowball effect,” Freeman said. “Everything was going perfectly. We had the first fumble and recovered from that. The second fumble, third fumble, interception — that’s three turnovers in like half a quarter.” Freeman admitted he played in some pain and lost some velocity off a few passes, but he wasn’t making excuses. “Regardless of how everything felt, being out there as the quarterback of this team, I’ve got to go out there and execute better, point-blank,” Freeman said. “Some of those things that really didn’t go our way, I’ve got to find a way to right the ship and get it done. “A few (passes) kind of died on me and got away from me. But like I said, you can’t make an excuse. I took practice reps, and I just have to play better.” For good measure, Josh Johnson replaced Freeman late in the game and — what else? — threw an interception on his very first attempt. Running back LeGarrette Blount, who fumbled twice in the rain at Tennessee two weeks ago, put the ball on the ground two more times Sunday, losing one. Dragging defenders for a 23-yard run in the third quarter, he was stripped by linebacker Russell Allen, and end Jeremy Mincey recovered. “When you have five, six, seven turnovers in the game, and your running back can’t hang onto the football, now you have a problem,” said Blount, who has lost just those three fumbles this season. “The guys I go against are professionals also. They watch game film and see that I’ve fumbled the ball a few times. They’re going to go for it. That’s a weakness I have to work on to make stronger.” After the game, Morris said the Bucs will work on fundamentals during practice this week, such as holding onto the football. As they proved Sunday, turnovers and losing go together like a hand and glove. “You get a bunch of turnovers,” he said, “they’re going to score a bunch of points.” Rick Stroud can be reached at stroud@tampabay.com. [Last modified: Dec 11, 2011 11:28 PM]
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Josh Freeman still has elbow issue; iffy for Tampa… | ||||
By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer JACKSONVILLE — Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman said he experienced a minor setback with his right throwing shoulder Friday. The pain was similar to what he felt following the loss at Tennessee two weeks ago and he did not finish practice. Freeman said his arm improved a bit Saturday and he hopes to play today at the Jaguars. A game-time decision, he is listed as questionable. “The arm is still in some pain, but it feels better than it did last week,” Freeman said Saturday. “I’m hoping it feels okay to play.” If Freeman can’t go, Josh Johnson will make his second straight start. Johnson, 0-5 as a starter, dislocated his left shoulder in the first quarter last week against Carolina but missed just one play after having it popped back in place. BRADFORD PRACTICES, MIGHT PLAY: Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, who has missed two games, was back in practice in preparation for Monday’s game at Seattle. Coach Steve Spagnuolo was not ready to name Bradford (left ankle sprain) the starter. Bradford took less than half of the practice snaps, splitting time with Kellen Clemens, who signed Thursday. No. 2 A. J. Feeley (thumb) is out. GIANTS: Safety Kenny Phillips, a former Miami standout, is out for tonight’s game at Dallas with a sprained MCL. PATRIOTS: The team signed defensive lineman DL Eric Moore and promoted defensive back Malcolm Williams from the practice squad. Defensive lineman Jermaine Cunningham (hamstring) went on injured reserve. Information from Times wires was used in this report. [Last modified: Dec 10, 2011 08:51 PM]
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