Archives for September 2009

‘"I felt for all the way into the fourth quarter, up until those five minutes, that we had the game in our hands and we kind of let it slip away. But those are the type of things where it’s a learning situation for us, and as a whole, guys will learn from that."’

‘”Every guy in the NFL thinks about it,” said the Bills’ first-round draft choice in 2008. “Ever since the Sean Taylor incident, when people come into your house, we always have to be aware of things like that.”‘

‘”I really appreciate the passion the fans have for their team, you just can’t let it boil over and you get frustrated and you cause damage or make the players feel unsafe. Because it is a great place to live and raise a family and I love being a part of it. It just sickens me to think someone would go to those lengths.”‘

‘”It’s a major concern,” linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. “Obviously, we’ve had too many deaths already that’s been related to, not necessarily the vandalizing, but people just coming to a player’s house because they know where you live. And we can be a target sometimes because of how much we get paid. It’s just extremely dangerous when someone is going to come to your house and do anything that’s going to affect you.”‘

‘You just attribute that [lawn vandalism] to ignorance. Once we make it to the playoffs, tell them to do his lawn again.’

‘”This is a safe community and a great place to live,” Moorman said. “It’s a great place to raise a family. I love living here and I love being a part of it, so it really sickens me that someone would go to those lengths.”‘

‘”I was pretty impressed with the way the Cowboys attacked – their receivers were making big plays, and that’s what we kind of need in our offense,” Edwards said. “I feel like we have some players out wide that are capable of doing that. It’s a matter of protecting up front and being able to deliver the ball accurately like Tony (Romo) did last week. So hopefully we can hit a couple plays like that.”‘

Bucs safety has target on the chest (Tampa Tribune)

GM: Glazers still committed (Tampa Tribune)

Derrick Brooks joins ESPN2 but says he still wants to play (Tampa Tribune)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Byron Leftwich’s willingness to take hits moves the offense and his teammates (St. Petersburg Times)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary expects Buffalo Bills to attack in same way as Dallas Cowboys (St. Petersburg Times)

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks joins ESPN’s ‘First Take’ as an NFL analyst (St. Petersburg Times)

Inside slant (The Soprts Xchange)

Strategy and personnel (The Soprts Xchange)

Notes, quotes (The Soprts Xchange)

Bring It On (Buccaneers.com)

Center of Attention (Buccaneers.com)

One for the Team (Buccaneers.com)

‘The Buccaneers allowed three touchdown passes of 40 yards or more to Owens’ old team, the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Tony Romo, so one gets the feeling anything less will send T.O. into a Twitter frenzy of complaining.’

‘”Buggs can run the defense,” he said, indicating he still may have to scale things back until Buggs gains more experience. The contingency plan if Buggs falters is to move Keith Ellison to the middle and start rookie Nic Harris and weak-side linebacker.’

‘”The great thing about our game, maybe any sport, is that you’ve got the next game and you don’t have the luxury of thinking about the past very long,” coach Dick Jauron said. “It was a lousy feeling, no doubt, but we’re past it. We can’t waste any more time on that one. We’ve looked at the tape, we’ve corrected the errors, and we’re moving on.”‘

‘"I do think the guy behind [Posluszny] is very capable of coming in and doing a yeoman’s job," said Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. "Buggs can run the defense. He takes command of the huddle. He’s a smart player. He can be a presence in our defensive front. He’s not Paul Posluszny, though."’

‘Posluszny broke a bone in his arm while bringing down Patriots running back Fred Taylor in the second quarter of Monday’s season opener. It was his sixth tackle of the game.’

‘The real question is, did head coach Dick Jauron or special teams assistant Bobby April make that clear to McKelvin?’

‘Monday night was a double-edged, real-life example of the power of mystique. The Bills were so concerned about the Patriots’ ability to win that they wound up devaluing their own.’