Joe heard this last winter when Jim Bates was hired.

Joe heard this nearly every time the Bucs were brought up on Sirius NFL Radio.

Joe saw it in a CBSSports.com video last week.

“Chris Hovan cannot play in a two-gap system.”

Hovan previously scoffed at such suggestions, even got angry (not at Joe) when Joe asked him about playing two-gap back in the preseason.

But Hovan has finally come clean now that Jim Bates has been defrocked and Raheem the Dream wants to run a Tampa-2 defense full-time. In an interview with the Mad Twitterer in the St. Petersburg Times, Hovan expressed his pleasure at no more two-gap fronts.

“There’s a reason why they call it Tampa 2. Let’s not kid ourselves,” Hovan said. “Everyone has tried to copy it, scheme it. … Am I more comfortable? Yes. I’m not a two-gapper. I’m never going to be a two-gapper. My abilities are to run, penetrate and create at the line of scrimmage. With that being said, some of the guys are comfortable. But at the same time, we’ve got to go out there and just run the defense that is called.”

Joe wonders if this move to change defenses is too little, too late? Perhaps it’s a test for Bucs coaches and scouts to see who is diversified and who isn’t and who may return next season?