Dave Moore Bracing For Bad News
August 21st, 2010
With Josh Freeman’s status for the rest of the preseason in jeopardy after he fractured the tip of his right thumb in the first quarter of the Bucs 20-15 win over the Chiefs on Saturday night, former Bucs tight end and current radio color analyst Dave Moore seemed more than a tad worried.
Speaking on the Buccaneers Radio Network following the game, he could feel for Freeman’s plight.
“I had that injury before,” said Moore, who also was a long snapper for the Bucs. “I wasn’t able to accurately snap the ball. And I wasn’t throwing the ball 50 yards down field with accuracy.
“I have played with quarterbacks who had that injury and it’s painful.”
Freeman’s injury is exactly why Raheem Morris didn’t want to play his franchise quarterback that much in the preseason. This could be the Bucs’ worst nightmare, with Freeman’s throwing hand dinged up.
If there is a silver lining to this ominous news, it’s that “career backup” Josh Johnson may have played his best game since being drafted. The third-year quarterback was very accurate throwing the ball over over the field to multiple receivers and when needed, scrambling for some solid gains.
Johnson completed 6 of 10 passes for 113 yards with a touchdown, his longest pass being a 53-yard strike to Michael Spurlock along the right sidelines.
If Johnson can continue to play the way he did Saturday against the Chiefs, the Bucs just might survive this injury.
August 22nd, 2010 at 12:16 am
The Bucs played pretty well on offense. Derrick Ward sucked. Clayton dropped one that was hard to catch, but c’mon it’s Clayton. GMC made his first tackle. Price didn’t get in until the starters were done, but he and GMC got some work together. Matt Cassel is fast with the ball like Brady. We faced a good QB and he torched us early and often. We need work on defense and the screen passes by KC were a big problem. I was impressed with JJ & Rudy C, they played well. Spurlock had a good game. Benn got on the stat sheet and Mike Williams is the $h!t. KC’s offense made us look bad early in the game (starters) but they should good work and build from. I am anxious to see SGW’s breakdown of the D line. It could be harsh, but Cassel is good.
I didn’t even know Free was hurt until late late, but JJ played decent, much better than last week. I am an old rusty form carpenter and I have broken the tip of my thumb or fore finger with a hammer at least a dozen times. 28 oz Estwing on 16 duplex. Hey, I never said I was a good carpenter, and this injury heals pretty fast. As a working stiff I worked through every break and Free will get time to heal, but he will be OK and shouldn’t be more than 3 weeks.
August 22nd, 2010 at 6:05 am
I agree Joe.. The “career backup” did look pretty effective out there. 😀
Back to the thumb… I have had the unfortunate distinction of breaking each of my fingers at one time or another. By far, the most painful (and most awkward) was the thumb. I think the earliest he could be back is mid Sept.
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:21 am
I’m sorry, but I thought Carpenter looked better than Johnson…of course it was against backups of backups, but then so was his own crew.
Johnson seemed…well to be honest he was making mistakes that he should have learned his way out of last year with real playing time. He’s still got issues with the blitz…he’s nervous back there. He tries to go through progressions, but he’s so slow at it when he does that he risks a hit.
AND, to top it off, if he rarely stepped up in the pocket to help out his linemen…and on those times he did…he almost always took off running. He doesn’t trust his linemen at all.
Meanwhile, about Carpenter…he started off rough, but then he seemed to addapt on the fly, and eventually became very productive. His stats might be slanted because of his rough start, I don’t know, but he developed a certain…element of surprise to the defense…or as John Lynch said it…he was sneaky.
It’s clear though, the Bucs need to keep 3 quarterbacks, because we need someone more reliable than who we have. They need to start exploring free agency, recently retired or such.
Some names out there are:
Basanez, Brett
*Brunell, Mark
Collins, Todd
*Culpepper, Daunte
Gutierrez, Matt
Hamdan, Gibran
McCown, Josh
Ramsey, Patrick
Reilly, Mike
Rowe, Jeff
Russell, JaMarcus
Shockley, D.J.
St. Pierre, Brian
Teel, Mike
Not to mention there are guys who retired in the last 2 years. Johnson is going to lose more games than win if he has to play.
August 22nd, 2010 at 2:45 pm
@Pete wouldn’t that be something if Russell came in here and shined. It sure would piss of Raider nation.
August 22nd, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Russel?
Weren’t the Raiders “Building through the draft” with him?
Now they have Jason, who the Redskins tried to make their “franchise” QB.
August 22nd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
This is actually really bad news.
Josh Freeman needs reps. He needs practice. Having him show up in week 1 or 2 cold turkey will just be yet another excuse for why Raheem continues to lose.
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:31 pm
@Eric not saying we should get Russell just laughing at the thought of him going some where and shining.
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:35 pm
topdoggie,
Didn’t think you were serious.