This has been an offseason like no other for the NFL, both for the suits as well as the players.

Imagine being a suit in the NFL: The draft is over with and then… nothing. You can’t even talk to your players. Just about the only thing to do is to study film, both college and pro.

Once reason why OTAs became popular roughly a couple of decades ago was to shake off the rust from players so that players can progress quicker when training camp starts.

But all that is gone this year since there has been no official offseason in this asinine lockout. No OTAs. No bonding at the team’s weight room. Nothing.

Some NFL pundits suggest there will be a lot of injuries in the first few weeks of the season thanks to no OTAs. The same learned souls also believe there will be sloppy football as well.

It doesn’t seem like Bucs tight end Kellen Winslow would disagree. Speaking during a break on Day 1 of Josh Freeman’s three-day minicamp at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Winslow noted that “everyone will have to catch up.”

Winslow has been one of the most dedicated Bucs working out with Freeman this offseason, despite being locked out of One Buc Palace and having a gimpy knee.

Winslow noted that it will take some work for all players to get to the level normally expected of an NFL player for Week 1 of the regular season.

“You can lift weights all you want, but it doesn’t matter,” Winslow said. “For myself, I have to run routes and catch the ball and those types of things. Nothing replaces that.

“This is only walking. We are not full-go yet. We’re just trying to get back in the swing of things. Everyone will be behind. Even when we are back, everyone is going to be behind.”

If the asinine lockout ends in July, it should temper the damage somewhat. Of course, if that happens, then the Bucs will play the Bears in London rather than The CITS.