Not Looking Good For LeGarrette Blount
October 12th, 2011
The Bucs are starting practice today and word from the locker room from two different sources suggest the skies are dark for Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount playing Sunday.
Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, Twittering on the TBO Bucs Twitter feed, along with Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times, suggests word in the Bucs locker room paints a troubling picture of Blount’s near-future status.
@TBO_Buccaneers: No sign of either DT Gerald McCoy or RB LeGarrette Blount at practice today and the talk in the Bucs locker room is neither will play.
@HolderStephen: Sense here at 1 Buc Place is that Gerald McCoy and LeGarrette Blount are likely out this week vs Saints.
How important is Blount to the Bucs offense? Joe believes the Bucs could survive without Josh Freeman for a period of time, but not without Blount.
If Blount cannot suit up against the Saints, the Bucs are screwed.
October 12th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
What is exactly wrong with Blount?
October 12th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
The Bucs were screwed anyway. This just makes them double screwed. I might not even watch the game because of how ugly it could get.
October 12th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Flyboy has swithed to the dark side!
October 12th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Hey FL’boy’
How bout dem Dallass Cowgirls? They need more fans!
October 12th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Oops, I meant FLBOY has gone to the darkside…
Plenty of teams keep everyom\ne in the dark. Think about all the “game time decisions ” you here evry week in the NFL. Joe is right, the Bucs are in trouble without these two, but let’s wait and hear it from the horses mouth before we get all crazy.
October 12th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Im not overly concerned about the loss of Blount, at least for a week. I think Lumpkin is almost a clone of him, we simply have not seen enough of him to know. Oh…Bradford is almost exactly the same build and has the same running style as well.
I think our offensive line is the most important factor.
October 12th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
We beat them last year, IN New Orleans, when Blount only had 66 yds on 19 carries and 2 yds on 2 receptions. Why not this year? I’m sure Graham or whomever can muster 3.4 yds a carry and 66 yds!
October 12th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
You really think Blount is more important to the Bucs success than Freeman? Really?
October 12th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Creamsicle,
Exactly! I want to see Freeman get back to his play from last year!
October 12th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
blount is a strong guy.. I think this is a smoke screen..
October 12th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Losing Blount is bad, period. I can’t think of too many games where our offense looked good without him running well. Olsen better come up with an excellent gameplan.
I am no expert, so take this with a grain of salt: I noticed a significant difference in Freeman last year versus this year (by watching in person). This year, he is throwing with very little velocity (especially down the middle). He seemed to be putting way too much touch on the ball, instead of zipping in there like last year. The ball seems to be hanging in the air way too long. It’s almost as if he is not as confident in his arm.
October 12th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
We can win without Blount for sure . But#19 needs to get with the program already
October 12th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Obviously, It would be better if Blount were playing, but it might be a good test of this young team’s character – to play with their backs against the wall. Whether there is any fight in the dog or how far away are we really from the promised land. This was going to be a tough game to win whether Blount played or not, so it will be interesting to see what psychological effect will his abscence have on the team – will they give up without even trying or will they fight until the last man is standing? I’m betting they fight and fight hard. I’m not saying they’re going to win, I’m saying I’m going to be proud to be a Buc fan at the end of the game!!
October 12th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Blount = half of our offense last year. Blount = our entire offense this year.
October 12th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
OAR, I have to agree with you on this one…
October 12th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Hawaiian…agree 100% about Freeman. Cant remember a single ripper down the seam this season. Its like watching Check-down Chad Henne
October 12th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
LaGarrett being out this week is bad news of course. But we need him healthy and I’m all for it if that’s what it takes. Too many important games left AFTER Sunday.
The Saints are certainly beatable but it will be a tall order with Blount and McCoy out, no doubt.
October 12th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
If Freeman is the franchise QB we all hope he is, this might just be the test he needs to get his head back in order.
October 12th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Watching this game more out of curiosity than anything else. I made it through the 80’s and 90’s and I’ll make it through this. I’m just glad I’m old enough to drink for this phase.
October 12th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
No way Bucs survive without Freeman. No way. Blount is valuable but EG is capable. We’d lose every game if Freeman was not in there. The same can’t be said about Blount.
October 12th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Agree Joe, Losing Blount makes us very one dimensional.
Freeman’s problem is that he is a very intelligent QB. He spends all off season going over film and the playbook. The knowledge base that he builds gives him the confidence to play agressively. We all talked about how much the lockout would hurt Josh. It’s apparent that it really has badly affected him. The second year is a very important step for a QB, and the Damn lockout has totally taken him out of his comfort zone. He’s not the sane QB we saw last year. Raheem said Josh was a workaholic at K state- that’s how he rolls. I don’t think we will see the real Josh Freeman again until next season. Damn Godell!
Blount and McCoy are both critical to this team. But I think they were do embarrassed last Sunday, that they may win anyway.hopefully it gets Talib outta his tailspin he’s been in
If not, then at least we get that franchise CB in next years draft!
October 12th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
How diffetent can it get really? Olsen refuses to hand 27 the ball anyway…
October 12th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Different **
October 12th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Call up Mossis Madu!!!!!!!!!
October 12th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
But I thought Freeman organized fabulous workouts in the offseason, showcasing his leadership abilities.
Must have been a week of stories about it by the local hacks. He was going to be way ahead of everyone else cause of it.
Lockout is no excuse. Hell Newton is tearing it up and hes a rook.
Quit explaning, play football. Win.
October 12th, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Good thing we went out and got a good backup or someone to compliment blount in the offseason with all of the cap r0om we have. Oh wait, we didnt, now we are stuck like chuck……Number one thing for any manager to do in any profession is risk mitigation. Looks like they skipped that part of training, or just decided to accept the risk and move on with the hand they already had, i.e. lumpkin and graham……WTF cheap ass bucs
sorry but it is the truth
October 12th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
The Saints D is pretty awful this year. Their outside linebackers make Geno and Quincy look good in comparison. I think this is the breakout game for the Bucs offense this season. I think that will include Earnest Graham actually having a good game. Not predicting 100+ yards but I think he will do just enough on the ground vs. a paltry Saints D to help Freeman rebound in a big way and torch this secondary.
October 12th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
2 Things. Graham needs to protect the ball. He hasn’t looked great at that lately.
I cannot recall an injury to an important player being this vague this late in a Sunday game week. Seems strange. Either the dude has something seriously wrong but hard to pinpoint or this is gamesmanship. I’m hoping gamesmanship… which would mean they pulled Blount out early last week as a ruse? I can’t imagine that either. So he’s hurt. Or is he?
October 12th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
OAR…I’m not a Cowboys fan. I couldn’t care less if they lose every single game. I’m a Bucs fan, simple as that. I was born & raised in the Tampa Bay area…only moved to Dallas for business.
McBuc…I haven’t switched to the dark side. I’m still an optimist when it comes to the Bucs. It’s just that they showed me a lot about who they really are against the 49ers. Their 3 wins have come against teams that are a combined 4-12. Their 2 losses have come against teams that are a combined 9-1.
This is a repeat of last year when they couldn’t beat any above average teams until the last game of the season. The Bucs are still mediocre and are not any better than the 15th to 18th best team in the league. They’ll be lucky to be 4-4 at the midway point and 9-7 at best when it’s all said & done.
They have not progressed because they are too young and had absolutely no offseason. That’s why they look like they did early last year or at the end of 2009.
October 12th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
How are we going to be ok without Blount? Tell me! Without him, we’ve got NO running game. Lumpkin sucks and it’s pathetic how Dominick has showed so much love for this nobody. We get rid of Cadillac, who was very exceptional as a player, and don’t even get anyone to compliment Blount.
I knew that Blount was eventually gonna get hurt or have to sit out one game this year, which happens with running backs all the time. Now it’s reality, and we have no other threats in the backfield.
No Blount or McCoy= slight chance the Bucs win. Now if Freeman can get back to his 2010 form, it’d be different.
October 12th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Exactly Patrick couldn’t of vented better myself. I’m not even sure which back I’ve grown more discouraged with Graham, Lumpy, or Bradford. None of them give me any hope for optimism and losing McCoy couldn’t happen at a worse time. That kid stepped his game up big time this year.
October 13th, 2011 at 10:44 am
Blount was hit by tha helmet when he got flipped last week on that catch and run on tha sideline. If Freeman isn’t lights out then I see anotha blowout coming. Brees is gonna spread things out with 3 and 4 WR sets with Sproles in tha backfield or flanking 2 WR in motion. Expect them 2 attack tha LB’s with plenty of seam routes and setup their run game by passing first. Tha best way 2 win is ball control, getting key stops on 3rd down and players not dropping INT’s if they so happen come their way.