During training camp, the unquestioned leader of the secondary was safety Dashon Goldson. The free agent from San Francisco took the younger Bucs secondary members under his wing like a mother goose.

Wherever and whatever Goldson did, the young Bucs followed and obeyed. Now this is not to suggest that star cornerback Darrelle Revis’ voice didn’t hold weight. It sure did. But Revis, on a rehab program, was not always on the practice field. In fact, he was rarely on the practice field. Goldson was.

So when Revis returned to a full practice (albeit, a practice without pads) yesterday, Goldson beamed afterwards about the return of Revis.

“He looked better than we all thought he would,” Goldson said. “He showed some good things out there. It was good to have him out there – his presence on the football field. I think he’s still getting better. He’s still got work to do, but we’re glad to have him out there.”

But aside from Goldson being happy for the Bucs, he was happy for Revis. It seems the worst is behind him.

“First and foremost, it is more important that he gets healthy, period. Of course we want him out there, but we want to make sure he’s feeling right, he’s confident, and that the staff and trainers are confident in his injury to be back out there with us,” Goldson said. “We would love to have him out there, but we understand where he is.

“Just doing the one-on-one drills – a lot of one-on-one drills. He was out there, he did some good things, read the quarterback pretty well, broke on the ball. It was surprising to see.”

This is extremely good news. The Bucs secondary, even with talented newcomers like Johnthan Banks and Rashaan Melvin, needs Revis back there. Now it appears Revis playing in in the season opener against the Jets is little more than a formality.