Live in the now.

Until the Bucs check in at One Buc Palace to report for training camp Wednesday, Joe will try to get in the mind of defensive coordinator Mike Smith.

Joe will regularly deliver excerpts and/or highlights from Smith’s book, “You Win in the Locker Room,” available on Google Play and iTunes.

For Smith, outside of perhaps winning a Super Bowl, he knows of no greater nirvana for a player like what he describes as “living in the now.”

The present is one of Smith’s three time frames. Joe shared excerpts of what Smith refers to as the past and the future.

But the key time frame is the present, says Smith.

Some people call it living in the now. … When you are living in the moment you are immersing yourself in the process to be the absolute best that you can be right now. When you have a team that is focused on today and what they can do to make themselves better every moment, these series of moments will help you create a future that you love. Looking back on all the teams I have coached, the ones that were most successful were the ones that embraced the now and seized the moment. They had a vision for the future but they focused their energy in the present. They let go of their past mistakes and learned from them to make better decisions in the present, which lead to better results in the future. We need to utilize all three time frames, but we want to make sure we only live and focus on one – today.

For Joe, this brings to mind the phrase “locked in.” A player tunes everything out. Everything. Anything outside the playing field or practice field is zoned out.

No thoughts of homelife. No plans for partying. No locker room drama. No women headaches. No clutter from talk radio, TV shows or blogs. Nothing. Just fully and totally locked in on doing your job and improving one’s self. Razor focus.

Almost like a drug. You hear of stories from workout warriors who get a rush from hitting the weights or running marathons? This. Only on a football field or the position meeting room.