Following the loss to Washington, Bucs head coach Greg Schiano said that he and the coaching staff would be self-scouting this week and try to find where quarterback Josh Freeman is most comfortable. From the looks and sounds of it, Freeman is most comfortable throwing the ball deep.

In New York, Freeman completed two 41-yard passes, one each to Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams. Against the Redskins, Freeman matched his career-long pass of 65 yards to Williams, while hitting Jackson for a 54-yarder. Three of those four passes were catalysts for touchdowns to end Buccaneers drives while the fourth – the 41-yard pass to Jackson against the Giants led the Bucs to a field goal.

On Monday, Schiano said he believed Freeman looks comfortable and the fourth-year QB has been accurate.

“I think he looks comfortable." Schiano said. "I did think the deep shots that he hit were as good as you could throw. Some of the lasers that he threw in there were as good as you could throw. We just got to get, like you said I do think there is some of that really pin pointing what we know he is most comfortable with and what our offense is most comfortable with. So that’s our job to do [and] make sure we get it right quickly.”

Schiano followed up with that thought later in the week, and explained in further detail what he meant in regards to finding out where Freeman is most comfortable in the system.

“I think we understand Josh (Freeman) very well.” Schiano said. “He understands us very well. When I said earlier in the week figuring out what he does best, it is more of we have this menu of plays. We don’t need them all. You don’t need them all. You cannot run them all in a game. So let’s just really prioritize the plays that he feels the best at and go from there and that is really what we are doing right now. It is just kind of narrowing our focus and it is good. [It] Has been a good week of self evaluation and anxious to get back on Monday.”

Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan refuted the idea that in terms of skillset fitting Freeman into his playbook, which heavily relies on the quarterback’s ability to perform well in the pocket, is like fitting a square peg into a round hole.

“No, not at all,” Sullivan said. “I think that there is a lot that—an added dimension that he brings that maybe some other guys in the system cannot bring. I think we are focusing on the things that he does bring to the table and there is certainly arm strength and ability to be accurate with the deep ball and be able to have some of the mobility and those things that we have to focus in those areas and then build upon them. Do what we can as coaches to put him in the best situation to be successful and give him the type of opportunities that he is going to thrive in.

“So that’s the challenge and that’s why this week has been a good one. No one is really thrilled with having an early bye week, it does give us a chance in this first quarter to kind of access where we are at and how can we be more functional and more effective moving forward.”

When it was Freeman’s turn at the podium, he made it clear he is confident throwing the ball deep.

“You’ve got to feel good,” Freeman said. “But at the same time you have to be locked in on every play as far as making the throw. You can’t feel like, ‘Oh, I’ve got this and I’m just going to lay it out there.’ You got to just take each play for what it is and if you’ve got a shot, just throw it up you’ve got to throw it up in the spot where you think is going to be the best place for a guy to make a play on it.”

One of those guys making those plays for Freeman is the prize of the free agents wide receivers, Vincent Jackson. The Pro-Bowl wideout has praised Freeman in the past and continues to have faith in his QB.

“Josh (Freeman) is a great thrower everywhere.” Jackson said. “He’s a big, strong guy that can move in the pocket, he can extend plays - a lot of times you get those longer touchdowns, those longer deep balls when the quarterback can buy some time."

Freeman has been afforded several weapons to get those throws to, with Jackson and Williams leading the way. Freeman acknowledges that having so many targets to throw to helps not only him, but the entire offense.

“You start with the guys on the outside,” Freeman said, “Mike (Williams) and Vincent (Jackson), those guys, what can you say, every opportunity you give them, they make a play. When you talk about the inside, you’ve got Dallas Clark and Tiquan (Underwood) emerging and Reg (Arrelious Benn) is another big key to our offense. I know it’s exciting and it’s been great because we’ve been catching them and picking the right times.

“We actually called a few more shots in that game but we didn’t get the coverage and I ended up moving around or elsewhere in the progression but you know it’s definitely chunk plays, when you look at a chunk play, a 60-yard play, that’s just whatever, eight plays that the O-line isn’t ramming their head and getting tired, that the running back is not taking hits, so chunk plays can be instrumental in a number of ways, so yeah, explosive plays, I feel like they’ll always be a part of this offense and something we’ll try to maximize going into each week with Mike and Vincent.”

During this week off, the Bucs coaching staff will tinker with the playbook and find out what has been the most effective and productive plays offensively of the first quarter and head into their 12-game stretch with a more concise game plan.

Sullivan appears to be willing to do anything he can to help Freeman succeed. Freeman, now with his third coordinator in four years, has to be hoping the third one’s the charm.