The last week has been a whirlwind for the Bucs coaches, players and the fans with Hurricane Irma’s path causing the NFL to reschedule Tampa Bay’s first game of the season with the Dolphins. Now, the Bucs, after surviving the storm, are in opening week mode, preparing to take on former quarterback Mike Glennon and the Bears, who lost a tough game to the Falcons on Sunday.

After spending the day at One Buc, this is what we learned from the players and coaches.

Bucs Players Weather The Storm

Many of the Bucs players sought refuge in other states, including wide receiver Adam Humphries who traveled to see him alma mater, the Clemson Tigers, host Auburn.

Humphries talked about the trip and making it back on Tuesday safely.

“We drove to Clemson and we ended up driving back Monday afternoon. We drove a little through the storm but it wasn’t too bad. A little rainy but we ended up getting back yesterday afternoon safely.

“[The drive] wasn’t too bad. I heard I-75 from Atlanta and coming from Alabama and those areas was pretty bad, but we went through Jacksonville and took I-4 through Orlando and it wasn’t too bad that way.”

Bucs tackle Demar Dotson went back home to Alexandria, Va, while J.R. Sweezy went to North Carolina and tight end Luke Stocker bunked with the Sweezy family. Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy also evacuated with his family, but didn’t want to disclose his destination. Tight end Alan Cross told me his Dad made him drive home to Memphis and rookie tight end O.J. Howard went back to Alabama to escape Irma’s wrath.

Smith Doesn’t See Glennon Advantage

While some say it is an advantage for the Bucs to have a week of game film on the Bears, while also know the tendencies of Glennon, Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith said the Bears also have an advantage.

“Mike is a really fine thrower of the football. Back to the pressure, it’s important. If the quarterback is comfortable back there standing in the pocket he’s going to find open receivers, there’s no doubt about it. Mike has a good understanding of our defense so it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a fun little chess match since Mike was with us last year.

“It depends on who plays better on that day. We know that he’s very capable of making plays so if we don’t get pressure on him and we don’t cover and we’re not on top of our game, Mike Glennon can make it tough for our defense, there’s no doubt about that.”

What Does The Fox Say

Bear coach John Fox –Photo by: Getty Images

In a conference call with Bears head coach John Fox, PewterReport.com asked him, who really has the advantage? The Bucs defense, or Glennon?

“When you go through this as many years as I have, you’ve got a lot of guys that go to play their ex-teams whether that’s as a coach or whether that’s as a player and that’s kind of a tradeoff. You answer all the time about people in your division when you play them the second time, sure there’s some familiarity there but that familiarity goes both ways and this game, like all games, is going to come down to who executes on Sunday.”

One Buc Goes Unscathed – Mostly
When forecasters on Saturday had Hurricane Irma projected to possibly make a direct hit on Tampa, one of the first things I thought about was One Buc Place (besides my house of course) and how it was fare. Fortunately the storm lost a lot of punch and ended up drifting more east than first thought (unfortunately for my house). The new indoor practice facility is getting closer to being completed and the last thing the Bucs needed was any damage to the structure. It appears from first look, nothing was damaged, and other than a medium-sized tree that was uprooted, all is well at One Buc.

The Bucs will be back on the practice field both Thursday and Friday in preparation for their first game this Sunday at Raymond James. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.