FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• New Bucs outside linebacker Shaq Barrett was signed by the team to be a situational pass rusher to complement edge rushers Jason Pierre-Paul and Carl Nassib, who combined for 19 sacks last year. But when Pierre-Paul suffered a fractured neck in a car crash in May, Barrett knew his playing time would increase.

“That’s unfortunate about his situation, but I’m ready,” Barrett said. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to help the team win.”

Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Barrett is the current starter on the weak side opposite Nassib, and Todd Bowles’ plan is to use him as a chess piece when Pierre-Paul returns and move him all around the line of scrimmage and even stack him inside over a guard where Barrett can use his speed and quickness to blitz up the middle.

“I like it all, and we have the ability to do it all here,” Barrett said. “I can rush from anywhere – inside or outside. We work on it all in practice. Shoot, the sky is the limit for me here.”

Because of his familiarity with a 3-4 defensive scheme after playing in Denver for five years, the only real adjustment Barrett has had to make has been dealing with the hot and humid climate in Tampa. Barrett played at Colorado State and then signed with Denver as an undrafted free agent, so he’s only regularly played in more of a dry climate in the Midwest.

“I’m still getting cramps down here – I don’t know what it is,” Barrett said. “It’s crazy down here with the humidity. I’m still getting adjusted to it. I just have to really hydrate so I’m at full strength for the full practice and game day.”

Barrett’s first year with the Bucs is off to a great start with one sack in the season-opening loss to San Francisco. He’s hoping a big season rushing the passer can lead to a big contract in Tampa Bay or elsewhere after the end of the year.

“Shoot, I’ve been in contract years every year for the last three years!” Barrett said. “It definitely drives me, but I’m not going to let it dictate the way I play by making me do stuff I don’t normally do. I just have to play my normal game, but it definitely motivates me for sure.”

• Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston became the team’s all-time leading passer on Sunday, surpassing Vinny Testaverde with 14,822 passing yards. But Winston also achieved another distinction in the 31-17 loss to San Francisco – this one of dubious nature.

This is Jameis Winston’s 17th career game with multiple interceptions, passing Blake Bortles for most in the league since Winston entered the NFL in 2015. pic.twitter.com/2jiXnz9E8w

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 8, 2019

• LISTEN UP! IT’S A BUCS-PANTHERS PRE-GAME PEWTER NATION PODCAST! – Because of the short week with Tampa Bay traveling to Carolina for a Thursday Night Football game, our pre-game Pewter Nation Podcast was taped on Tuesday at the Bucs’ AdventHealth Training Center where the Pewter Report staff – minus Trevor Sikkema – chimed in with our thoughts about the Bucs’ first NFC South showdown of the season.

Click here to listen to Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 144: Under The Brightest Of Lights

This Pewter Nation Podcast comes on the heels of Episode 143, which was taped at Raymond James Stadium right after the Bucs’ loss to the 49ers. Make sure you listen to Sikkema, Mark Cook and I recap the action on this podcast.

Click here to listen to Pewter Nation Podcast Episode 143: We’re Running Out Of Time

With Sikkema and I traveling to Carolina for the Bucs vs. Panthers game on Thursday night, Cook will be joined by Matt Matera and Taylor “Grizz” Jenkins on the next Pewter Nation Podcast, which will be taped Friday afternoon to recap the results of Tampa Bay’s trip to Carolina. Enjoy that podcast as you head into the weekend.

There is no better time to listen to a new Pewter Nation Podcast, which is presented by Chris Garrido of Westshore Financial, than on your drive home from work on Friday or running around doing errands or at the gym on Saturday.

The popularity of the Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here. And of course the Pewter Nation Podcast is also available on iTunes. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode.

• If it makes you feel any better about Jameis Winston’s rough start in Bruce Arians’ new offense in Tampa Bay’s 31-17 loss to San Francisco, veteran quarterback Carson Palmer also had his share of struggles in Arizona out of the gate, too. Here is a look at Palmer’s stats for the first seven games with the Cardinals in Arians’ first season as head coach in Arizona.

Week 1 – 27-24 loss at St. Louis
26-of-40 (65 percent) for 327 yards with 2 TDs, 1 INT, 4 sacks, 2 fumbles

Week 2 – 25-21 win vs. Detroit
22-of-39 (56.4 percent) for 248 yards with 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 sack

Week 3 – 31-7 loss at New Orleans
18-of-35 (51.4 percent) for 187 yards with 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 4 sacks

Week 4 – 13-10 win at Tampa Bay
21-of-38 (55.3 percent) for 248 yards with 1 TD, 2 INTs, 1 sack

Week 5 – 22-6 win vs. Carolina
19-of-28 (67.9 percent) for 175 yards with 1 TD, 3 INTs, 2 sacks

Week 6 – 32-20 loss at San Francisco
25-of-41 (61 percent) for 298 yards with 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 sack

Week 7 – 34-22 loss vs. Seattle
30-of-45 (66.7 percent) for 258 yards with 1 TD, 2 INTs, 7 sacks, 1 fumble

New Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and former Cardinals QB Carson Palmer – Photo by: Getty Images

The good news for the 2013 Cardinals is that they started the season 3-4 and still went 10-6 and made the playoffs. Arizona won in spite of Palmer, who had eight touchdowns and 13 interceptions through the first seven games, in addition to being sacked 20 times and fumbling three times. Arians and the Cardinals were able to rally down the stretch and finish that year with a 7-2 record.

Once he got a grasp of the offense, Palmer threw 16 touchdowns and nine touchdowns over the last nine games. So there is a silver lining for Winston and the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay’s 0-1 start to the 2019 campaign.

• THANK YOU! PEWTER REPORT HAS SURPASSED 33,000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER! Thank you – Pewter Nation – for following the PewterReport.com Twitter account, as we have hit a new milestone with 33,000 followers. We cover Bucs practices, Bucs press conferences, Bucs games and break news on our @PewterReport Twitter account. So if you aren’t one of the 33,000 Bucs fans that follow PewterReport.com on Twitter please do so right now so you don’t miss out on our Bucs coverage, including injury updates, breaking news and notifications about the latest stories and columns on PewterReport.com. Follow us today!

Former Bucs RG Caleb Benenoch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• The Bucs parted ways with Caleb Benenoch, the team’s fifth-round pick in 2016, this week because it became clear that he was not going to be the right tackle of the future in Tampa Bay. Starting right tackle Demar Dotson will be 34 next month and is in the last year of his contract, so the team needs to find an heir apparent.

Newly signed Josh Wells, a fifth-year veteran, has experience starting at both left and right tackle in Jacksonville, and could be an option. He will battle Jerald Hawkins, whom the Bucs traded for two weeks ago, for the right to be the backup tackle behind Dotson, as well as the swing tackle capable of backing up left tackle Donovan Smith, too. Hawkins, a former fourth-round pick out of LSU in 2016, played four years with the Steelers.

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