Post (Newsletter): After Overhaul, Brooks Is the Leader

[Jake]

After Overhaul, Brooks Is the Leader

For a decade, the public faces of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were those of defensive tackle Warren Sapp and safety John Lynch. The club drafted Lynch in 1993 and drafted Sapp and linebacker Derrick Brooks in '95, and the three defensive cornerstones helped turn the franchise from NFL laughingstock into a Super Bowl champion in the 2002 season. But while Brooks preferred to remain in the background and let his play do his talking, Sapp and Lynch were chatty and outgoing.

Now only Brooks remains, as the Buccaneers released Lynch and allowed Sapp to depart via free agency in the offseason housecleaning that followed last season's 7-9 record as a disappointing Super Bowl follow-up. Brooks and quarterback Brad Johnson are the most identifiable players from the championship team still around, but Johnson said the other day he expects both players to continue their quiet, lead-by-example ways.

"We lost Lynch and Sapp, but I feel like we upgraded a lot of other areas,'' Johnson said. "As far as the leadership, I'm not going to do anything different. I'm going to work the same way and try just as hard as I always have, and try to put our offense into position to score points and win games. I'm sure Derrick Brooks is going to take the same approach and do the same things on our defense. He's not going to do anything different.''

The Buccaneers will be the "other'' team on the field Sunday as the NFL watches the return of Joe Gibbs to the Washington Redskins' sideline. But the Buccaneers are an interesting storyline themselves, as they try to rebound from last season's struggles and return to prominence with a roster of veterans assembled by Coach Jon Gruden and new general manager Bruce Allen. This isn't a rebuilding; it is, the Buccaneers hope, a retooling. If the team struggles and it becomes a rebuilding, Johnson could be replaced in the lineup by ever-more-promising young quarterback Chris Simms.

Tampa Bay's 53-man roster includes 24 players who weren't with the team last season. Only 22 players remain from the Super Bowl club.

"You see throughout the league that there's going to be turnover,'' Allen said over the weekend. "They turned over 20 guys on their team here after they won the Super Bowl. You're going to see a dozen new guys or more on probably just about every team in the league.''

The defense played well in the exhibition season but the starting offense didn't produce a touchdown. The key for the Buccaneers probably is an offensive line that includes three newcomers (left tackle Derrick Deese, right tackle Todd Steussie and left guard Matt Stinchcomb) and two holdovers (center John Wade and right guard Cosey Coleman).

"I think we're better in the offensive line,'' Johnson said. "We have some proven players. There's a bonding that has to take place. The year we won the Super Bowl, we really took off in about Week 6 or 7. It'll take some time again. We'll be better in Week 5 than we are in Week 1. . . . The year we won it, we just concentrated on the process. We didn't set out to win the Super Bowl in our first game, and we have to do that again. The playoffs are in January. Right now we just have to concentrate on trying to be 1-0.''

Newcomers Tim Brown and Joey Galloway are slated to start at wide receiver, backed up by first-round draft pick Michael Clayton and Bill Schroeder. Keenan McCardell is holding out, seeking a raise of nearly $2 million per season, and the club placed Joe Jurevicius on the reserve-nonfootball injury list Sunday as he recovers from back surgery. He is eligible to return after six games.

The team must do without tailback Michael Pittman for the first three games of the season as he serves a suspension for violating the NFL's conduct policy. He isn't allowed to practice with the team and is to spend the time in Bradenton, Fla., following a workout program designed by the Buccaneers. The club hopes that fullback Mike Alstott returns to his old battering-ram ways after recovering from a disk injury in his neck. Former Denver starter Brian Griese was added to back up Johnson but perhaps has been overtaken by Simms.

Seven defensive starters from the Super Bowl team remain in the lineup now -- ends Simeon Rice and Greg Spires, tackle Anthony McFarland, Brooks, middle linebacker Shelton Quarles and cornerbacks Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly. Chartric Darby takes over for Sapp alongside McFarland, whom the Buccaneers hope blossoms into a star. The club hopes to get significant contributions from two free-agent additions on defense, starting outside linebacker Ian Gold and third cornerback Mario Edwards. Jermaine Phillips moves into the lineup at safety, replacing Lynch, alongside Dwight Smith.

"I have great respect for who John Lynch was for this team and who John Lynch is [but] we have a lot of confidence in Jermaine Phillips,'' Allen said.


- By Mark Maske