Chris Hovan News

Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. Last Modified: Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 2:51 a.m. TAMPA There aren't many big games for teams that are 0-7 but today's tilt against the Green Bay Packers likely registers as one for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Defensive tackle Chris Hovan and return specialist Clifton Smith did not participate in Wednesday's practice for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pro Bowl kick returner Clifton Smith practiced Thursday for the first time since sustaining a concussion Sunday, saying he was feeling good after a "rough couple of days." Smith said he hoped to play against the Patriots on Sunday in London but understood why the team is being cautious with him.

TAMPA _ Running back Clifton Smith, still suffering the effects of a concussion, was held out of Wednesday's practice.

There is nothing that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can do with their defensive personnel, other than hope that they don't run into another offensive line like the Carolina Panthers.

In many ways, this is judgment day for the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two days after trading unproductive defensive end Gaines Adams to the Chicago Bears, the Bucs return to Raymond James Stadium, where they are a three-point underdog at home, against the 1-3 Carolina Panthers.

It has been quite a whirlwind week for Bucs defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson. There was Sunday, when the seventh-year pro racked up a career-high three sacks against the Eagles, tied his top mark with six tackles and forced a fumble.

Among the many miscalculations by the Bucs entering the season - there were several - was overestimating the talent on their defensive line.

As if they didn't have quite enough issues this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked up last week from their 0-4 start and found that their next opponent presented a few unusual problems.

Not too long ago, the Eagles -Buccaneers rivalry was one of the fiercest non-divisional matchups in the NFL.

Tanard Jackson returned Wednesday from his four-game drug suspension, as Jimi Hendrix once sang, to the smell of a world that has burned.

Former Vikings guard Randall McDaniel found out he had been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame eight months ago and was inducted nearly two months ago.

For more than a decade, defense defined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The names of their leaders read like a Hall of Fame ballot: Brooks, Sapp, Lynch, Barber.

In the minutes that followed their loss last week at Buffalo, the mood in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' locker room was unusually reflective.

As young as the rebuilding Tampa Bay defense has gotten, there is little evidence to suggest that a quick turnaround of the Buccaneers' fortunes is as imminent as they hope.

Two games into the regular season is typically not when a head coach is expected to make a power-point presentation to sell his team on a new defensive scheme.

As if 0-2 wasn't enough, as if the second-worst defense in football wasn't enough, there's no time to hide, no place to hide.

The mood was ugly inside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers locker room last Sunday in the aftermath of the loss to Dallas.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Later this season, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get around to unveiling their Ring of Honor, former defensive kingpin Lee Roy Selmon will be the first player enshrined.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary has been pilloried a ' or, I guess, Piscitellioried a ' since allowing three long touchdown passes Sunday against Dallas.