“…And Even Dexter Jackson”

June 28, 2009 at 11:49am by Scott

Rick Stroud posted an interview with Mark Dominik yesterday where he covered a few of the major topics that are ongoing through the offseason. The most sensationalistic one is whether or not the Bucs are going to pursue Plaxico Burress.

Dominik indicated the Bucs have no interest in signing former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress at this time.

I never really thought it would happen, but the quote from Dominik about who else they’re going to look at is priceless.

“We’re going to let Brian Clark, Maurice Stovall and even Dexter Jackson compete and go from there,” Dominik said.

“Hey, it could be ANYONE. The waterboy, the groundskeeper… hell, even Dexter Jackson. We’re THAT crazy.” Jackson is so gone. I can’t imagine a scenario where he is one of the six best receivers in camp. Unless Sammie Stroughter and Kelly Campbell collide during camp and tear each other’s ACLs in the process, Jackson’s on the waiver wire after the final preseason game. And the fact that Brian Clark’s name was the first out of Dominik’s mouth seems like a good indication that he’s making a positive impression.

Dominik also mentioned the fact that he’d like to see Josh Freeman sit for a while behind a veteran.

“I still think he’s a 21-year-old quarterback who came out as a true junior,” Dominik said of Freeman. “You’d like for him to grow and mature into his role and not be forced into it.”

This contradicts what Greg Olson said a couple weeks ago when he said we may see Freeman sooner rather than later. Dominik and Raheem Morris have the final say, so it sounds like maybe putting the best quarterback on the field is the goal after all? If that’s the case, we should see Luke McCown starting the season.

Dominik said the race between veterans Luke McCown and Byron Leftwich is extremely close

No it’s not. And that’s not how he’s even quoted.

“It should be very wide open,” Dominik said. “The competition still is ongoing. The important thing about what they did in the OTA’s as a group is that they got a foundation of the offense and showed an ability to grasp it mentally and then go out and operate it on the field. That’s why we’re anxious to put the pads on and see how they do in the (preseason) games.”

He didn’t say anything about it being close. He said it’s “wide open” which means no decision has been made yet.

I’m just going to stay positive either way. If Freeman starts, he starts learning earlier, which is good in the long run even though they may sacrifice some victories in the process. If he sits, I get to see how McCown looks and whether my irrational support of him has been justified. And if, in some weird alternate reality, Leftwich starts, I can stop paying for my DVR because his movements are so slow that I’ll never need to rewind to see what he did.