Talib May Not Play In Carolina

December 04, 2009 at 01:26pm by Scott   •  3 Comments »

Aqib Talib has officially been listed as questionable for Sunday’s game in Carolina. He hasn’t practiced all week because of his hamstring.

Should Talib not be able to go Sunday, Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber likely would see more action vs. Panthers four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Steve Smith, whom Talib helped limit to one catch for four yards on Oct. 18.

Oh shit. I love Ronde, but that’s not a good matchup for the Bucs. What are their other options?

The Bucs would also call on Elbert Mack, Derrick Roberson and Brandon Anderson to help fill the void left by Talib in Tampa Bay’s secondary.

I see.

/shoots self in face

Well, Ronde it is, then. I’d rather have slow and smart covering Smith than quick and dumb. Despite his holding call and the game-winning touchdown he gave up, Roberson looked pretty good against Atlanta, but Smith has moves Roberson has never seen. Mack has been disappointing this season and I really don’t know anything about Anderson. He went to school in Akron. Does that help? All three of those guys better wear several jocks if they’re thinking about covering Smith, because Smith with juke them out of all of them. At least Ronde knows what’s coming and can try to anticipate it.

Again, Talib still may play. But there’s no point in risking anything at this point in the season. It would even be beneficial to see what the Bucs have in some of these inexperienced guys.

One thing the Bucs are unlikely to do is move free safety Tanard Jackson to cornerback, a position he played at Syracuse.

“No, you hate to move a ‘A’ player to another position,” said Morris. “You like to leave those guys alone. That’s just a general philosophy. If something happened and you were in a panic situation then he can do it.”

Jermaine Phillips would like a word with you.