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Pittman 'Relaxes' In Rehab

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2007

TAMPA - The bye week is a time for rest and relaxation; for catching up on your sleep and getting away from football for a while.

That's precisely how Bucs RB Michael Pittman planned to spend his bye week. The Bahamas was going to be his escape. It was, at least, until Coach Jon Gruden stepped in and ordered a change of plans.

"He wants me here getting treatment," said Pittman, who has been nursing ligament tears in his right ankle for the past month.

Gruden had good reason to cancel Pittman's plans. Pittman, who was expected to miss as much as two months, should be ready to play again when the Bucs return to action a week from Sunday against Atlanta.

WR Michael Clayton said he will make his return from an ankle injury as well in that game, so the Falcons should wind up facing the healthiest Bucs team anyone has seen in weeks.

"With the bye week, I'm able to get three weeks of rehab in so I'll come back 100 percent," Clayton said. "I feel good. I've done a good job of rehabbing, so come Monday, it starts for me."

Pittman and Clayton both considered returning last week against Arizona, but trainers decided they would be better off skipping the game. After watching TE Alex Smith aggravate his ankle injury, Pittman and Clayton were glad they did.

"That's what happens with ankle injuries. Somebody grabs you and it's like a recurring feeling," Pittman said. "But, hopefully, I'll go out there against Atlanta and not have to think about it. I'm just going to go out there and play and fly around and if I have a set back, I have a setback."

Pittman doesn't expect any setbacks. Though it was only a walk through, he said he worked Wednesday in cleats and without ankle support of any kind and did not experience any problems.

Clayton will continue to get treatments during the bye week as well, but he will miss some time as a result of the death of his grandmother, who passed away Monday.

"Everything happens for a reason; everything happens in great timing," Clayton said. "I had a setback in my family, but I don't have to miss a game. I'll go down and take care of my family and be back ready for practice on Monday."

JOB WELL DONE: Though he has long been considered one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL, Bill Muir has been much maligned since coming to Tampa in that capacity 10 years ago.

The job Muir has done so far this year, however, has been exemplary, according to Gruden. He said Muir and senior assistant Aaron Kromer have worked wonders with one of the youngest lines in the league.

"I have to tell Bill Muir and Arron Kromer that they're doing a great job a lot because those are two rookies basically that we have on the left side," Gruden said, referring to LT Donald Penn and LG Arron Sears.

"We had two rookies on the right side last year G Davin Joseph and T Jeremy Trueblood, so that's four guys with a combined NFL experience of two years. Yet, we're picking up a lot of blitzes and we're handling a lot of offensive football quite well," Gruden said. "We're really excited about the development, the progress and the future of those guys. Center John Wade has really done a great job as the veteran of the bunch, making calls and delivering the ball and putting people in position to execute."

WIDEOUT WORKOUTS: The Bucs have expressed some interest in possibly signing free agent WR Mike Williams, the former Plant High and USC star who was recently released by the Raiders.

Williams, however, wasn't among a group of free-agent receivers worked out by the Bucs on Tuesday, when Williams was working out for the Tennessee Titans.

That group included David Ball (New Hampshire), Cortez Hankton (Texas Souther), Julius McClellan (North Carolina Central) and Jerard Rabb (Boise State). Former Boise State QB Jared Zabransky threw to the group.

Williams' agent, Sean Kiernan, said the Bucs have contacted him about Williams, but Kiernan said he cannot judge how serious the team is about signing Williams or even bringing him in for a workout.

According to Bucs GM Bruce Allen, there's no interest.

"Not right now," Allen said.

IN THE MIX: Clayton said one of the reasons he opted to sit out the Arizona game is because he believes the Bucs have a good chance at reaching the playoffs this year, but only if they have a strong second half.

"We have a chance at this thing," he said. "I mean, this is the year. We've got a great quarterback here making plays; Joey Galloway is playing good; Ike Hilliard is playing his best ball in a long time.

"So it's very important to be healthy the second half of the season, and to get explosive offensive guys like Pittman and myself back is very important. We're much more of a powerhouse with the guys that have been out."

Roy Cummings

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