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Nece Not Used To Being On Bubble
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Published: August 28, 2008
Updated: 08/28/2008 12:13 am
HOUSTON - Ryan Nece always knew this day would come. He just didn't think it would come now, as he is nearing what could arguably be the peak of his career.
"I feel like I've gotten better, not worse," the Bucs veteran linebacker said this week. "I feel like I'm wiser in the defense now. Bottom line, I feel like I've still got a lot of football left in me."
Maybe he does. And just maybe he'll play all of that football for the Buccaneers. Then again, maybe he won't. Tonight's game against the Texans could decide his fate. It is sure to decide someone's.
The final round of roster cuts comes Saturday. All teams have to be down to 53 players by then. That means tonight's game could be the last for as many as 22 players currently wearing pewter and red.
"It's a different place for me," said the 29-year-old Nece, who is suddenly on the bubble because of the emergence of young linebackers such as Matt McCoy, Adam Hayward and Quincy Black. "It's a humbling place."
It's also a crowded place. Teams take 80 players to camp and end up letting nearly half of them go. Usually, though, it's young players with little or no experience who wind up in Nece's position.
Not this year; not here. Nece is one of several veterans in a position to be released or traded as the Bucs pare the roster to the league's mandated limits.
Marques Douglas, a defensive lineman whom the Bucs signed as a free agent during the offseason, was there. That was until the Bucs moved him to the Ravens in a trade for 2009 and 2010 draft picks on Wednesday.
To fill the hole along the defensive line, the Bucs re-signed Patrick Chukwurah Chukwurah was with the Bucs last season but struggled to stay healthy and eventually was released.
Defensive backs Eugene Wilson, Sammy Davis and Will Allen are still on the bubble. So is quarterback Chris Simms, who could end up with the suddenly quarterback-needy Ravens as well. Simms probably wouldn't mind that.
He has been asking to be traded or released since before training camp, and with Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown and Brian Griese ahead of him on the depth chart, he is likely get his wish.
"I don't think I'll be traded at this point," Simms said. "I think I'll either be released or I'll be here. Which one it is, I have no idea. I really don't. But I'm not uneasy about the situation at all."
Neither is Allen, the one-time starting safety who has seen his playing time slashed by the emergence of Tanard Jackson and Sabby Piscitelli.
"You can't go out there and worry about whether this might be your last game as a Buc," Allen said. "You just have to play within yourself and try to make plays. The rest, it's really out of your hands."
Nece knows that. Still, there is a big part of him that feels a need to do something special tonight. It's a natural reaction to the situation, but it's also a dangerous one.
"The last thing you want to do is try to force something," Nece said. "I mean, you see it all the time. When you start trying to guess too much you put yourself out of position. You have to fight that."
It's an easy fight to win when you're playing regularly. When your snaps are limited, as Nece's have been, the fight becomes harder.
Nece, though, has always survived by playing smart, steady football. If he survives this round of cuts, he says he'll do it the same way.
In addition to being steady, Nece also is quite versatile. He can play all three linebacker positions and is extremely strong on special teams. He believes that will give him an edge over some others come final cuts, but he can't be sure.
"A rational mind would think that my versatility would give me an edge," Nece said. "But I've learned in this business that rationality doesn't always come into play.
"There are other decisions that are factored in, so all I can do is hope I've earned the respect of the coaches and that being able to play anywhere at a high level and on special teams will earn me the right to stay here."
Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or rcummings@tampatrib.com.
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