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Ward's silence is heard

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By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 23, 2009

TAMPA - RB Derrick Ward is no longer conducting interviews with the Tampa Bay media, and he has given no explanation. Ward did not speak with the media after Tampa Bay's 28-21 loss against Carolina in which he carried once for 2 yards and fumbled a toss.

"Derrick Ward is fighting his demons and he'll be ready to come back and play," Morris said. "I'm counting on Derrick Ward to go in there, and when it's his turn, he'll go. He should be a little quiet this week.

"You fumble your first snap when you go out there, you don't get many opportunities to go out there and redeem yourself. You can't wait for your next opportunity, and that's what he's waiting for, I hope."

Down goes Johnson

QB Byron Leftwich was benched after three games to make room for the more mobile Josh Johnson, with different results. Leftwich was 0-3 and was sacked twice. Johnson is 0-3 and has been sacked 10 times.

"Josh is going to move around, you know that, so Josh is going to give us a couple more (sacks) and Leftwich is going to throw some of the things away," Morris said. "But Leftwich is not going to get the 40 yards rushing that Josh can provide us either."

Injury report

Bucs CB Aqib Talib was limited in practice because of a hamstring injury.

"He's been dealing with it for the last four weeks," Morris said. "Today we just held him back a little bit, give him a couple of days rest and see where he is."

Meanwhile, DT Chris Hovan (ankle), WR Michael Clayton (hamstring), LB Barrett Ruud (elbow) and DT Ryan Sims (hand) fully participated in practice.

Anwar S. Richardson

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