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Williams' knee sore from turf

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune
and ANWAR RICHARDSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2009

TAMPA - Bucs RB Cadillac Williams did not participate in Thursday's practice because of soreness in his left knee.

Williams' injury is not related to his two previous season-ending knee injuries, according to Coach Raheem Morris, who expects Williams to start against the Giants on Sunday.

"(He's) sore after the turf game (in Buffalo) with the knee," Morris said. "(It's) nothing to do with the surgery, nothing like that, just the first time on the turf. (He's) a little sore, but expected to play."

Williams, a fifth-year pro, has 162 total yards during an 0-2 start, becoming the first player in league history to overcome torn patellar tendons in both knees.

Although Morris does not seem concerned about Williams, the coach could be without two receivers Sunday.

Antonio Bryant (knee) was limited Wednesday but did not practice Thursday, along with Maurice Stovall (knee). Morris indicated that Brian Clark, a former Chamberlain High standout, might make his first NFL start.

"He started in the preseason," Morris said. "We've talked about this. We've been through this. You got to be mentally tough, ready to go."

DT Roy Miller (ankle), RB Earnest Graham (hamstring) and RB Clifton Smith (quadriceps) were limited in practice, while TE John Gilmore (ankle), CB Elbert Mack (shoulder) and LB Matt McCoy (back) fully participated, Morris said.

Rookie injures knee

With his nagging groin problem finally healed, rookie DE Kyle Moore was looking forward to finally making his NFL debut Sunday. Moore's debut will not come this week either.

A minor knee injury that requires arthroscopic surgery is expected to keep the former Southern Cal standout out for another week or two, the team said. Moore is set to have surgery today. Moore, a fourth-round pick (117th overall), was drafted as an end, but the Bucs have long anticipated him working as a rush tackle.

Winning the easy way

When the Bucs changed their general manager and head coach during the offseason, they also changed their basic approach to winning. Whereas the Bucs of old used to win mostly with defense, the new Bucs are trying to win mostly with offense.

"We've been trying to win football games the hard way here for a long time," Morris said Thursday. "Right now we're trying to find a new way to win."

They haven't succeeded yet, but Morris believes the Bucs are close to achieving their objective.

"The thing is, we don't have to be the 2002 Buccaneers anymore," Morris said. "If we can play fairly well on defense and play decent on offense and not turn the ball over, we can win. If we can run the ball and use play-action passes when we want to, that's a nice formula for winning. And we proved the first two weeks that it can work. We just can't have the major setbacks that we've had."

On the other hand

It certainly doesn't seem like it, but if you dig deep enough you'll notice the Bucs haven't been all bad on defense. Though they rank near the bottom of the league in almost every significant category, there are actually two areas where the Bucs have excelled.

One is on third down, where the Bucs are allowing opponents to convert just 31.8 percent of their chances to rank sixth overall. The other is in the red zone, where they have allowed just one touchdown in six opportunities to rank third overall.

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