Bucs lose a lot as long as Freeman is sidelined

When Josh Freeman didn't go back onto the field for his second series Saturday night against Kansas City, followed later by the news he had fractured the tip of his right thumb, all you thought was, "Well, that's that."

You could see all the plans the Buccaneers made for this season basically melting in the humid August air. It was as plain as the wrapping on the thumb of the hand Freeman uses to throw the football.

If there had been a crowd at Raymond James Stadium, a hush would have fallen over it - followed by a rush to further flood the market with discounted tickets. You could have grabbed a seat from an online ticket site for $9 on Saturday morning. If the Bucs couldn't get this town juiced with Freeman, what would they do without him?

"It's a huge setback, obviously, when you lose your first quarterback," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said afterward. "But we're lucky. We expect him back in the first week of the season and that's very fortunate."

It's still bad.

Even though a team spokesman said, "The current expectation is that he will practice and play on Week One" against Cleveland, he still misses the remainder of the preseason.

And saying his return is the "current expectation" leaves at least a little wiggle room for the medical people - not necessarily in a good way.

Even if he comes back in time for the regular season, this is a major blow. Freeman will go into the regular season - his first as a full-time starter - having thrown preseason eight passes in three series. He needs more work than that.

A lot more.

He needs the work in practice and he especially needs it in games. He likely would have played a lot in the next game against Jacksonville.

"He's got to come out hot and ready to go," Morris said. "That's why you have those OTA days. That's why you have those minicamps. That's why you have all those things, to prepare for this. Now it's here and he's going to lose some reps out there on the field, playing against other people."

It was basically a downer of a night all the way around - unless you want to count the fact Tampa Bay beat the Chiefs 20-15, which I don't.

Looking around Ray-Jay just before kickoff, I wondered if I hadn't wandered into one of those high school games they play here occasionally. We already knew it was going to be bad - the first TV blackout since the stadium opened in 1998, and all that.

But the official turnstile count of 30,413 by the Tampa Sports Authority - way below the announced attendance of 41,386, which includes tickets sold - underlined how steep the fall from grace has been for this team.

Throw in the injury to Freeman and an ominous announcement that running back Derrick Ward had suffered a game-ending "head injury." Then there was the frightening sight of Chiefs cornerback Maurice Leggett leaving the field on a stretcher after a neck injury.

Morris said Ward "got dinged" but wasn't ready to say how serious the injury could be until he talked to doctors.

Backup QB Josh Johnson looked video-game cool by scrambling all over the field and he threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to MichealÖ Spurlock, but before you dial up that talk show and start the "I think they'll be just fine with Johnson" soliloquy, let's get real.

With all respect to Johnson, it was really a 15-yard throw that looks a lot more impressive in the box score because Spurlock broke away from his defender and had about 40 yards of green, green grass ahead.

Most importantly, this is Freeman's team.

He has been everything the Bucs promised since they made him their No. 1 pick in 2009. He has carried himself like a starting quarterback since the end of last season and into training camp. He has all but lived at One Buc Place - coming early, staying late and developing some real chemistry with his offense.

Now this.

You may be thinking the Bucs should have brought a veteran quarterback in as a backup, just in case their franchise QB came down with an ouchie, but they didn't. They may have to reconsider.

"We just got off the field right now," Morris said. "I'm going to sit down with (general manager) Mark Dominik and see what we want to do."

We know what a thumb injury can mean to a quarterback. It can can affect touch on passes. The thumb can be aggravated by the simple act of receiving the snap; that ball comes back with a bit of force, you know.

For the moment at least, optimism about the quarterback has given way to angst.

Like I said, this is Freeman's team and it will still be his no matter when he returns to the lineup. When that happens, maybe we'll write this off as an inconsequential blip for the Bucs. Until Freeman proves otherwise, though, it's best to stay skeptical, maybe even hold your breath.

That's the current expectation anyway.