Bucs S Tanard Jackson apologizes for suspension

Bucs starting free safety Tanard Jackson has a problem. He won't come right out and say what it is, but it finally caught up and nabbed him Tuesday. It nabbed the Bucs, too.

Already thin in the secondary, the Bucs now face the reality of playing their first month of regular-season games without Jackson, who was suspended without pay for four games by the league for violating its substance abuse policy.

"I'm definitely disappointed in myself," Jackson said. "I let my team down, obviously, and I've let a lot of people down. The fans - I'd like to apologize to them for the decisions I've made that got me into this situation."

Those decisions, Jackson said, date back more than three years, to a time before he entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Bucs out of Syracuse University.

They've become so much a part of his life, in fact, that when news of the suspension came down as he prepared for the second of two workouts at One Buc Place, Jackson wasn't surprised by it.

"It wasn't a shock, because I knew the situation I was in," said Jackson, who will remain eligible to practice and play through the end of the preseason. "I just didn't know when something like this would happen or if it would happen."

The fact it has happened is proof that Jackson was found to be out of compliance with the league's substance abuse policy at least once before. It's also an indication Jackson's problem is one he must address.

"Oh yeah, I definitely have some off-the-field issues that I have to address for the well being of myself and for the well being of this football team," Jackson said.

The issue the Bucs have to address is how to replace a player whose 32 consecutive starts are the most for a Bucs defender at the start of a career.

The most likely option is to simply move Will Allen into Jackson's spot. There's a chance, though, the Bucs will temporarily stop experimenting with Jermaine Philips as a linebacker and move him back to safety.

That seems like a long shot, largely because Phillips is best suited to play strong safety, but the Bucs have decided to give Phillips some work at his old position nonetheless.

He took a few reps there during the morning workout Tuesday and lined up for a couple of plays there during the afternoon walkthrough as well. It wasn't Jackson's suspension that prompted that move, however.

Rather, it was the loss of Allen to a shoulder injury midway through Saturday's preseason game at Tennessee. Bucs coach Raheem Morris said that loss made him rethink his original plans for the safety spot.

"If I'm in a game and I've got 'Flip' playing linebacker and I lose a safety, what am I going to do?" Morris asked. "Am I going to put in my fourth (safety) or am I going to put in Flip who's started for us the last few years?

"Those are the decisions you have to make as a coach, and those are the decisions you better start making now because as I told you, there are no excuses. You can either be reactive or proactive and I'm choosing to be proactive."

Phillips said it doesn't matter to him where he plays. He says he's a linebacker now but he would willingly move back to safety if the team deems it necessary.

"Safety's what I've always played," Phillips said. "But I've said before that I'm not a safety or a linebacker, I'm an athlete. I'm a 'tweener, so wherever they need to work me is where I'll work."