Piscitelli: Battle for Bucs' safety job wasn't 'a competition'

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' decision to name veteran Sean Jones the starting strong safety didn't come as much of a surprise to Sabby Piscitelli. The man who lost his job to Jones said Wednesday he believes the deck was stacked against him all along.

"I don't think it was ever a competition,'' Piscitelli said. "That's just my opinion, and I'm going to go with it. I just, personally, don't think it was ever a competition. That's all I want to say on that.''

What little Piscitelli said on the matter didn't sit well with Bucs coach Raheem Morris. One day after saying Jones won the job because he was the more physical player in practice and preseason games, Morris suggested Piscitelli's approach to the competition might have played a role in his losing it.

"If he thinks that way then that's probably why he didn't get it,'' Morris said of he starting job. "I think you go out there and you do your very best at everything you do. That's Sabby's problem at this point. Again, that's Sabby's problem, not mine.''

Piscitelli, who started 15 games for the Bucs at strong safety last season but struggled in run support and pass coverage, was informed of the decision to name Jones the starter in a text message sent to him by defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake.

"I didn't like that,'' Piscitelli said of learning his fate via text message. "So I told (Lake) I'd talk to him first thing in the morning, but I guess they already posted it (on the team's website). So, I sat down with (Lake) in the morning and had a discussion like a man and talked to (Raheem) later.''

Piscitelli led the league with 19 missed tackles, according to football think tank FootballOutsides.com, and was credited with just four pass defenses in 2009. Jones, a seven-year veteran, was signed early in the offseason.

Piscitelli, a second-round draft pick in 2007, will continue working to improve now that he's been demoted.

"I'll still just keep coming to work,'' Piscitelli said. "I'll still have the same goal in mind, which is to keep on improving. I know my ability. I know what I can do. I can help teams win. I can help this team win, so I'll keep coming out and trying to make plays."