Bucs coach Morris cans music at practice

Jay-Z, Diddy, T.I., T-Pain and Plies are no longer welcome at Tampa Bay Buccaneers practices.

Coach Raheem Morris had played hip-hop and R&B music during the warm-up portion of practice, but he released every artist before Wednesday's practice.

"We canned the music today. We've got to get back into it," Morris said. "We can't use music to motivate us. We can't go out and stretch and need music to help us. What's going to motivate you? How are you going to be motivated? We motivated ourselves today by reliving that sick feeling from Sunday that we've been having.

"That's what we did today, we relived that feeling. That's how we practiced today. You can tell. You could see the anger in practice. You could see the different demeanor. It was a good thing."

Morris voiced his displeasure this week with mistakes made by key players during Sunday's loss to Philadelphia. He called out players by name in the media and in meeting rooms.

Now Morris is determined to shake players out of their comfort zone.

"We can't wait until Sunday to feel bad about (a loss)," Morris said. "You've got to feel bad about it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and that's when you get ready to deal with it. When you deal with it all those couple of days of the week, you're ready to deal on Sunday so you can come back in here feeling pretty good."

Figurs is comfortable

No wonder new Bucs WR Yamon Figurs felt so comfortable in Tuesday's tryout.

He had a familiar hand throwing him the ball.

Figurs has been reunited with rookie QB Josh Freeman, who was on the field when Tampa Bay worked out several receivers Tuesday.

"It was Josh," Figurs said Wednesday when asked who fired footballs at him. "He's gotten better, too. He's got a stronger arm from what I've seen."

Figurs and Freeman played together at Kansas State in 2006, Freeman's freshman season. Also on hand that year for the Wildcats was Morris, who was the defensive coordinator.

In his senior season at KSU, Figurs caught 73 passes for 1,144 yards and earned All Big-12 recognition as a return specialist.

"I'm coming here to make the best of my new opportunity," said Figurs, a third-round pick by Baltimore in 2007 known for his speed. "I'm going to do anything they ask me to do."

Talkin' 'bout practice

WR Antonio Bryant missed most or all of practice with a sore knee. Though Bryant likely will play Sunday against the Panthers, his inability to practice is having a negative impact on the Bucs' attack.

Bryant said his inability to develop a sound working chemistry with QB Josh Johnson has also cost the Bucs some scoring opportunities.

"There were times when I was open on the field, especially in the red zone, and it would have been a touchdown had the read been there," Bryant said. "But it's (hard for the quarterback) when there's a different number than what your practicing with. The image is a lot different, and that's important."

Injury report

FB B.J. Askew (back/neck) and TE Jerramy Stevens (quadriceps) did not participate in practice. Bryant (knee), T Donald Penn (ankle), and DE Jimmy Wilkerson (knee) were limited, while C Jeff Faine (triceps), RB Earnest Graham (hamstring), DE Kyle Moore (knee) and RB Clifton Smith (ankle) fully participated