No more Mr. Nice Guys? Bucs want to be tougher

It has been a tough season for the man who promised a tough team.

Besides Tampa Bay's 1-10 start, rookie coach Raheem Morris is grappling with the failure of the Buccaneers to bring his NFL vision to life in 2009.

From the moment he replaced Jon Gruden in January, Morris talked about forging a physical, aggressive identity on both sides of the ball.

Morris pointed to the Super Bowl champion Steelers, coached by his mentor, Mike Tomlin, as a model for the "violent" team he wanted the Bucs to emulate. He often mentioned the physicality of the Panthers, an NFC South rival that hosts the Bucs on Sunday.

"I think the essence of football is having the mind-set to run the ball, with the toughness that takes, as well as stopping the run," Carolina coach John Fox said.

The Bucs are eager for another opportunity to prove their toughness against the Panthers, who have outrushed Tampa Bay 566-210 in winning the past two meetings.

"We've been putting ourselves in situations not to be physical and violent," defensive tackle Chris Hovan said. "Against Dallas, we gave up the big plays. In Buffalo, we had all those missed tackles. It seems when everybody does his own job, like last week, we're more physical. When guys trust their keys and know the defense, that's when you become physical and violent."

The Bucs were competitive in the trenches in last week's 20-17 loss at Atlanta. For Morris, it was a sign of things to come.

"The physical toughness we talked about is starting to develop," he said after Thursday's practice. "Our team had pads on today. I don't know what other teams had pads on today, but we're going to take pride in that. I took the pads off my guys (Wednesday) and my starting quarterback (Josh Freeman) looked at me and said, 'What are you doing with the pads off? This is a work day.' That's the mentality you want your guys to have."

In training camp, former offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski said the Bucs would develop an identity as a run-oriented club with a deep backfield and a young, dynamic offensive line.

Under Jagodzinski's replacement, Greg Olson, Tampa Bay is on pace for 389 rushing attempts, which would be the club's fewest since 1991.

"During the bye week, we really focused on our running game. That, to me, has been disappointing. Coming into the season, we felt that was a strong point. It's been frustrating and there are a lot of reasons for it," Olson said. "But I have to look at myself first and say that's an area we've been substandard. We have to get better there first if we want to get better in other areas."

Olson mentioned the season-long absence of guard Arron Sears as a key factor in Tampa Bay's struggling ground game.

Instead of taking the pressure off their young quarterbacks by relying on proven runners such as Cadillac Williams, Derrick Ward and Earnest Graham, the Bucs are throwing on 59 percent of their offensive snaps.

"We've been playing from behind a lot this year and that makes it hard to get the ground game going," tight end John Gilmore said. "But one thing I've learned over the years is that in order to be successful with your running game, you have to commit to it. Hopefully, over the last five games, we get a chance to set a tone. I think we were more physical in Atlanta, and that's good to see."

Right tackle Jeremy Trueblood, perhaps the most physical member of the offensive line, is eager to deliver an aggressive message in Charlotte.

"We're all disappointed in our running game so far," Trueblood said. "We watch film of other teams and you want to know why they are the ones breaking those long runs instead of us. We're almost there. If we're patient, it's going to happen."

For Morris, patience has its limits.

"It's got to turn into wins here shortly and it's got to happen fast because this is a Not For Long league and we all know that," Morris said. "Playing aggressive, physical football every week has to remain our organizational model. If it's not, we've got an issue."