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Plans altered by Georges
By ERNEST HOOPER © St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 1998 The team usually meets in the morning and practices in the afternoon, but coach Tony Dungy reluctantly swapped even though he was convinced the team would be able to practice in the afternoon. A band of showers moved over the field between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., but didn't disrupt practice. "It worked out okay," Dungy said. "It's just a few things you would have liked to have covered before you came out. But I think this was the best way to do it." The sun poked through the clouds in the afternoon, but players met in the afternoon and went home at 3:30. With only a handful of training camp practices that have been rained out during his three years, Dungy is somewhat of a meteorological phenomenon. He has made no changes to today's practice schedule because his sense is the storm won't have a negative impact. "I'm still under the opinion it's like Waiting for Godot and Godot is never going to show up," Dungy said. PRACTICING IN THE RAIN: If the Bucs had an indoor facility like Green Bay and Minnesota, they could avoid the pitfalls of practicing in the rain. Dungy, however, is convinced having a roof over the practice field is not necessary. "There are days when you do," Dungy said. "You probably miss four or five practice days in camp, you probably miss four or five during the season ... but you have to measure the expense of that for three or four days a year. Generally, our guys are good enough where we can adapt and survive." PYNE TIME: The Bucs will be pitted against an old friend when they play Detroit. Former G Jim Pyne is playing center for the Lions. DT Brad Culpepper is one of the linemen who will have to grapple with Pyne. "If he gets a good block on me or if he holds me, I'll talk to him about that, but it's pretty much down to business," Culpepper said. "I'm concentrating on playing my reaches and scoops and I really put the friendship aside until after the game and I'll tell him he played a good game and he'll probably tell me the same." Culpepper said having faced Pyne in practice is an advantage and a disadvantage. Knowing how he plays is going to help, but it's also going to make him wary. "He's a grabber, he likes to hold, which is tough. He's not the type of guy who gets real low and try to drive you off the ball. He's more of an upper-body, reach-around type of guy who can cause you fits because he's going to hold on to you and not let you get to the ball." JACQUEZ UPDATE: Dungy said the coaches will wait until game time before deciding if WR/KR Jacquez Green will play. He experimented with another soft cast Friday and caught the ball a little better. The team will experiment with another cast today. BARRY TOUGH D: Any conversation about playing Detroit begins with Barry Sanders, even if you're talking about playing against the Lions defense. Dungy said Detroit likes to build a lead with Sanders' running exploits and let its front four tee off on the QB. "They've really got some people up front that can put pressure on the passer," Dungy said. "They don't have to bring a lot of blitzes, they've got some outstanding cover guys in the secondary. What's happened to them in the first three games is that they really haven't been ahead so they haven't gotten to take advantage of that. The other teams have kind of kept them off-balanced." INJURY UPDATE: DT Jason Maniecki (back), CB Ronde Barber (hip) and CB Anthony Parker (back) were all held out of practice Friday, but Dungy said he expects them to play Monday night. Only WR Bert Emanuel is out.
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AMPA -- The Bucs altered their schedule because of Hurricane Georges, moving their afternoon practice to the morning, then having meetings after lunch. They practiced from 10:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
