Buccaneers Dump Lefty, Turn To Johnson

Teams that start 0-3 typically need a "fall guy." The Buccaneers found theirs in quarterback Byron Leftwich. This 2009 version of the Buccaneers is cornered in confusion. A team that spent its entire training camp focused on quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown will now totally reverse its course. McCown is in Jacksonville and Leftwich has been run over by the bus, thrown underneath it by Coach Raheem Morris, who declared that Lefty was still his starter after last Sunday's embarrassing loss to the New York Giants. Less than 24 hours later, Morris disposed of Leftwich, demoted him to third-string and named shifty but inexperienced Josh Johnson the starter and the other Josh (Freeman) as the backup. It was a move that surprised even Johnson, who was very candid about the move. Byron (Leftwich) took the fall for the entire team," Johnson said. And he's right. Morris said after that beat-down at the hands of the Giants, that if he'd consider replacing Leftwich, he might as well "replace everyone." The rest are still standing, Leftwich is not. "I knew I had to get some early wins," Leftwich admitted, as he understands that he was a temporary guy. Freeman is the starter-in-waiting but certainly is not ready for the chaos that has surrounded the Buccaneer offense the past two games. Morris believes that Johnson's mobility will help against the Redskins on Sunday. The Redskins are another team under fire, their head coach Jim Zorn is a man firmly on the hot-seat with owner Daniel Snyder, a man unafraid of firing coaches. Still, you have to wonder how Johnson will perform as the starter. He was the fourth quarterback in camp and took very few repetitions during that Leftwich-McCown drama that proved to be a waste of precious practice time. The dye is now cast for the Buccaneers. Morris refused to use the "rebuilding" word this season. At this point, he'd be a fool to deny it.