Before the start of Sunday’s games, there was a report that Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman was “likely” to request a trade this season because his working relationship with Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano was “beyond repair.”
Freeman was asked about that report after Tampa’s season took another step in the wrong direction Sunday when the Saints followed the Jets’ lead and kicked a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. Freeman said he had first heard about it 10 seconds before stepping up to the podium, that it wasn’t accurate and that he knew of no one in his camp who would have said otherwise.
“If its going behind the scenes I need a new camp. I’m focused on being a Buccaneer,” Freeman said, via Pewter Report.
Freeman also said that no off-field issues concerning the team or his expiring contract were affecting him on the field. He was 9-of-22 for 125 yards on Sunday with an interception and a lost fumble contributed to the litany of mistakes that conspired to leave Tampa without a victory this season.
Schiano said after the game that the problems with the passing game weren’t all about the quarterback, pointing to himself as someone who shared in the blame, and said it was “out of left field” to ask whether Freeman would start in Week Three. If the Buccaneers don’t clean things up soon, it probably won’t be out of left field to ask about the future of plenty of people in Tampa.