But the Bucs have reason to be concerned about Talib's work habits.

Prior to training camp, Bucs coaches say Talib had been late to meetings. He got into an argument and shoving match with a teammate at the NFL rookie symposium. He even missed the team flight to Canton, Ohio when the Bucs' rookies visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Talk about bad impressions. Lee Roy Selmon, the only Bucs player enshrined in Canton, accompanied rookies on the trip from Tampa.

"He's not a bad kid," defensive backs coach Raheem Morris said. "He's just a wild child."

Neither Morris nor Talib are making excuses for his mistakes. Talib, 22, says on those occasions he was late, it was just a matter of sleeping in.

But Bucs coach Jon Gruden indicated Saturday the team already has fined Talib heavily -- and repeatedly -- for violating rules.

"We've handled it in a stern way," Gruden said. "Some of the mistakes the guy makes are innocent mistakes. They're not malicious. But all I think that has happened to him is his eyes are wide open now. He understands when he's not here, he's a letdown to Derrick Brooks. You're letting down all these Bucs fans. We're going to back up our end. We're going to pay you well, OK? You've got to earn that money now or I'll take it all back."

--Too many penalties, dropped passes and just poor execution by his team prompted coach Jon Gruden to halt practice with about four minutes remaining in the final period during one workout last week.

He gathered his team up along one sideline and ordered them to run 'gassers,' a series of sprints across the width of the field.

Such conditioning drills are normally reserved for high school and college teams, but Gruden is a little bit old school.

"The last time I ran gassers was probably my junior year at the University of Tennessee," said second-year guard Arron Sears. "We were definitely in trouble.

"He came out and said it himself. There were a couple mistakes in practice and he wanted to get everybody attention. That's his way of getting everybody's attention, by running gassers."

What irked Gruden was the amount of concentration errors -- jumping off-side and illegal procedure.

"There's (three) major infractions that compile almost 60 percent of all penalties and that's off-sides, illegal procedure and personal fouls," Gruden said. "To me, those are three penalties that you can control as a football team, as a football player. We jumped off-sides on our own 1-foot line and they were just a couple reminders after the fans day. You know, we got to sleep in. Do a little conditioning."

By then, Bucs players already were gassed, having practiced nearly two hours.

--Gaines Adams has a new body, with more upper body bulk and strength. But the 6-foot-5 defensive end managed to remain at 258 pounds. What was his secret?

It wasn't as hard as you think.

"I moved some weight around on me," Adams said. "I still weigh the same. But I'd say the main thing I did this off-season was staying away from fast food."

-- There have been few sightings of left tackle Luke Petitgout since the team reported to training camp a week ago. Petitgout, 32, failed his physical due to a season-ending knee injury he suffered last year and was place on the Physically Unable to Perform list. But unlike Cadillac Williams, who also is on the PUP and very visible during practice, Petitgout's rehab is continuing away from the practice field.

It's not a good sign for the 10-year veteran, who started four games last season before the knee injury forced him to end the year on injured reserve.

Where has Petitgout been spending his days?

"I really don't know sometimes," coach Jon Gruden said. "He's with the trainer. He's under the careful watch of the training staff and that staff includes the whole staff. I get an update at lunch and I get an update in the evening and every day I get a page of written documents of who did what. So everybody's on time and accounted for and what their status is. Is the arrow going up or is it going down?

"Anybody that's on PUP is concerning. We have to make some adjustments and move on at some time, but at the same time, I'm confident that both those guys will play."