Buccaneers first-year head coach Raheem Morris is not happy with the current state of his defense, which allowed more than 30 points in each of this season's first two games and a combined 900 yards, and he isn't trying to hide his disgust, as he called out the team for poor tackling in its Week Two loss to the Bills. For a group that didn't need more bad news, the season-ending broken thumb suffered by S Jermaine Phillips, who is arguably the hardest hitter on the team, in the Buffalo game was another harsh blow.

In public, Morris and others say the problems are fixable. The sloppy tackling will get better, they vow.

Yet, sources say the team is starting to wonder if the woeful pass rush — arguably the component the "D" lacks most at the moment — might not be so easily improved. We hear the Bucs are beginning to consider the lack of a pass rush as a personnel issue. If that's the case, and it appears to be so, then Morris has a problem that he might not be able to fix until the offseason.

As the Bucs inch closer to that realization, it's largely an indictment of DE Gaines Adams, who has become a whipping boy of sorts for Morris. Before the season, Morris said Adams' season would be a failure if he didn't produce double-digit sacks. The Bucs were counting on Adams to make significant strides in his third season, but he has not come close to answering the call thus far. Adams has zero sacks and one quarterback hurry through two games. Morris offered a harsh critique of Adams after Week Two, saying "if we don't get (the fire Adams showed last season) back, it's going to be a long season for Gaines and us."

Adams, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft, owned up to his struggles and said he didn't believe he was being singled out unfairly. That respectful response will earn him a few points, but it's clear the team is losing patience with him. The problem is, it didn't bring in any free agents to bolster the pass rush in the offseason and at this point there is really no other player who can challenge Adams for a starting spot or infringe on Adams' reps.

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