TAMPA — On this sun-splashed Sunday against the Vikings, Dashon Goldson will start the 2014 season. Oh sure, a player by that name was on the field for just a little more than two games earlier this season.
But the Bucs safety didn't make any memorable plays to match the $9 million salary and cachet that comes with it before spraining his ankle Sept. 28 at Pittsburgh.
"I'm definitely going to put it on my shoulders as one of the leaders and the experience I've got," Goldson said. "I'm definitely going to take a lot on my shoulders going into the rest of the season (and) set the tone."
Unfortunately, trainers attending to injured players have stopped more drives than the Bucs defense this season. In fact, not once during a 1-5 start has coach Lovie Smith been able to field a lineup that included his best 11 starters on defense.
Since the opener against Carolina, Bucs defensive starters have missed a combined 14 games. Six games have produced six different starting lineups. The result has been a defense that has sunk to last in NFL in points and total yardage allowed.
End Adrian Clayborn played against Carolina before discovering he had suffered a season-ending torn pectoral muscle. On the second play of the same game, defensive end Michael Johnson suffered an ankle injury that caused him to miss two games.
Tackle Gerald McCoy broke his left hand early against the Rams, never returned to the game and missed the 56-14 rout at Atlanta. Linebacker Mason Foster dislocated his left shoulder against St. Louis and missed three games. Cornerback Johnthan Banks, playing in place of injured starter Mike Jenkins, had a neck injury against New Orleans and sat out against the Ravens.
That leaves Goldson, who twisted his ankle early in the game at Pittsburgh, knocking him out for two weeks.
"I think for us, it's just a matter of getting some more continuity with our guys," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "We've had some rotation going — not by choice — in these first six weeks. That has had a lot to do with our not being where we need to be in certain situations.
"We've got to get more practice time together, more game time together. I don't know if we've practiced twice in a row with the same starting lineup from the beginning of the season. So this is probably the healthiest that we've been for a while. And for that reason, I'm optimistic about our performance (today) more than anything."
The Bucs, after the bye week, are at their healthiest since training camp.
Every NFL team deals with injuries. But the Bucs spent all their draft picks on offensive players and filled some holes on defense with free agents. The depth on that side has been depleted.
Goldson, fined nearly $500,000 and suspended one game last year for illegal hits, at least provides a physical presence in the middle of a defense that McCoy called "soft" last week.
"He's one of our best players," Smith said of Goldson. "Yeah, we haven't been as physical as I'd like for us to be, or as we would like to be. He's a physical player. Leadership, experience, all of the above. We came into the season, he was one of our guys. So now to kind of have the team that we envisioned coming in, he's a big part of that."
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Explore all your optionsJohnson's injury still lingers, but he and the defensive line need to improve a pass rush that has only produced nine sacks this season. Vikings quarterbacks have been sacked 27 times this year, the second most in the league.
"Michael will probably tell you he's had one good game," Smith said. "He hasn't been 100 percent yet, but I still feel like, once we get him close to that, we'll see a pretty good football player."
And perhaps today, when the Bucs officially re-start their season, maybe fans will see a pretty good defense.
"We definitely know we have to take it day-by-day, and especially play-by-play," Goldson said. "I know everybody says that, but if you really look at the film, we take our turns busting plays and not doing our responsibilities, and it shows."