Demar Dotson Working Overtime to Fill Donald Penn's Shoes With Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. -- Demar Dotson was the last player off the field on the first day of Tampa Bay Buccaneers mandatory minicamp.

He needed to be.

"You've got a job to do," Dotson said. "And as long as you've got a job, you have to come out here and give it your best every day."

In the Bucs' perfect pewter world, Dotson (pictured right) would have a different job; a less critical one. For now, though, the 6-foot-9, 315-pounder, who played more basketball than football at Southern Miss, is the best option to protect the blindside of second-year franchise quarterback Josh Freeman.

Tampa Bay opened minicamp Monday minus Donald Penn, the disgruntled -- and disrespected -- restricted free agent who declined to sign his $3.168 tender offer last week and has officially moved his contract stalemate to DEFCON 2. Penn, who is not required to be at minicamp because he is not under contract, wants a long-term extension and likely will hold out of training camp without one.

Penn, 27, chose to attend the club's FanFest at Raymond James Stadium Saturday night, where he greeted teammates, signed autographs for fans and spoke to reporters.

"I really hope that they have me in their future," said Penn, who struggled with is weight last year but has lost 35 pounds this offseason. "They say, from everything I hear, they want to build around Josh Freeman. He's a great quarterback. So where should you start? It isn't like I haven't proven myself. Even when I was so-called overweight, I still shut down the best of the best."



Share All of this makes for an uncomfortable situation at One Buc Place, what with Penn starting the last 44 games for Tampa Bay at left tackle and figuring prominently in the team's rebuilding from last season's disastrous 3-13 campaign. Unfortunately, Bucs GM Mark Dominik added tension to the Penn matter last week with statements regarding Penn's former weight problems during a question-and-answer session with some fans. They were supposed to be off the record, but tape of Dominik's remarks made it to the Internet.

"When you think about a left tackle and how important that position is, especially to a young franchise quarterback, and that guy during the season gains 40 pounds and basically turns his back to nutrition and keeping himself in shape, that's disappointing to me," Dominik said. "And I expected better from him. When you look at the film, he continued to [regress]. This has nothing to do with the money from the organization. This has nothing to do with the Glazers [the family that owns the team] and their financial situation. This is strictly for him to show what he is as a football player."

Dominik apologized to Penn for those remarks when the two saw each other Saturday.

"I was very disappointed, but me and Mark had a long talk, and he talked to my agent that day," Penn said at FanFest. "Mark's one of my biggest fans, so we're good."

Clearly, both sides are a long way from being good. Penn doesn't have a contract and the Bucs have a former Conference USA power forward playing left tackle.

Dotson signed with Southern Miss out of junior college, but as a basketball player. He went out for football in 2008 and played in six games with one start. The Bucs signed Dotson as an undrafted free agent in '09 and he made the team as a rookie backup that saw sparse action in nine games; at right tackle, that is.

"You got to love his attitude. You got to love that he's putting his head down and working," coach Raheem Morris said. "He's avoiding all the banter and all the talk and whatever can happen. He really doesn't care. 'Demar, go play right! Demar, go play left!' He doesn't care. He just does it."
Give him credit for versatility.

"I was always taught the more flexible you are, the better chance you got ... and that's at any job, whether in the NFL or at McDonald's," Dotson said after Monday's sweltering workout. "At McDonald's, if all you can do is work the grill, and if the other guy comes and can work the tables, he's got your job."

Worth noting: Most guys manning the grill or the tables at the local Mickey Ds have played about as much left tackle as Dotson.

That's a problem.

"I ain't saying I'm a good left tackle or if I'm a starting left tackle," Dotson said, perhaps providing some unintentional (and appreciated) leverage for Penn's agent. "At this moment, if you asked me, I'd say I'm not. But I'm working at it."

Someone has to.