Josh Freeman’s Thumb Cause Of Struggles?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are having a very disappointing season thus far and QB Josh Freeman seems to be regressing in  2011. As of right now, Freeman is second in the NFL in interceptions with 13 and his quarterback rating is below Matt Moore, Colt McCoy and Tarvaris Jackson which should give a good indication of just how bad things currently are in Tampa.

Ira Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune spoke with former NFL QB Rich Gannon about Freeman’s and what could be effecting his performance.

“I don’t think he’s healthy right now,” said Gannon. “That’s my personal opinion. I watched him practice Friday and I don’t think that thumb’s 100 percent. I don’t see Josh Freeman driving the ball. I see him now in warm-ups and when you see a quarterback wrapping his thumb with tape, that indicates something’s bothering him. Quarterbacks are very funny about having any tape on their throwing hand. I could tell in practice that it’s bothering him. It just takes time to heal. He’s a tough kid and right now, he’s gutting it out.”

Buc’s head coach Raheem Morris mentioned a few weeks back that Josh sprained his thumb during the loss to the Chicago Bears in London. Before that game, Freeman had led the Buc’s to wins in four out of five games but since than has managed to lose three in a row. During their current string of losses Freeman has 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

There’s very little chance that Freeman will time to allow the injury to heal and there’s no guarantee that the thumb injury is the cause of his struggles. Just something to monitor if you happen to follow the team.