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Fierce competition at safety spot

Posted Jun 24, 2010 by Ira Kaufman

Updated Jun 24, 2010 at 01:04 PM

By IRA KAUFMAN

TAMPA—The Bucs are affording Sabby Piscitelli every opportunity to retain his starting job.

The former second-round pick struggled to take good angles in 2009, his first full season as a starting NFL safety, and Piscitelli knows that veteran Sean Jones was signed as a free agent from Philadelphia to challenge for his position.

Jones has a nose for the ball, but it would be premature to count out Piscitelli, the 64th player chosen in the 2007 draft.

Piscitelli and Jones took turns with the first unit during Tampa Bay’s OTA sessions the past two months and that policy contuinued this week at mandatory mini-camp. It’s a safe assumption Jones and Piscitelli will still be duking it out when training camp begins in five weeks.

Both players appear determined to win the job opposite Tanard Jackson, one of the league’s emerging young safeties.

Jones brings plenty of experience and he was targeted by the Bucs in free agency. With the Eagles and Browns, Jones developed a reputation as a solid run defender who often struggled in coverage, but the Bucs have been impressed with his ball skills.

Piscitelli hasn’t exactly endeared himself to teammates with a perceived cockiness, but he is only 26 and he was humbled a bit by his erratic play last fall.

The Piscitelli-Jones duel looms as one of the most competitive battles in training camp—and it’s far from settled.