Half of the NFL's 32 teams will be 0-1 after this coming weekend, barring the unlikely opening-day tie.  None of those 16 losing teams will feel as if their playoff hopes are over, nor should they.

Four months later, however, one game will almost certainly make the difference between two teams fighting for the last AFC or NFC playoff spot.  The point isn't that Game One is particularly important for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or any of their 31 fellow teams; it's that every game is particularly important.

"It's the National Football League," said Head Coach Raheem Morris on Monday, as Week One of the regular season finally got underway.  "We play 16 games, we don't have a season where we play 80, so every one of these games counts for us.  We always feel, whether we're coming off an 11-5 season or a 9-7 season or a 3-13 season, that they're all must-wins in this league.  They're like that every week in the National Football League.  That's the best part about our game.  All these things are must-win for us, all 16 of them.  You talk about trying to win every single one of them because they all count."

As such, the Buccaneers are seeking a fast start to the season this Sunday when the Cleveland Browns come to town.  The Buccaneers have had their eyes on the Browns and September 12 ever since the 2010 NFL schedule came out in April, just as surely as the Browns have been focused on the Buccaneers.  Tampa Bay's staff knows there are two things it could control heading into that Week One showdown with Cleveland: It's own preparations and, to a lesser extent, the health of its roster.

Morris and his assistants are pleased with the team's readiness for the Browns and, thanks to both good planning and good fortune, the scene in the training room at the conclusion of the preseason.

Injuries can and do happen to every team, regardless of how cautious it tries to be in August.  And, in fact, the Bucs had to conduct the second half of their preseason without their starting quarterback after Josh Freeman fractured the tip of his right thumb against Kansas City on August 21.  However, Freeman's injury turned out to be far from a worst-case scenario, and in fact the Buccaneers emerged from the warm-up slate without losing any starters to long-term issues.

In fact, the anticipated starting 22 should be on the practice field for the Buccaneers on Tuesday, and in action on Sunday against the Browns.

Most significantly, the original prognosis that Freeman would be able to return to practice before the regular-season opener appears to have borne out.  Morris made that clear in no uncertain terms on Monday.

"In my head, Freeman is a go," said Morris.  "You can put that down in your depth chart: first-team quarterback, Josh Freeman.  He is a go versus Cleveland right now."

Freeman actually began throwing the ball without any apparent limitations last Thursday while the Buccaneers were warming up for their preseason finale in Houston.  He and the team's training staff have considered all the possible equipment assistance, such as a glove for his throwing hand, but Morris says Freeman isn't likely to need any such help.  How well the second-year passer handles repeated snaps to his healed thumb will be answered when practice begins on Tuesday.

"The glove thing I think he's ruled out," said Morris.  "He kind of had a good feel with his hand.  He liked the way it felt, natural.  It wasn't his thing.  It was a temporary test run for himself.  The alterations I think he'll have to make right now are…none.  We feel good about, he feels good about it and we're pretty comfortable."

Wide receiver Maurice Stovall actually missed one more preseason week than Freeman due to a high ankle sprain, but he is expected to return to the field on Tuesday.  So too is starting right guard Davin Joseph, who was held out of the last two games with a mild hip strain.  Morris termed both Joseph and Stovall as "full-go."

And finally, tight end Kellen Winslow will get a chance to suit up against his former team on Sunday after seeing very limited playing time during the preseason.  The Buccaneers simply followed a cautious plan with their record-breaking tight end, again keeping the focus on the Browns and the start of the regular season.  Morris would obviously like to have all of his players in action at every practice, but he knows that a different approach is sometimes necessary.

"I have a lot of confidence in Kellen, and I have a lot of belief in Kellen after going through that [2009] season with him," said Morris.  "I don't know if there's anybody in this building that knows his body better than Kellen.  We did a great job of [communicating] in the hopes of getting Kellen to this Cleveland Browns game.  He's ready to get off and running.  He's excited about it.

"He goes out and prepares, practices and plays, and he loves the game.  He'll use anything for motivation.  That's the kind of guy he is.  He gets motivated to come practice against my defense every day because he loves playing the game."

**

More Backfield Power

When the Buccaneers claimed running back Kregg Lumpkin off waivers on Sunday – beating out several other NFL teams that put in claims on the former Green Bay Packer in the process – they added toughness, power and endurance to their backfield.  Morris believes that is important over the NFL's grueling 16-week grind.

"In Week 13 and Week 10 when it gets sticky and you get ankles and shoulders and groin injuries and all those things that running backs get in this league, he might be somebody who can go in there and punish people for you," said Morris of his newest weapon.  "[He] can do some of those versatile things like Earnest Graham, depending on where you are at the time, depending on how fast he can pick up the system and depending on how he acclimates to his new environment."

Cadillac Williams remains the Bucs unquestioned starter at tailback, and he is expected to shoulder the majority of the rushing load, as he did during his stirring 2009 comeback season.  Former tailback starter Earnest Graham is now the team's starting fullback, and also a powerful runner the team will use in short-yardage situations and to give Williams an occasional break.  First-year man Kareem Huggins is seen as a change-of-pace back and fullback Chris Pressley is primarily a lead blocker.

The Bucs helped themselves in several of those areas, Morris believes, by claiming Lumpkin on Sunday.

"[He's] a talented big back," said the coach.  "He provides some of that versatility like an Earnest Graham, where he could potentially play some fullback stuff or at least learn it.  He's a big pounding back at the end of a game.  For us, the exciting part is to fill that role of the other banger besides Cadillac if you want to take some hits off Earnest Graham and things of that nature.  Hopefully he comes in here and is able to show some of that versatility that we think we've seen on tape."

**

Bonus Day

After a preseason that required a variety of weekly schedules thanks to training camp procedures and games held on Saturday and Thursday, the Buccaneers will now fall back into their usual regular-season practice rotation.

The opening week of the season, however, provides teams with a little extra preparation time.  Because the Buccaneers played on Thursday evening and have already enjoyed several players' days off since, the field work for Cleveland will begin a day earlier than usual.

After a typical Sunday game, the Buccaneers would have a light day of meetings and some on-the-field running, then get Tuesday off before picking up at full speed again on Wednesday.  This week, however, the players were given Monday off and will practice on Tuesday.  Essentially, the team will move its entire weekly schedule up by one day and then hold an extra Friday-type review session at the end.

The Buccaneers will practice from 12:45 to 2:40 on Tuesday and Wednesday, the days during which the game plan will be installed on both sides of the ball.  On  Thursday, they will hold their usual 90-minute review session, covering the work of the previous two days.  On Friday, they'll do it again before capping the week with the usual Saturday morning walk-through.

Kickoff against the Browns is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.