Ike Hilliard's on his way back

Caught up with receiver Ike Hilliard today for the first time in a while, and he updated us on his comeback from a recent shoulder surgery.

Hilliard underwent a procedure on April 9 to remove bone spurs and repair a damaged bursa sack, and was told it would take some time before he got back on the field. Not for Hilliard.

"My shoulder is doing a lot better now," he said. "I've been cleared (to practice) for about two weeks. It was supposed to be a six- to 10-week process, but I came back early."

You might remember shoulder pain limited Hilliard late last season, rendering him less than 100 percent for the last several games of the season.

It's too early to say where he'll factor in what should be a competitive battle among the team's receivers in training camp. But despite turning 32 in  April, Hilliard looks and feels good. Regardless of whether he re-claims his starting job or not, his attitude is, and likely will remain, exemplary.

"I just have a few pounds to lose to get back where I want to be before I get to camp," he said. "I feel good. I just have to go out and compete. Nothing's been giving to me. There's competition at flanker. Okay. I'll deal with it. I've been here."

Comments

[Tom]

We can't forget the massive amount of injuries we had last year that crippled our team. If we can stay healthy, this team is going to be very competitive. I think the addition of Warrick Dunn is going to prove to be a major factor. Especially in the locker room.

[JR]

why hasnt our trainer been fired yet. we repeatedly more injuries than most teams every single year. Todd Toriscelli should be a marked man. show him the door.

[JR]

i know injuries happen in pro football but look over the past couple of years, we either have really bad luck when it comes to injuries or the trainer is terrible

[Wade]

JR,
You know what, that is one of the more astute things I have read on here in a long time. Perhaps the all knowing staff of this newspaper might do a story comparison of the bucs injury woes versus other teams over time. Could be kinda telling, especially if severity of injury is brought into account.

Glad to hear Ike is doing well.

Go Bucs!!!

[aaron]

It will be good to see Ike healthy and back out there. He was a very good addition for us. I agree with Tom, i think Dunn will be great for the team. in the locker room and on the field. with him coming out of the backfield that should help the wr's shake loose a bit more and get some receptions a bit farther downfield.

[Brandon]

Do you guys realize what you're saying? You guys sound like Chris Simms crying a freaking river! Injuries are a part of football, all teams suffer injuries and as far as that goes we were very fortunate last season.

Carnell got hurt and we discovered our best RB is Earnest Graham, with Williams in there we don't make the playoffs.

Garcia is completely reckless and injured his back, put that collision injury on the Bucs... what we discovered is that Luke McCown is a darn fine backup that might be a good starter.

66-year old WR, Joey Galloway, got hurt in the 15th game of the season, playinng in about 13 more games than expected. Do you recall him being hurt in week 1 in 2004, or blowing out his ACL with the Cowboys before that in week 1?

Our O-Line stayed healthy and together for all 16 regular season games last season, how many teams can say that?

ON defense, only Kelly, Spires and Piscitelli missed time last season.

Considering the types of injuries most of these players have had and the unpreventableness of their occurrences, you guys really shouldn't be commenting on this. Many other teams have done far worse over the years than us.

[NINJA]

I have thought about this for a long time, and 3rd the notion. Brandon, what are we fortunate about? We sound like Simms? You sound like Graham. How are we fortunate that a back-up did his job... to fill in? This team has consistently suffered more than their share of injuries, and at some point you have to question their conditioning. If you'll give Gruden such a hard time for working with the pieces they scrape off the field every Sunday, shouldn't it be a legitimate assessment to ask why were consistently in this predicament? I would like to hear the Times thoughts on the effectiveness of our training staff. If the results highlight some reasons for concern, the matter should be addressed.

By the way, does anyone know of a different station to catch up on Bucs coverage? I'm tired of 620, the self-proclaimed "Flagship of the Buccaneers", beating up my team everyday.

[DR]

Tampa wasn't the only team with injury problems. There were many teams who lost better players and still moved on. Quit crying.

[wally]

There's no need to do a report investigating our training staff when we all know full well that everything is Gruden's fault. If it wasn't for Gruden's black voodoo magic, we would have a football team with standup citizens, who walk their moms to church on Sunday, and are unbreakable.

[jay]

FIRE JON GRUDEN!!!!!!!!!!! "HE'S MADE THIS TEAM GREAT" GRUDEN YOU SUCK AS A COACH.

[Ra'Shad]

To Brandon, are you crazy?? Are you saying that graham is better that Cadillac? If you are, then you're crazy. Another thing our O-line didnt start all 16 games together, Luke P was the original starter but got hurt at the end of a play in Carolina in week 4. Donald Penn came in and started the rest of the season.

[JR]

We had something like 16 players on IR last year, how is that fortunate? Brian Kelly hasnt played for the better part of two years because of the same injury, a pulled groin that has never really been fully healed. Garcia, Caddy, Pittman, Alstott, Pettigout, Kelly, Spires, June, Sears(didnt play the playoff game hurt at the beginning of the game), Tanard Jackson were all starters that missed significant time due to injuries. June and Sears had serious injuries that occurred at the end of the season and would have caused them to miss the playoffs. We also had many guys who incurred the usual nagging injuries, like hilliard, or guys like askew that were hampered by injuries.

[CW]

Just glad to hear Hilliard is recovering...he may be getting older, but dude is clutch on third down. We need him to teach Clayton a thing or two about that.

[Kurt]

I brought up this idea concerning Toriscelli last year and even indicated we should make a website called "www.firetoddtoriscelli.com" I'm not trying to steal anybody's thunder, but I imagine DR or some of the regulars remember. DR is right though, you have to overcome injuries in an NFL season, which means you have to be deep. All of our injuries have been a sign of an aging team that isn't deep. I think that started to change last year and we should be much better off this year too. GO BUCS!!!

[Skylar]

I remember www.firetoddtoriscelli.com last year. Always way ahead of the competition with your insight indeed, although I still think you're a knucklehead concerning Gradkowski. Anyway, and more to the point, I'm glad we are getting Ike back healthy as I think he is the toughest and most consistent receiver on the team. His leadership will be helpful and with (you heard it here first,) Greise delivering the ball with pinpoint accuracy, the BUCS WR corps will actually be a threat again like the end of '03/'04 season (Galoway/Clayton best WR tanden in the NFL for the last 8 games of the season.)

[Kurt]

Grad barely made it to waivers before being claimed by the Rams. I guess somebody else thinks he's worth a shot.

[Herb]

Ike Hilliard is a decent player, but he took the starting spot from Clayton. Clayton seems to be in Gruden's permanent dog house for dropped passes. Hilliard seems to drop more passes last year than I remember Clayton ever dropping... but for some reason.. Hilliard starts.
I say throw the ball to Clayton early and often and let him find his groove again.