Warren Sapp is playing like there’s no tomorrow on a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that suddenly can’t wait to get up in the morning.
Although Sapp’s defensive statistics Sunday against the Detroit Lions weren’t as overwhelming as they were against the San Francisco 49ers the first week, his presence was. And the third-year defensive tackle had to beg team doctors to let him back on the field during a 24-17 victory that put the Bucs at 2-0.
“I sprained my ankle twice, and this is the worst thing,” he said, holding up his left hand. “I dislocated my finger and it popped through the skin and I had to get it sewed up. That’s why I kept coming out.”
Sapp, asked if would be ready to play Sunday at Minnesota, scoffed. “You have to ask that question? If I’m not shot or dead, I’ll be out there fighting.”
Sapp, who knocked Jerry Rice and Steve Young out of the opener and finished with 11 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks, had one tackle, two assists, a forced fumble and a sack against the Lions, who double-teamed him nearly every play.
One of four No. 1 draft choices coach Tony Dungy starts on his front seven, Sapp leads a defense that Lions coach Bobby Ross praised for an uncanny ability to stay on its feet. Holding Barry Sanders to 20 yards caused serious consternation in Detroit but surprised neither the Bucs nor the Lions.
“We knew we were going to be something special on defense,” Sapp said. “Once we get a lead, we’re not going to let a lead get away from us. We looked up and it was 17-0, and we said, `That’s the ballgame. We can go out and kill ’em now.’ “
The Bucs and Vikings share the lead in the NFC Central Division.
Sapp has a tougher day Thursday, when he faces a hearing on a misdemeanor marijuana charge. The Bucs do not expect serious consequences from the law or the league, which could impose a suspension.
He coaches, too: Sapp mentioned before the game that he liked the idea of Sanders running behind a fullback because he would always know where to find him. Ross said formations have nothing to do with results and that Sanders ran from one- and two-back sets.
But Ross sounded an awfully lot like predecessor Wayne Fontes when he admitted: “We need to run more that six times in the first half and 12 times in the game. That’s my fault.”
In two games, Sanders has rushed only 25 times for 53 yards, the lowest two-game total in his career.
Odd words: While the Bucs and Vikings vie for first place in the NFC Central, the Bears and Lions will meet with last place on the line. Ross gave his 1-1 troops a pep talk Monday.
“We’re not about to surrender,” Ross said, a strange way to react to his first loss as Detroit’s coach. “A lot of people think we are. If anybody does surrender, they’re not going to be here. We have 14 games left. Only six teams have a better record than we do right now. The rest of us are 1-1 or 0-2, so there’s a lot of the season left. We’re going to go to Chicago and hopefully play much improved in certain areas.”
Quarterback Scott Mitchell was blamed for many of the Lions’ offensive shortcomings, but Ross is not expected to pull him.
Strange and stranger: In a league that struggles to find as many quarterbacks as it has teams, the performance of third-stringer Steve Matthews for the Jacksonville Jaguars was amazing.
Subbing for injured Rob Johnson, who was subbing for injured Mark Brunell, Matthews completed 23 of 35 passes for 252 yards in a 40-13 romp over the New York Giants.
Where did he come from? Try Harper College in Palatine.
Matthews played there in 1992 after transferring from Tennessee and before going to Memphis State. Drafted seventh in 1994 by Kansas City, he spent two years on injured reserve and was inactive for all 16 games in 1996. Released by the Chiefs on Aug. 19, he was claimed by the Jaguars on Aug. 20 and played in an exhibition game Aug. 22.
“We were saying in the press box, `This guy looks pretty good,’ and nobody knew who he was,” Jaguars publications manager Rick Korch said. On Monday, Korch was scrambling for more biographical information on Matthews.
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The Jaguars are off Sunday, and Brunell claims he wants to return for the Sept. 22 Monday night game against Pittsburgh and Kordell Stewart. Johnson will be ready then too, so Matthews might never play again.
Corraled Colts: If the Indianapolis Colts aren’t ready to panic after two games without scoring an offensive touchdown, they might be waiting until Sunday, when they are host to the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams are 0-2, and the Seahawks have given up the most points in the league.
Jim Harbaugh completed a career-high 30 passes against New England, but they were good for only 241 yards. The Colts have been sacked 10 times in their first two games. Since a 5-1 start last season, they are 4-9, including their playoff loss. The Seahawks beat them 45-3 on Aug. 16.
Coach Lindy Infante calls it a “bend in the road, not the end of the road.”
Packer depth: Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren, reacting to the loss of center Frank Winters for up to six weeks with a foot injury, acknowledged that the Packers’ depth is just about tapped out. While Green Bay was losing Sunday to the Eagles, the Bills’ Bryce Paup had three sacks, the Falcons’ Lester Archambeau had two sacks and the Eagles’ James Willis had 11 tackles and a forced fumble. All are former Packers.
Injury report: Giants wide receiver Ike Hilliard is expected to miss from six to seven weeks with a neck injury. . . . Carolina linebacker Lamar Lathon had arthroscopic knee surgery, but hopes to miss only one game. . . . Miami fullback Stanley Pritchett suffered a dislocated kneecap and will miss at least two months.