By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Raheem Morris insists he isn’t worried about job security.
The coach of the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers reiterated Monday that his young team is not a finished product and that he remains focused on doing whatever he can to end a seven-game skid that’s ensured the club of a losing record for the second time in three seasons under Morris.
The collapse following a 4-2 start that included wins over NFC South rivals New Orleans and Atlanta has created speculation about whether ownership might consider a coaching change only a year after Morris appeared to have the NFL’s youngest team headed in the right direction.
The Bucs (4-9) face Dallas (7-6) at home Saturday night, then close the season with trips to Carolina and Atlanta.
“When you’re coaching, you’re always on the hot seat. That’s the mentality of what we do. We were on the hot seat when we were 10-6 and we didn’t go to the playoffs. You can still get fired,” Morris said Monday, a day after Tampa Bay may well have hit rock bottom in a 41-14 loss at Jacksonville.
Tampa Bay had seven turnovers, allowed the NFL’s lowest-ranked offense gain a season-best 325 yards, and blew an early 14-0 lead against a team that hadn’t scored more than 20 in a game all year.
Josh Freeman(notes) returned to the lineup after sitting out one week with an injury to his throwing shoulder but tossed two more interceptions and lost one of two fumbles that resulted in touchdowns for the Jaguars. Jacksonville took advantage of Bucs mistakes to score four second-quarter TDs in less than eight minutes.
The current losing streak matches the team’s longest under Morris, who replaced Jon Gruden after the 2008 season and began his head coaching debut by dropping seven in a row. The Bucs rebounded from a 3-13 finish in 2009 to go 10-6, narrowly missing the playoffs a year ago.
The quick turnaround heightened expectations for 2011. But turnovers, poor tackling, silly penalties and other mistakes have plagued the offense and defense during a stretch of eight losses in nine games. Inexperience and injuries have been a factor, however inconsistency has been a bigger issue.
“You look back at the game and the score probably should have been 70-14 with the amount of opportunities they had,” Morris said of Sunday’s loss.
The Jaguars entered the game ranked 32nd in passing and total offense and were next to last in scoring, averaging 12.7 points. The Bucs’ porous run defense limited Maurice Jones-Drew(notes) to 85 yards rushing, however the Jaguars star scored four TDs and finished with 135 yards total offense.
“I won’t give you any excuses. … We have to do a better job,” Morris said.
“At the end of the day, you’re still building with a bunch of young men and making those guys ready to prepare to win a championship at some point, the coach added. “We just have to deal with the fact that it’s not going to be this year.”
With three games remaining in his third season, Morris has a 17-28 record. Three NFL coaches already have been dismissed coaches this season, including Kansas City’s Todd Haley, who was fired Monday after going 19-27 in just under three seasons with the Chiefs.
Morris said he is focused on preparing for the Cowboys, not his future.
“I try to tell guys all the time if I was worried about being fired I certainly would not be coaching. I would have taken that physical education job in Long Island that I turned down 15 years ago at this point. But that’s not what I do. We’re entertainers. We’re in this thing to win football games. I’ve got a lot of guys in this locker room counting on us not to show mental weakness, and we won’t do that,” Morris said.
“It’s great for you guys to scare my family half to death and talk about that stuff all throughout. But for us, man, it’s a mentally tough business. It is move on. It is next opponent. It’s next man up. It’s the Dallas Cowboys. … For me, a chance to ruin Jason Garrett’s season, and let you talk about him.”
The Cowboys, coached by Garrett, have lost two straight. They are tied with the Giants atop the NFC East, however New York holds a tie-breaker advantage after beating Dallas on Sunday night.
“Make no secrets about it. We’re not going into the Dallas Cowboys game not to get fired,” Morris said. “We’re going into the game to win. Period.”
Notes: The placed LB Jacob Cutrera(notes) and DT John McCargo(notes) on injured reserve. DT Frank Okam(notes) was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster. … RB Nic Grigsby(notes) was released from the practice squad.
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