Rudy Carpenter hopes he showed Tampa Bay's coaches what they needed to see. So did several young receivers hoping to make the team.

Carpenter threw two touchdown passes to Arrelious Benn , Corey Lynch returned one of his two interceptions 91 yards for another score and the Buccaneers beat the Houston Texans 24-17 on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay (2-2) rested starter Josh Freeman and backup Josh Johnson , giving Carpenter a chance to atone for a poor outing against Jacksonville on Saturday. Carpenter played into the fourth quarter and completed 15 of 22 passes for 203 yards without an interception.

Dynasty alert - Arrelious Benn continues to make progress as rookie. Great game last night with 2 TDs.

Although they lost 19-13 to Jacksonville, Josh Johnson gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the reassurance they sought with starting quarterback Josh Freeman sidelined by a broken thumb.

Filling in for Freeman, who the Bucs expect to return in time for their regular season opener, Johnson completed 9 of 14 passes for 122 yards and one touchdown to build a 13-6 lead before leaving the game in the third quarter. He also threw a 2-yard TD pass to running back Earnest Graham.

The third-year pro started four games last season, going 0-4 but showing enough progress that Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris insists he’s comfortable with the idea of the 24-year-old leading the offense in the opener if Freeman doesn’t recover as quickly as expected.

The Bucs lost backup safety Sabby Piscitelli to a mild concussion in the fourth quarter.

There’s been a lot of buzz about fourth-round draft pick Mike Williams and not nearly as much about second-round choice Arrelious Benn. Both have a shot to be starting wide receivers. Let the Benn buzz begin. He made a great catch this morning, diving in the end zone to catch a pass from Josh Johnson. Observers say Benn’s been starting to show a bit more the last few practices.

Speaking of Williams, I saw a couple more flashy plays out there today. Second-year pro Sammie Stroughter also made some plays and the Buccaneers are pretty happy with what they’ve seen from Reggie Brown, who has a chance to start. All that’s putting heat on veterans Michael Clayton and Maurice Stovall. I’m guessing only one of them makes the roster.

Will the wildcat formation be a part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense this season? Coach Raheem Morris seemed to indicate it will.

Though he wasn't ready to commit to it, Morris strongly suggested after Thursday's voluntary workout at One Buc Place he is putting together a wildcat package featuring backup quarterback Josh Johnson as the wild card.

In most NFL wildcat formations, the starting quarterback leaves the field or lines up as a receiver while a running back takes a direct snap in the shotgun formation. The running back has the option to run or pass.

Tampa Bay's version would put keep projected starter Josh Freeman on the field and add Johnson as a dual threat to run or pass.

Rick Stroud from the St. Petersburg Times reports Josh Johnson has already "entrenched" himself as the Bucs' No.2 quarterback behind Josh Freeman. Johnson went 0-4 as a starting QB last season. According to offensive coordinator Greg Olson, "A year ago, he was out of the mix,'' Olson said of Johnson. "We had Luke (McCown) and Byron (Leftwich) in here and we had just drafted Josh Freeman. So Josh Johnson was getting very few if any reps. The nice thing is we're still in the process of developing Josh Freeman, but Josh (Johnson) has entrenched himself as that No. 2 guy right now, so he's getting the majority of the other reps. He has a real solid handle, in my opinion. Mentally, he's very sharp, he makes very few mistakes if any and he makes the most of the reps he's getting.''

Buccaneers embattled WR Michael Clayton said that he understands his roster status is not safe with Tampa Bay. Clayton is coming off the worst season of his career just after receiving a lucrative contract extension prior to the 2009 season.

Last season the Bucs started Byron Leftwich, Josh Johnson, and Josh Freeman at quarterback. During the 2009 offseason and training camp, Leftwich and Luke McCown were battling for the right to start. Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris agreed with Clayton's claim about the quarterback continuity.

Clayton has not produced a 40-catch, 500-yard, or multiple touchdown season in the past five years. Still, the Buccaneers had some very productive receivers in that time.

Clayton, the team's first-round pick in 2004, has never produced the numbers that he was able to generate during his rookie season when he had 80 catches for 1,193 yards and seven touchdowns. Clayton feels that he can have an impact on the roster and earn playing time in 2010.

This offseason Tampa Bay traded for veteran Reggie Brown and drafted wide receivers Arrelious Benn and Mike Williams. Clayton is facing tough competition to get any playing time in addition to making the team. The Buccaneers also have holdovers Maurice Stovall, Mark Bradley, and Sammie Stroughter competing for playing time.

Clayton is just not a dependable fantasy player and hasn't been since his remarkable rookie season in 2004. Maybe a change of scenery would be best, but he'll need to prove himself a few weeks in a row no matter where he is before he's even considered a fantasy starter. He should be on your waiver wire come the first week of the season...

"Josh Freeman will take over as starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," coach Raheem Morris said after practice. "No discredit to what Josh Johnson did for this football team. He's gone out there and gave us his best efforts. But the preparation, the timing, how we want to acclimate our young man into our system, into our organization, into our town, into our community, we think it's best coming off the bye. It's the most time to prepare.

"It's time to see Josh Freeman."

According to Morris, Freeman can handle the entire offensive package. "You don't scale back," he said. "You do what you've been doing, you get better at what you've been doing. … You let him see the adjustments, you let him go through the adjustments mentally, and now it's time for him to go play physically. Here we go."

Bucs coach Raheem Morris named rookie QB Josh Freeman the team's starter today.

Freeman, the 17th overall draft pick, made his NFL debut last Sunday in a 35-7 loss to the Patriots in London. He will replace second-year player Josh Johnson, who lost his four starts had four TDs with eight INTs and a 50.9 passer rating.

No Freeman yet: First-round pick Josh Freeman might be the starting quarterback at some point this season, but it won't be this week.

"Josh Freeman's got to wait his turn," Morris said. He seemed resistant to even insert Freeman into the game, citing the short week of preparation (Friday will be lost because of the long flight to London).

Asked if QB Josh Johnson took a step back against the Panthers in his third NFL start, Morris defended his second-year quarterback. Johnson was 11-of-17 for 147 yards but was ineffective on third downs and again missed on deep balls.

"It's definitely challenging to get two young guys going, two young guys motivated to play, but Josh (Johnson) knows if he plays well, he can be the quarterback," Morris said. "Freeman has to wait his turn. (Johnson) just has to go out there and play. Josh (Johnson) is the quarterback. We got a short week going. It's New England. Josh can't worry about that. Josh (Johnson) has to focus on playing well while he's in there."

During the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss at Philadelphia, coach Raheem Morris and some of his assistants considered doing something that is inevitable: playing rookie QB Josh Freeman.

Though the game was out of hand, they decided against it, mainly because the Eagles hadn't strayed from their barrage of blitzes for which Freeman wasn't fully prepared. But the team's 21-year-old No. 1 draft pick is closer to being ready to take his place under center if and when the Bucs decide his time has come.

"He could play right now," offensive coordinator Greg Olson said Wednesday. "He's getting reps, we're sharing reps in practice right now between he and Josh Johnson.

"It's just a matter of him getting comfortable with (blitzes). So, if he had to play, yeah, he would play. He's our No. 2 quarterback right now. It's just a matter of him getting reps during the week."

Morris said: "Josh Freeman's development is really going well. Josh Johnson, however, has been here for a year. He's been here for the 6 o'clock meetings in the morning for a year; he's been with Greg Olson for a year; he's been through these protections for a year. … He's been through all that. Freeman's going through that process."