Bucs to start rookie QB Josh Freeman

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Tampa Bay Coach Raheem Morris will start rookie Josh Freeman at quarterback when the Buccaneers return from a bye on Nov. 8 to face Green Bay.

The Bucs sank to 0-7 with their 35-7 loss to New England Sunday at London's Wembley Stadium, leading Morris to start Freeman ahead of veterans Byron Leftwich and Josh Johnson.

"We went through the growing pains of the 0-7," Morris said Wednesday on the team's Web site. "Now it's time for him to come in there, join his team and lead us."

"I've had the opportunity to watch it from a different point of view and see things unfold," said the 6-foot-6 Freeman, the first-round pick by the Buccaneers in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Kansas State.

He was the third quarterback drafted behind Detroit's Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets.