TAMPA, Fla.— Barrett Ruud chooses his words carefully.

Ruud is talking about his unsuccessful attempt to accelerate progress on a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The fifth-year middle linebacker is the team’s undisputed leader on defense and doesn’t want to say or do anything that may become a distraction.
“I know I have one year left. The best thing for me and the team is to have a great year,” he said. “If you play well individually, the defense plays great and the team wins games, only good things will happen.”
As a fan favorite and one of the club’s most productive players, it figures Ruud eventually will get a new deal. He will earn about $1.6 million in the final season of a contract he signed as a rookie and is excited about the challenge of learning a new defensive system.
He worked out on his own at the University of Nebraska instead of participating in voluntary offseason workouts with the Bucs, but attended a mandatory minicamp in June and reported to training camp on time.
With Derrick Brooks no longer the focal point after being released in February as part of a plan to field a younger roster under first-year coach Raheem Morris, Ruud not only is responsible for making defensive calls on the field, but is becoming a leader off the field.
“I’m going to do the same things I’ve always done. I’m just going to try to do them a little bit better. I’m going to try to lead by example,” the 26-year-old linebacker said.
“I know as soon as the huddle starts, it’s my defense. I’ve got to make all the calls. I have to organize everything. What I say goes. I’m still not a big talker in the locker room or a big talker in front of the team in team meetings, but I do take a lot of pride that when we step on the field it is my defense.”
Morris said Ruud is not being asked to do anything he hasn’t been doing since becoming a full-time starter two years ago.
“To be honest with you, and no disrespect to Derrick, Barrett’s been the leader ever since he took over the snaps,” Morris said.
“He does it all. ... He’s really the quarterback on defense. It’s been that way the last couple of years. ... If he has a bad game, the whole defense has a bad game.”
More often than not, Rudd has delivered solid play. He’s led the Bucs in tackles the past two seasons and had two interceptions and the first three sacks of his career playing between Brooks and Cato June.
Jermaine Phillips, who played safety the past seven seasons, is making the transition to Brooks’ spot. Third-year pro Quincy Black is the front-runner to take over for June, who was cut the same day the Bucs parted with Brooks, receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard, and running back Warrick Dunn.
“The one good thing with that is we’re all kind of learning together,” said Ruud, who is still trying to get comfortable with the terminology for a new system installed by coordinator Jim Bates.
“It’s not like we’ve got one guy who’s been here for 12 years. Everybody’s learning this on the fly. It’s a little bit tough in the sense that I’ve got to make sure, even though sometimes I’m unsure of calls, that I sound like I know what I’m doing.”
Teammates say Ruud is more than capable of filling the void left by Brooks’ departure.
“Let’s not kid ourselves. Every great defense has a great leader. I absolutely envision Barrett being that guy,” cornerback Ronde Barber said.
“He’s in a situation where they didn’t ask him, because of who was here, to be that guy. He just kind of gradually started to assume that role last year, and it’s going to fall heavy on his shoulders this year. He’s a great guy, and he can handle it.”