Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Big win means big dance party for the Chicago Bears -- who broke out the disco ball in the team locker room after beating the brakes off the Bucs ... and TURNED UP!!!

It's become a tradition for the Bears -- with head coach Matt Nagy believing his players should be able to celebrate the hell out of every victory.

So, after Mitch Trubisky and company dominated Tampa Bay in a 48-10 ass whooping at Soldier Field ... the ball came out and the music got loud!

The song -- "My Dawg" by Lil Baby.

"Great team victory. Unbelievable team victory," Nagy told the team after the game.

"That's a full team win right now and we protected Soldier Field."

DeSean Jackson says Ryan Fitzpatrick looked SO GOOD in his borrowed clothes after Sunday's game ... he's gonna make it his mission to keep him fresh all season long!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the Bucs star WR after he lit up the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday -- a team he takes great pleasure in torching ever since they let him go back in 2014.

"It felt like no other, bro" DeSean said when asked about that 75 yard TD on the first play of the game ... "It was like surreal. It was a great feeling."

Jackson says the whole team is in a good place after the win -- but tells us they're staying focused on the long-term goal, "We're not peaking too soon."

As for Fitzpatrick, DeSean says he's been getting high praise for the way he dressed up his QB after the game ... some even compared Fitz to Conor McGregor ... so DJ says he's gotta keep the tradition going!

"I had him looking fresh ... I might [have to dress him] every week!"

We also talked about Jameis Winston -- and how he's handling watching the team kill it while he serves his 3-game suspension.

Jackson says Jameis has been nothing but supportive and the team can't wait to have him back.

As for who will get the starting nod once Jameis returns ... DJ says, "I'm not sure how that's going to play out."

DeSean Jackson is sticking by his quarterback -- telling TMZ Sports he won't turn his back on Jameis Winston in the wake of his suspension for a 2016 Uber incident.

"You can't turn your back on someone when they going through something," the Tampa Bay Bucs wide receiver told us at LAX.

Jackson acknowledged it's a "tough situation" -- but said when it comes to Jameis, "He's a good dude and a good teammate."

As we previously reported, the NFL has suspended Winston for 3 games for touching an Uber driver in a "sexual manner" during a 2016 ride. In other words, sexual assault.

Winston apologized for the incident -- but sources close to Jameis have told us the QB is privately telling friends he did NOT grab the driver's crotch.

Jackson says he believes Jameis will bounce back after his suspension, saying -- "He's a champ, he done been through a lot in his career."

Jameis Winston is apologizing to the Uber driver who claims the Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback sexually assaulted her during a 2016 ride ... and now says he's "eliminated alcohol from my life."

Winston opened up about the incident Thursday -- right after the NFL formally suspended him for 3 games for the incident.

The Uber driver had previously claimed she picked Winston up from a bar area in Scottsdale, AZ and took him to a drive-thru restaurant ... where he forcibly grabbed her vagina.

"First and foremost, I would like to say I’m sorry to the Uber driver for the position I put you in," Winston said in a statement.

"It is uncharacteristic of me and I genuinely apologize."

Important to note -- Winston never denies the allegations in his statement but we've learned he's privately telling friends he did NOT grope the woman.

The NFL doesn't believe him -- and said in a statement of their own that an investigation showed Winston "[touched] the driver in an inappropriate and sexual manner without her consent."

Winston's statement continues ... "In the past 2 1/2 years my life has been filled with experiences, opportunities and events that have helped me grow, mature and learn, including the fact that I have eliminated alcohol from my life."

It's interesting, considering Winston's past -- he was accused of raping a woman while a student at Florida State. That case was ultimately dropped because the investigation was a mess.

Winston's statement regarding the Uber driver continues as follows ...

"I know I have to hold myself to a higher standard on and off the field and that I have a responsibility to my family, community, and teammates to live above the platform with which God has blessed me. I apologize to my teammates, the Buccaneers organization and fans for letting them down and for not being able to be out there for the first three games of the season."

"Although I am disappointed in the NFL’s decision, I understand the NFL’s process, and I embrace this as an opportunity to take advantage of the resources available to help me achieve the goals that I have for myself."

Donald Trump will be rubbing elbows with his supporters in one of the ritziest gated communities in Southern California.

TMZ has learned the fundraiser will go down at the home of Ed Glazer, the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He lives in the super exclusive Beverly Park community in Beverly Hills.

Our sources say it was first billed as a "victory party" but later changed to a fundraiser.

Glazer has commissioned a company to install tents for the occasion -- a 40x50, a 40x40 and a 10x15. There are 64 guests who are invited for the event which will be held sometime between 5 and 10 PM.

The price of admission ... minimum $35,000 per person, with a top price of $250,000.

Tampa Bay Bucs star Gerald McCoy is FURIOUS after he found out a group of boys called his 6th grade daughter the N-word at school ... and the school didn't tell him about it!

McCoy says the boys were playing "Truth or Dare" when one of the dares was to go up to McCoy's 12-year-old daughter and call her the n-word to her face.

Gerald says the boys were "bold enough to do it" -- and his daughter is devastated.

McCoy says his daughter did NOT get violent -- instead she reported the boys to school officials.

But what pissed Gerald off ... the school never contacted Gerald or his wife. Instead, he learned about the incident from his daughter and had to contact the school to find out how they were handling the situation.

McCoy says the school should have contacted the parents FIRST and then launched the investigation -- instead of the other way around.

"There is no way, shape or form where that was handled properly," McCoy says.

McCoy says the school ultimately decided on a 1-day suspension -- and McCoy is PISSED saying, "A 1-day suspension is not doing anything."

McCoy feels the school was trying to sweep the incident under the rug because they're not taking racism seriously enough ... and he feels it's important to share the story with the public.

Today's Gruden Grinder goes to JON GRUDEN'S AGENT -- who's reportedly landing a $100 MILLION contract for Chucky to coach the Raiders.

Just win, baby!!!!

The deal is reportedly $100 mil for 10 years, the longest coaching deal in NFL history according to Adam Schefter.

Gruden hasn't coached in the NFL since 2008 and has since worked as a color commentator and featured on-air personality for ESPN, where he's reportedly one of their highest paid employees.

Gruden famously won Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Bucs back in 2003 ... when he beat the Raiders.

Tampa Bay Bucs safety T.J. Ward had 99.9 grams of weed in plain sight when cops entered his apartment back in October ... and that's ultimately why he was arrested Wednesday morning.

TMZ Sports obtained the criminal report from the Oct. 25 incident -- that shows cops responded to Ward's apartment for an active intrusion alarm at 4:45 PM.

When cops arrived, they knocked on the door and announced themselves -- a woman inside the place told the officers to "come in."

Just one problem ... cops say all the weed was in plain view on a coffee table. Oops.

There was apparently no emergency -- the alarm may have been an accident -- but when cops saw the weed, they busted both T.J. and the woman for felony marijuana possession.

We're told, Ward was only formally charged on Dec. 29 -- and that's when a warrant was issued for his arrest. On Wednesday morning, cops went to his apartment and arrested him.

As for the weed, cops say Ward didn't exactly play the "it's not mine" card -- and admitted to occasionally smoking.

Ward has been released from jail on a $2,500 bond.

And in case you're wondering what 100 grams of weed looks like, here's a video ...

Officials in Florida have impounded a truck registered to DeSean Jackson -- after cops found hollow-point bullets and weed inside the vehicle after it crashed into a tree.

But the twist ... the Bucs WR says he wasn't driving the car -- and he's pointing the finger at one of his friends.

Here's the deal ... cops say the Chevy Silverado was involved in a single-car accident on Sunday night -- the truck slammed into a tree.

When officers arrived on scene, the driver had fled -- and cops found 6.3 grams of weed and two .38 caliber hollow-point bullets. The ammo is legal in Florida -- the weed is not.

Cops saw the car was registered to DeSean and called him up. The WR later came down to the scene and told police the name of the friend who had borrowed the ride, according to NFL.com.

Jackson's rep Denise White issued a statement saying, "It was a friend of DeSean's who borrowed his car while he was out of town without his knowledge."

This is why it's awesome to be in the NFL.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Vernon Hargreaves' rumored GF ... a woman so hot we, here at TMZ Sports, feel there should be a charge to read this post (there might be soon -- thanks, FCC).

The woman is IG model Kaitlyn Patrise, and there have been multiple reports that her and Vernon are getting cozy ever since she was spotted in the booth of a Bucs game.

Jameis Winston is adamantly denying grabbing a female Uber driver by the crotch during a March 2016 ride despite a complaint the driver made to the company ... but now the NFL is investigating.

The woman who identifies herself as Kate told BuzzFeed she picked Jameis up from a nightlife area in Scottsdale, Arizona around 2 AM -- and Jameis got in the front passenger seat.

During the ride, Kate says the Tampa Bay Bucs star was out of control -- screaming homophobic comments to pedestrians -- before requesting a stop at a Mexican restaurant.

While in the drive-thru line to pick up food, Kate says Winston "reached over and put his fingers on my crotch. It wasn't accidental."

Kate says she wasn't just "creeped out" ... "I was frozen."

After the ride, Kate says she filed a complaint with Uber but did not go to police because she feared backlash from NFL fans.

Winston's camp says the allegations are completely false -- "We categorically deny this allegation. It is our understanding the Uber driver was unable to identify the specific individual who allegedly touched this driver inappropriately. The only reason his name is being dragged in to this is that his Uber account was used to call the ride."

Uber says Jameis has been banned from using the app in the future.

Slaughterhouse rapper Joell Ortiz thinks Ryan Fitzpatrick sucks sooo bad, when we told him Fitz was getting the start vs. his Jets this Sunday, this was his reaction ...

"I WILL TAKE THE FREE WIN!!!"

Joell tells TMZ Sports he didn't even like Fitz when he was low-key ballin' for NY ... so he can't wait to watch the destruction, now that a Jameis Winston injury is forcing the QB under center for the Bucs.

Oakland Raiders stud lineman Donald Penn says allegations that the offensive line plotted to injure QB Derek Carr over his stance on taking a knee are total and utter bullcrap.

Penn is firing back at Miko Grimes -- wife of Bucs star Brent Grimes -- who went on "The Breakfast Club" and claimed there was an internal dispute during Week 3 ... and the line let Carr have it in Week 4.

"The reason Derek Carr got injured is because the Raiders offensive line allowed him to get injured because he was against them protesting. They had a fight in the locker room before that Monday night game with the Redskins," Miko said.

She continued -- "That's the only all-black offensive line in the NFL is the Raiders. ... When the whole offensive line said they were going to kneel, he was like, 'No, you're not kneeling. This is America, you're going to stand for the flag' ... so when they came out to play, they basically had a plan."

Enter Penn -- the leader of Oakland's O-line -- who shot Grimes down hard.

"It’s crazy how people will make up lies and tell a story so false and untrue 2 get them some attention," Penn tweeted. "I hope it was worth it. All lies."

Martin Gramatica -- one of the greatest Tampa Bay kickers of all time -- is vouching for Nick Folk ... saying his beloved Bucs should NOT fire the guy ... at least not yet.

Gramatica won a Super Bowl with the Bucs back in 2003 -- and as you can see in the back of the shot, his trophy room is filled with game balls from making clutch kicks.

So, after Folk crapped the bed on Thursday Night Football -- going 0-3 -- we hit up Martin for his take.

"I felt horrible for him," Gramatica tells TMZ Sports ... "that feeling that you get, only kickers understand."

But Martin says he knows Folk -- and if you look at his stats, he's a good kicker -- and he hopes the Bucs give him one more shot to prove it before cutting bait.

He's known as the passionate, expletive-shoutin' fan favorite on HBO's "Hard Knocks" ... but did you know Tampa Bay Bucs player Riley Bullough is an aspiring country music singer?!

You better believe it!!

The ex-Michigan State star joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show on FS1 to talk about his training camp experiences in front of the camera ... and we asked if there's a secret side to him that wasn't revealed on the show.

That's when Riley spilled the beans about his country music moonlighting ... and we gotta admit, dude sounds legit.

Here's another clue Adrian Peterson could be in Tampa Bay next season ... he's training with Jameis Winston and hanging out with some of the biggest stars on the team.

Peterson was out in Houston this week training with Tim Grover -- the fitness guru who's worked with guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe and Dwyane Wade.

He worked out with Jameis and praised the young QB's work ethic -- "I really enjoyed being in the backfield and marveling at [Winston] and the confidence & leadership he displayed around so many veteran guys. Really impressive!"

After the session. AP hit the nightlife scene with Jameis ... as well as Bucs receivers Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson.

Also noteworthy ... James Harden, Trent Williams and Lou Williams kicked it with the star-studded group.