This is the kind of matchup Nate Burleson lives for.
Not only does he get to pit his talent against two elite-level cornerbacks, he also gets to match verbal jousts with a couple all-star trash talkers.
Buccaneers cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber will line up opposite Burleson and Calvin Johnson on Sunday. Most likely, Talib will cover Johnson and Barber will be on Burleson.
"Any time you have a chance to go against a high-caliber defensive back it just sharpens everything about you," Burleson said of Barber. "We'll have a competitive game. He'll be talking and I'll be talking, but it will all be in the fun of football."
Talib, playing his first game in six months (hip), already has started talking. So far, though, it's been respectful chatter.
"I can't wait for a chance to go against him," Talib told The Tampa Tribune. "He's one of the top guys in the league and I can't wait to get back on the field in front of the fans and get it cracking again."
Burleson was asked if he ever wished Talib would shut up.
"No, I don't want to shut him up," Burleson said, smiling. "He likes to talk, but I like to talk, too, and I don't want nobody to tell me to shut up. He's got some leverage, too, man. The guy's a good athlete. He's a ballhawk. He gets interceptions. That's the one thing about him, you can't say anything about his production."
Talib had six interceptions last season before being injured in Week 13. He did not play in the Lions' 23-20 overtime victory.
"Actually, I'd rather have him talking during the game," Burleson said of Talib. "It makes it fun and I'm pretty sure it's all going to be in the competitive spirit. We're not going to be out there throwing blows or wrestling on the ground but we will be going back and forth. There will be some chirping on game day."
Burleson will be squaring off against Barber on a milestone day.
Barber, 36, is set to become the NFL's top active ironman. With Colts quarterback Peyton Manning out after neck surgery, Barber's 184 consecutive starts are tops in the league.
"I played against Ronde my rookie year in 2002 and I remember he jammed me up," Burleson said. "I was thinking to myself, 'I am doing all right if I'm getting jammed up by Ronde Barber.'
"Everybody says he's pretty good for his age. No. He's pretty good in general. Age has nothing to do with it."
Barber, a five-time all-Pro, hasn't missed a start since Nov. 21, 1999.
Young will play
The consensus among the staff is rookie receiver Titus Young 's development is lagging a bit — understandable considering he missed four weeks of camp with a lingering hamstring injury.
But the consensus also seems to be, ready or not, he's going to play Sunday.
"We drafted him for a reason," coach Jim Schwartz said. "We like what he brings to the field. All of our receivers are going to play. They will all get in, in some situations. Titus is a guy who can make a play for us but he's missed a lot of time and he's got ground to make up. It's not always about what you look like in practice. He's on the right path."
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan concurred.
"He's behind a little because of all the time he missed, but he's made a lot of strides in just the last two weeks," Linehan said. "He wasn't at full strength until maybe right before the last (exhibition) game. But the timing was good. He was able to get a good week and a half of full speed work in."
Captains selected
Based on a vote of the players, Matthew Stafford and Dominic Raiola are the offensive captains, Kyle Vanden Bosch is the defensive captain and Jason Hanson is the special teams captain.
"A lot of guys got votes," Schwartz said. "We aren't going to be one of those teams that throw eight captains out there for the coin toss but we will reflect some of our leadership we have on this team with the guys we send out there."
Schwartz will select one other captain per week for the coin toss. The reason being, Hanson's pregame routine has him warming up during the coin toss.
For the opener, Schwartz selected receiver Maurice Stovall as the weekly captain — a fitting reward for Stovall's excellent exhibition season and because he played for the Buccaneers the last five seasons.
Extra points
The neck surgery performed on Manning on Thursday was the same Vanden Bosch had last December — single-level anterior fusion.
Essentially, the procedure removes a damaged disc from the neck and replaces it with another from the hip area.
While recovery time varies, Vanden Bosch was lifting weights four weeks after the surgery and said he would have been able to take part in the team's offseason workouts in March, had there been any.
Ruled out for Sunday's game: cornerback Alphonso Smith (foot), defensive tackle Nick Fairley (foot) and offensive tackle Jason Fox (foot).
Lions at Buccaneers
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.
TV/radio: Fox/97.1
2010 records: Detroit 6-10, Tampa Bay 10-6
Line: Tampa Bay by 2
Series: Detroit leads 27-25 (Detroit 23-20, OT, Dec. 19, 2010)
Did you know? The overtime victory at Tampa Bay last season ended Detroit's NFL-record 26-game road losing streak.
