"Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Derrick Ward finally broke his silence Tuesday.

Ward, a premier offseason signing for Tampa Bay in 2009, failed to meet expectations – personal and team – during his first season with the Bucs. The Bucs expected Ward and Cadillac Williams to be a potent 1-2 combination, much like Ward and Brandon Jacobs were with the New York Giants.

Instead, Ward rushed 114 times for 409 yards and one touchdown, choosing early in the 3-13 season not to speak with members of the media.

"I was a little bit disappointed in myself, the way I played," Ward said on Tuesday, the second day of voluntary offseason practices on One Buc Place. "It was just a very disappointing season for the team collectively. It's a new year. (We've) got some nice, young guys ready to play and it's more energetic this year."

The Bucs also should have offensive consistency this season.

Tampa Bay fired offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski 10 days before the start of the regular season, causing the Bucs to revamp. The team originally planned to distribute the ball through a 2-2-1 system – two carries for Williams, two for Ward and one for Earnest Graham – but that proved ineffective.

After rushing five times for two yards during a 24-0 loss to the Giants in Week 3, Ward had six rushing attempts against Philadelphia the next week and only two yards on one carry against Carolina the next.

Tampa Bay eventually made Williams its primary running back. He finished with 211 carries for 823 yards and four touchdowns.

"We have to look at it like this," Ward said. "We planned on doing a 2-2-1 thing, but it didn't work out that way, and we had to adjust. And the way we adjusted, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. But we're all in it together. We all lost together and we all won together.

"Last year was last year. This year I'm just focusing on being a better teammate on the field and churning out some victories."

Ward's plan for becoming a better teammate is to lead by example. Instead of showing his frustrations, Ward intends to implement the winning attitude he had while in New York in hopes of having a better season in 2010."