TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season has been circling the drain for many weeks, but they were not eliminated from playoff contention in the lowly NFC South until Sunday’s loss at the Detroit Lions.

That means for the final three weeks of the season coach Lovie Smith can turn his attention to evaluating players for next season – starting with quarterback Mike Glennon.

With a 2-11 record, the Bucs currently own the first overall pick in the NFL Draft that many believe will be used on a quarterback – either Oregon’s Marcus Mariota or Florida State’s Jameis Winston. Mariota is currently the top-rated prospect potentially eligible for next spring’s draft, while Winston is ranked third.

Either Josh McCown or Glennon should be the guy to potentially serve as the bridge to the eventual franchise quarterback. At the very least, Glennon could stir some potential trade value.

“This week is a little bit different for us,” Smith said Monday. “There’s no ‘destination Phoenix,’ (for Super Bowl 49) or anything like that.”

For the second time in less than 24 hours, Smith wouldn’t say whether he would turn back to Glennon at quarterback for Sunday’s game at the Carolina Panthers. But he certainly hasn’t ruled it out.

“We want to put the best product on the field, guys in the right spots, the ones that gives us the best opportunity to win,” Smith said. “That’s where we’re at.

“Playing a player at a position that won’t hurt our football team win a football game, we’ll always look at that. I hadn’t made it that far, to even decide. We haven’t even started looking at video from Carolina yet.

“We won’t give up a game just to see to put a player in a situation like that. And I would like to think if there’s a young player we haven’t played, when you go through a 2-11 season, you would’ve looked at that option a little bit earlier. I don’t think we have a lot of those situations around.”

In Sunday’s game, McCown was sacked a season-high six times and hit on 14 other occasions. From a performance standpoint, there is also reason to make another change at quarterback. McCown is 1-7 this season and has not protected the football. He has nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Glennon didn’t fare much better in his previous opportunity this year, going 1-4 with a last-second win at Pittsburgh. In two seasons, he is 5-13.

“Obviously, we’re not going to the playoffs so coaches are going to start making preparations for next year and looking to the future,” safety Bradley McDougald said.

NOTES: LB Lavonte David will undergo the NFL’s concussion protocol this week before he is able to return to the practice field. David was hit in the head by the knee of Lions WR Calvin Johnson in Sunday’s game. … DT Gerald McCoy has a bruised right knee – not a dislocated kneecap – as reported by Pro Football Talk, Smith said. McCoy returned to the game and finished it. … LB Mason Foster missed Sunday’s game with an Achilles injury. He was limited in practice last Friday. Foster could return Sunday vs. the Panthers.

REPORT CARD VS. LIONS

PASS OFFENSE: D – Protection is the key to any pass offense and McCown had none. He was sacked a season-high six times and hit on 14 other tries. The only thing he could do was try to wing it on the perimeter to Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, who had two touchdowns. But he also threw two interceptions and lost a snap from center.

RUSH OFFENSE: F – The Bucs had season lows in rushing yards (26) and attempts (14), only 10 of which were by running backs. It’s one thing to recognize the Lions have the best run defense in the NFL. It’s another to just give up on trying to run the football.

PASS DEFENSE: D – Lions QB Matthew Stafford completed 75 percent of his passes for more than 300 yards. Calvin Johnson carved up the Bucs defense. The lone bright spot was two sacks by Jacquies Smith. The Bucs secondary played one of its worst games.

RUSH DEFENSE: C – The Lions rushed for 113 yards on 31 carries as a team. That’s a pretty good job by the Bucs defense. But they gave up some big yards in the red zone to Joique Bell, who also ripped off 57-yarder, the longest run of the game. David’s injury hurt and Lansanah made some mistakes in his first start at middle.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C – The Bucs got a solid game from Michael Koenen, who averaged 42.5 yards and placed one inside the 20. The coverage units did their job. Murray hit a 54-yard field goal, his fifth 50-plus yarder this season.

COACHING: F – The game plan was terrible on offense. They had no commitment to the run. They left McCown exposed to take hit after hit, especially from Ndamukong Suh. And 2-11 says it all.