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Bucs' Garcia To Go If Healthy

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 4, 2007

TAMPA - Their position is an enviable one. Who wouldn't want to be three games ahead in a division race with only four games left in the regular season?

As enviable as it is, the Bucs' position is not a comfortable one.

Comfort is still one victory away because one more victory is what the Bucs must obtain before the league gives them the OK to stamp themselves as NFC South Division champions for the third time.

This is not the time for the Bucs to rest on their laurels. Neither is it the time for the Bucs to rest their starting quarterback. That's how Coach Jon Gruden sees it.

Though he acknowledges he could rest the ailing Jeff Garcia and once again start Luke McCown on Sunday at Houston, Gruden said Monday he will start Garcia if Garcia's back is deemed healthy and he is cleared to play.

"He's a needed guy on our football team," Gruden said when asked if he would consider resting a healthy Garcia and going with McCown again. "We need to win another game. We're in the fight of our lives to win every Sunday and this week is no different. If Garcia is cleared to play, he'll play."

Since the team was off Monday and today, it will be Wednesday before Garcia can test his aching back and the Bucs know for sure whether he has a chance to play this week. If Garcia is able to practice and does no further damage to his back during workouts, he probably will get the nod to go Sunday.

McCown is sure Garcia will be ready to go.

"He certainly seems like it," McCown said. "But I have to be prepared to play. That's been my mind-set from Day One of training camp."

The mind-set served him well Sunday at the Superdome. In his first start for the Bucs, McCown completed 29 of 37 passes for 313 yards and a touchdown and also ran two times for 34 yards. The result was a 27-23 victory against the Saints that left the Bucs with an 8-4 record and a seemingly insurmountable lead in the division race.

McCown's performance was not flawless, however. He threw an interception that was returned 53 yards for a touchdown and took a safety that allowed the Saints to temporarily take a 23-20 lead.

But McCown made up for both plays by driving the Bucs to a game-winning touchdown in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter against a desperate team in a hostile environment. That left Gruden impressed.

"He showed me a lot of poise," Gruden said of McCown, who was making only his fifth NFL start and first since late in the 2004 season, which he spent with the Cleveland Browns.

"That was a loud, difficult place to play. The Saints were really jacked up and were at full strength, getting Charles Grant and Brian Young back. I thought he showed tremendous poise, great command and he also made a lot of plays."

The two runs he made were among them. On each, McCown displayed the same ability to make something out of nothing that Garcia has shown all season. He also made some big plays with his arm.

One was a 60-yard heave to Joey Galloway, who fell just short of the end zone. The other was a bullet he fired to B.J. Askew with a defender bearing down on him. Then there was the 4-yard touch pass he made to win the game.

That one was lofted over the head of a single defender and wound up in the arms of seldom-used tight end Jerramy Stevens, who was one of 10 players to catch a pass from McCown.

"That's important," Gruden said of McCown's ability to distribute the ball to a variety of targets. "It shows that he understands where to go with the ball. He understands his complementary receivers, his check-down receivers.

"Most patterns that are any good have five eligible receivers built into the route because that's the most you can have. If you can use 10 different men, you're doing a heck of a job seeing things and reacting to things."

McCown reacted to the news of Gruden's plans for his quarterbacks with what amounted to a shrug. As much as he wants to play, he seems to realize he's not yet in a position to unseat Garcia.

"He's the reason we've gotten this far," McCown said. "He's played extremely well, so there's no reason for me to say I would be disappointed if I don't play. I understand my role here, and it's to do whatever I can, whether it's practice or play, to help us win."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or at rcummings@tampatrib.com.

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