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White's Play Pleases Gruden

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2007

TAMPA - The day after a mostly lackluster performance by the Bucs defense, coach Jon Gruden had a bright spot he could address: the continued strong play of DE Greg White.

White had three sacks and two forced fumbles in a 28-14 loss to Houston on Sunday, his third huge game in four weeks.

His other big performances came in a road win at Atlanta (two sacks and a forced fumble that went for a touchdown) and a home win against Washington (two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery).

"He clearly has become one of our top, if not our top, pass rusher," Gruden said Monday. "He's got a natural ... explosion. He's a guy we think can operate over a guard in a nickel defense, or outside, and we're pleased with what he has done."

White leads the Bucs in sacks with 8 1/2 and forced fumbles with six.

A year ago, the 2007 Arena League Defensive Player of the Year was working security for Best Buy. Now he's on the verge of a double-digit sacks season, something he says he didn't envision when he signed with the Bucs in August after spending time on the practice squads of five NFL teams, including the Bucs.

"I was just working on trying to make the team and getting on the field," White said Monday. "Now I'm making plays and it's working out well."

Veteran DE Kevin Carter says that while he has given White a few tips, he won't take much credit for his breakthrough season.

"He's got unbelievable natural tools," Carter said. "I couldn't be happier for him because I was in Tennessee when we signed him for a little while. Then he went from Tennessee to the Arena League, and he did really well there. I'm happy to see him get back to the NFL."

THIRD-DOWN BLUES: Carter bristled Monday when asked about the Bucs' defensive struggles on third down.

"You're making an issue of that," he said to a media member. "Our defense more often than not this season has been stellar."

The Bucs have played solid defense, but they have allowed opponents to convert 43.3 percent of their third downs, the highest percentage under defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The percentage is 64.4 percent in the last three games.

Gruden said the high third-down conversion ratio is partly due to opponents getting a lot of third-and-short situations. However, of the 24 conversions the Bucs have allowed in the last three games, 13 have been on plays of third-and-5 or longer.

Two of those conversions, one on a third-and-14 play by New Orleans and the other on a third-and-9 play by Washington, resulted in touchdowns.

"We haven't played as well on third down as we have been accustomed to around here," Gruden conceded.

DAY GAME VS. 49ERS: Not surprisingly, the NFL on Monday moved the Bucs' Dec. 23 game at 3-10 San Francisco out of the 8:15 p.m. NBC national TV time slot. The new kickoff time is 4:05 p.m. with Fox carrying the game locally.

The Washington-Minnesota game was moved to 8:15 p.m., and New England-Miami was pushed from 1 p.m. to 4:15.

Tony Fabrizio

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