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If Garcia Can't Play, Give McCown A Shot

BUCS COLUMN

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2007

Updated: 11/27/2007 12:22 am

TAMPA - Outside One Buc Place, a line of volunteer massage therapists stretched two city blocks. Homemade cure-alls, including a necklace of garlic with a rooster's claw, arrived in the mail.

Jon Gruden phoned Jake Plummer's tree house one last time.

Beep.

"Jake, it's early Monday, just wanted to see what up. Give me a shout when you can."

Beep.

And the call has gone out to Tim Tebow. Maybe he can wave his broken hand over Jeff Garcia's lower back and heal him.

None of this happened Monday, but might as well.

Oh, My Aching Back, Day II.

"I know he is in pain," Gruden said.

Tell us about it.

Legend Has Come And Gone

Bruce Gradkowski stood in the locker room Monday and smiled as he remembered the first of his 11 NFL starts last season.

There was a lot to smile about. The first start came in New Orleans, where the Bucs return Sunday, and it was a whopper. Gradkowski completed 20 of 31 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions.

A legend was born.

It has since died.

Remember when Tim Rattay came in at Chicago and the Bucs actually scored?

We don't think Gradkowski should get the nod Sunday if Garcia can't play, at which point Tampa mayor Pam Iorio suspends the constitution and we start stockpiling food and water.

I'd go with Luke McCown, despite the zero presence he showed in a short stint during the season opener at Seattle.

Why not give him a shot?

The Bucs can't have another Sunday - not one - of Joey Galloway staring down at the ground in utter dismay over another misguided Gradkowski toss.

"We'll have a quarterback in New Orleans, I assure you of that," Gruden said.

Sounds like a boast.

Boy, what he'd give for a healthy Chris Simms as insurance.

It's funny how life works sometimes.

Before the season, thinking about Garcia, we decided, "If he's breathing, he's playing." That he came back in Sunday is a sure sign.

But is Sunday worth it?

On the surface, the Bucs appear to have a cushion in the NFC South over New Orleans. Their remaining five games are against teams with a combined record of 20-35.

On the surface, the Bucs are going to have a heck of a time not being a playoff team. The 7-4 Giants have trips to Chicago, Buffalo and perfect New England. The fading 6-5 Lions get the Cowboys and Packers.

So much for the surface.

In reality, it's a thin line, the one the Bucs have straddled all season.

Garcia was and is the key.

No Illusions If Garcia Is Out

If he can go at all, he will, because a loss at New Orleans could roll into another at Houston. We can only trust he wouldn't risk himself this week if there was any chance of something worse happening, because that would hurt this team more than he ever has helped it, which is saying something.

And if he can't go?

There are no illusions.

I think Gruden and his players know that.

Yes, there's a chance a backup can come through.

Gruden insists every NFL team is in the same boat if its starting quarterback goes down, that there really aren't Earl Morralls and Jeff Hostetlers anymore.

But it was backup Chris Simms who hung in as the Bucs made the playoffs in 2005.

Sunday, Philadelphia backup A.J. Feeley, starting for injured Donovan McNabb, nearly led his team to one of the great regular-season upsets in NFL history against the perfect Patriots.

So it can happen.

Come to think of it, another of Philly's backup did quite nicely last season, stepping in for McNabb and leading the Eagles to the postseason.

It was Jeff Garcia.

Oh, never mind.

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