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Gruden Waiting On Naming Starter

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By ROY CUMMINGS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2007

TAMPA - Bruce Gradkowski still can't believe a lot of what happened to him during his rookie season. Among the most unbelievable, he said, was a newspaper headline that ran the morning after he made his pro debut in 2006.

"It read 'The Great Gradkowski,'" he said. "I was like, 'Hey, it's one preseason game. Relax.' That was a little too much."

Jon Gruden didn't think so. When Chris Simms went down with a season-ending spleen injury three weeks into the season, the Bucs coach bypassed seven-year veteran Tim Rattay and made Gradkowski his starter.

Now, as he faces the possibility of taking on the New Orleans Saints on the road without injured quarterback Jeff Garcia, Gruden is hesitating to go back to Gradkowski. He did Monday, anyway.

"I won't comment on that," Gruden said when asked if Gradkowski would replace Garcia as the starter should Garcia's sore back prohibit him from playing Sunday.

"I'll just say we have two quarterbacks who played extensively in the preseason, and I thought both guys played well. Both guys have been here for a couple of years."

The second of those two quarterbacks is fourth-year pro Luke McCown, who was not made available to the media Monday. In addition to playing extensively during the preseason this year, he also played exceptionally well, posting a 113.2 passer rating.

He played so well, in fact, that Gruden initially named him Garcia's backup. He lost that job after a week because Gruden believed Gradkowski's more extensive game experience made him the better option.

But after watching Gradkowski struggle during his relief effort against Washington on Sunday - and pulling him and re-inserting Garcia in the fourth quarter - Gruden appears to be contemplating making a change on his depth chart.

"We'll have a plan," Gruden said with regard to his quarterbacks for the New Orleans game. "What that plan is will be decided once we get some more official news on Jeff Garcia.

"I don't want to stand up here and speculate at this point. We'll have a quarterback in New Orleans this Sunday. I do want to assure you of that. We'll make those decisions as time moves on."

That quarterback even may be Garcia. He suffered a deep muscle bruise between his ribcage and hip on the first play of the Redskins game, which the Bucs won 19-13 thanks largely to six Redskins turnovers.

After Gradkowski completed nine of 19 throws for 106 yards, no touchdowns and took two sacks, Garcia returned and he remains an option even if he can't practice this week, Gruden said.

"He can play, no question, with reduced practice snaps," Gruden said of Garcia. "But we practice to get guys ready to play. And again, I don't want to speculate at this point, but he might be ready to go this Wednesday. He might not be. He might be ready to go against the Saints, and he might not be. And we'll deal with that on a day-to-day basis."

Gradkowski said he will deal with the situation the way he always does, which is to prepare like he's going to be the starter. He seems to sense, though, that Garcia will find a way to play.

"He's a tough competitor so we'll see what happens," Gradkowski said. "He forced himself back into the game Sunday. He wills his way through a lot of games. He's going to be fine."

Perhaps, but Gruden also must factor in the possibility of Garcia doing further damage to his back and missing more than just a couple of quarters of action against the Redskins.

That may be why he's hesitating to name a backup. After watching Gradkowski struggle against the Redskins in much the same way he did last year, Gruden may be hesitant to turn to him for the long term.

Though he did play well in the 2006 preseason, Gradkowski struggled more often than not in the regular season, completing 54 percent of his passes while registering a 65.9 passer rating. He threw nine touchdown passes but also threw nine interceptions and took 25 sacks, a sign he often held the ball too long and was slow to make decisions.

He showed many of the same traits Sunday against Washington, including struggling to connect on intermediate and deep throws. But he believes a week of regular practice reps will help him improve.

"You can never be prepared enough," he said. "That's one thing that getting practice reps will help, but we'll see what happens."

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

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