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Bucs' Backup Plan Works In 16-6 Preseason Win
Jackson’s 83-yard punt return the highlight as starters rest up for next week’s season opener.
Tribune photo by JAY CONNER
Running back Kenneth Darby was among the many reserves to see action for the Bucs against the Texans on Thursday.
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Published: August 29, 2008
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HOUSTON - Bucs coach Jon Gruden is fast developing a habit for resting key starters the week before a big game.
He did it a year ago before the Bucs took on the New York Giants in a first-round playoff game, and he did it again Thursday on the cusp of his team's 2008 regular-season opener. This time, though, Gruden took the practice to the extreme.
Not one of the Bucs' 22 projected starters started Thursday's final exhibition game against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium. In fact, not one of the Bucs' projected 22 starters played so much as a regular down.
The closest any of them got to doing anything of significance was when captains Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks, Jeff Garcia and Chris Hovan walked to midfield for the pregame coin toss. The Bucs lost. The toss, that is.
They won the game, 16-6. The turning point came early in the second quarter when Dexter Jackson, the Bucs' second-round draft pick, returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead.
"We've been working on our return game blocking, trying to get me open in the open field and making the first guy miss," Jackson said. "Once I turned the corner, I was able to use my speed to outrun everyone down the sideline."
The Bucs pretty much shut Jackson down after that, which was in keeping with the night. After returning a kick for 23 yards and gaining 14 yards on an end-around, he seemingly earned the right to be the Bucs' top return man.
If there was any doubt, it was erased one punt later when challenger Micheal Spurlock allowed a Matt Turk punt to bounce off his chest and roll to the Bucs' 37-yard line, where it was recovered by Jimmy Wilkerson.
Wilkerson is a Bucs reserve. So was everybody in the Texans "starting" lineup, save for right guard Mike Brisiel. He and the kickers and punters were the only regulars to see action Thursday, but even some of them looked like reserves.
Bucs kicker Matt Bryant, who had already missed three field-goal tries this preseason, missed two more against the Texans, including a 36-yard attempt that came in the wake of Wilkerson's recovery of the Spurlock punt return.
The play of Bryant, who has steered most his kicks to the right, is one of the issues the Bucs will have to address before taking the field against the Saints in the season opener. It won't be the only one.
The decision to keep quarterback Jeff Garcia on the bench Thursday means he will start the season with little more than practice snaps and a rusty effort against the Jaguars under his belt.
That's still more work than top receiver Joey Galloway had. Galloway missed all of training camp with a sore groin and didn't start practicing regularly until Monday.
"Joey is a rare breed of player," Garcia said. "It will be nice to have opportunities on the practice field with him, and hopefully we can catch up with some of that this week. I really think my main reps have to come in practice.
"I don't feel like I need to play anymore in the preseason than what I played. The main thing I [need] is to catch up on all the practice I've missed. Getting those reps, I feel like I will be where I need to be to start the opener."
Rookie right guard Jeremy Zuttah might have needed a few more games reps. He didn't take over as the starter until last week, so he will go into the opener with less than three preseason games worth of experience.
It's not unusual, though, for Gruden to rest his regulars in the final preseason game. He regularly uses this game to get one last look at players on the bubble, and that was clearly the objective against Houston.
Brian Griese, who seems to have moved ahead of Luke McCown in the battle for the backup quarterback job, didn't get any work either, as the quarterback snaps were doled out to McCown, Chris Simms and finally Josh Johnson.
McCown was near perfect, completing all five of his throws for 52 yards in two series. Simms was a little less efficient, completing just nine of 15 throws for 71 yards and an interception.
The rookie Johnson completed four of eight throws for 56 yards, but none of the quarterbacks could get the team into the end zone as Tampa Bay settled for three Bryant field goals, all in the fourth quarter, for their final points.
The game did serve to support the belief that the Bucs are deep defensively. Though they did it against second- and third-teamers, the Bucs backups limited Houton to 192 yards and nine first downs while allowing them to convert two of 12 third downs.
One of the standout players was rookie Geno Hayes, who had a key quarterback pressure and an interception late in the game. That's more than can be said for fellow linebacker Adam Hayward, who dropped two interception opportunities.
The outing might have been Simms' last as a Buccaneer. He has been asking to be traded or released since the offseason, and he figures to finally get his wish when the Bucs reduce their roster by 22 players Saturday.
It was also the last for as many as 21 Bucs players, as Tampa Bay must reduce its roster by 22 for the start of the season.
Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979 or rcummings@tampatrib.com.
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