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Garcia Could Again Be Gruden's Guy

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2008

Updated: 10/07/2008 12:22 am

TAMPA - Jeff Garcia thought his days as the Bucs' starting quarterback were over. He should have known better.

Bucs coach Jon Gruden has made 11 in-season starting quarterback changes since the start of the 2004 season. And with Brian Griese nursing a sore throwing arm, Garcia may be asked to walk through that revolving door yet again.

Griese injured his throwing elbow and shoulder while taking a third-quarter hit from Champ Bailey in the Bucs' loss at Denver on Sunday. He is questionable for this Sunday's critical game against division-leading Carolina, but there may be more prompting his potential exit from the starting lineup than his sore arm.

Though he was interception-free for the first time in two weeks, Griese struggled to move the team on Sunday. He threw for just 88 yards while completing 13 of 19 passes and missed on one potentially game-changing play when he failed to connect on a long pass to a wide-open Jerramy Stevens.

"We missed some opportunities, yes," Gruden said in reference to Sunday's game. "We've missed some opportunities in the last couple of weeks."

Even the passes the Bucs have connected on haven't gained them much. The Bucs are averaging just 5.45 yards per pass attempt. That's barely better than what they're averaging per rushing attempt (5.3 yards per carry), and it's nearly 2 full yards less than what they averaged per pass attempt last year, when they won the NFC South title.

They did all that behind Garcia, of course, and after engineering a late 90-yard touchdown drive against Denver - the Bucs' lone touchdown drive of the game - Gruden seems to have developed a renewed confidence in his one-time starter.

"I thought he went in there late in the game Sunday, moved around and made some creative plays that we're accustomed to seeing and that's good," Gruden said of Garcia. "I think he does feel better and I think he's ready to play. I do think the signs are very positive and I'm excited about that."

After sitting for the better part of the past month, waiting, he said, for what he thought might be a trade or even his release, Garcia says he is just happy to be back in a position to help his team again.

"It's been tough," he said of sitting on the sidelines. "I thought I'd taken my last snap here in Tampa. But now that I'm feeling good again, I'm ready. If Coach needs me, I'll be there for him."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

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