Aug 15, 2008 - With Jeff Garcia sidelined for a majority of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' just-concluded training camp, reserves Brian Griese and Luke McCown have each logged significant time with the first-team offense on the practice field.
After Sunday's game against New England, both Griese and McCown will have led the starting offense into live competition, too.
On Friday, Head Coach Jon Gruden revealed that Griese will get the start under center against the Patriots, eight days after McCown got the opening call in the preseason opener in Miami. With Garcia making a gradual recovery from a practice-field calf strain, the Buccaneers have been able to use the first half of the preseason to advance the competition for the number-two spot.
"The one thing that we've been able to do is, both Luke McCown and Brian Griese have taken starter's reps for basically the entire camp," said Gruden. "We chart the reps that they take and both of those guys have been given starter repetitions, which in some ways has really helped those guys. Hopefully it will pay dividends, but we do want to get Jeff back out there on the field and hopefully that will be early next week."
Garcia didn't participate in the full-team drills during Friday's practice, the first at One Buccaneer place since camp wrapped on Thursday, but he did throw extensively with fellow injured veteran Joey Galloway (groin). Last week, Garcia said he hopes to play in two of the four preseason contests; it appears he may take the first steps in that direction in the lead-up to the Jacksonville game on August 23.
"He's getting better," said Gruden. "Again, hopefully early next week he'll be doing a little bit more."
Though Griese and McCown have swapped spots, the Bucs are likely to use a rotation similar to the one that produced a 17-6 win in Miami last Saturday. In that contest, McCown and Griese played in the first half, Chris Simms got a majority of the second-half reps and rookie Josh Johnson finished the game.
The Buc quarterbacks helped themselves in Miami by performing well across the board, which sustained drives and created enough snaps to go around. Though the game was relatively low-scoring, the Bucs held the ball for 36 minutes and threw a total of 40 passes, including 10 or more for each of the three veterans.
"We're going to start with Griese and then go to McCown," said Gruden. "If the situation is what it was last week, we hope to see all the quarterbacks get some work, and certainly Chris."
After Sunday's game against New England, both Griese and McCown will have led the starting offense into live competition, too.
On Friday, Head Coach Jon Gruden revealed that Griese will get the start under center against the Patriots, eight days after McCown got the opening call in the preseason opener in Miami. With Garcia making a gradual recovery from a practice-field calf strain, the Buccaneers have been able to use the first half of the preseason to advance the competition for the number-two spot.
"The one thing that we've been able to do is, both Luke McCown and Brian Griese have taken starter's reps for basically the entire camp," said Gruden. "We chart the reps that they take and both of those guys have been given starter repetitions, which in some ways has really helped those guys. Hopefully it will pay dividends, but we do want to get Jeff back out there on the field and hopefully that will be early next week."
Garcia didn't participate in the full-team drills during Friday's practice, the first at One Buccaneer place since camp wrapped on Thursday, but he did throw extensively with fellow injured veteran Joey Galloway (groin). Last week, Garcia said he hopes to play in two of the four preseason contests; it appears he may take the first steps in that direction in the lead-up to the Jacksonville game on August 23.
"He's getting better," said Gruden. "Again, hopefully early next week he'll be doing a little bit more."
Though Griese and McCown have swapped spots, the Bucs are likely to use a rotation similar to the one that produced a 17-6 win in Miami last Saturday. In that contest, McCown and Griese played in the first half, Chris Simms got a majority of the second-half reps and rookie Josh Johnson finished the game.
The Buc quarterbacks helped themselves in Miami by performing well across the board, which sustained drives and created enough snaps to go around. Though the game was relatively low-scoring, the Bucs held the ball for 36 minutes and threw a total of 40 passes, including 10 or more for each of the three veterans.
"We're going to start with Griese and then go to McCown," said Gruden. "If the situation is what it was last week, we hope to see all the quarterbacks get some work, and certainly Chris."
