Simms: 'It's an unknown thing.'

Chris Simms' arm isn't reacting as quickly to his mind and he indicated his struggles are related to surgery to remove his spleen last September.

"My mind is not the problem as far as dropping back and finding the open receiver,'' Simms said. "It's just that I'm a little late trying to get it to him or a little inaccurate with it. It's like my mind says, 'Okay, there he is, he's open.' I'm just not quick and sharp with it.

"I don't know if anybody really knows. It's not an injury you can go back and look at the records of and say, 'This guy had it in '98.' It's an unknown thing, I think, to a lot of people. I'm just going to keep trying to plug away and we'll see what happens.''

Simms has been struggling with symptoms of irregular proprioception, a sixth sense that allows a person to know the relationship of their arms and legs to their body. The condition is not uncommon following abdominal surgery. Simms had his spleen removed Sept. 24.   

Simms took three throwing reps during a 7-on-7 drills Friday, connecting on a deep pass to receiver Joey Galloway. But he was a bystander during the 11-on-11 periods. He did some extra work following practice with quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett.

Simms said the sore elbow that bothered him early in training camp is no longer an issue.

"I'm the kind of guy, I've never had a sore arm in my life,'' Simms said. "I think you guys saw the amount of balls I threw last year in camp.

"I'm just trying to get myself used to those normal motions you do as a quarterback every day and just kind of retraining my body.''

Simms said he feels healthy in terms of running and his ability to take a hit. But he is having trouble regaining his throwing motion despite having worked on it since December. He is considerably behind Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski. 

"But as far as just throwing the ball? I'm not going to put a (percentage) on it,'' Simms said. "You guys know enough to see what I look like and I think you've seen me throw for four years straight. Throwing the ball has never been an issue for me. That's always been my strongest attribute. I'm just trying to make that click on all cylinders.''

As for the deep ball to Galloway, Simms said it felt like old times.

"That was good,'' Simms said. "It was a long time since I've hit him on a deep ball like that. It really did, it felt good. We got the look we wanted from the defense and once he's even, he's leaving. That's the motto. He left.''

Photo: Joseph Garnett Jr. | Times

Comments

[Pete]

Is there nothing else going on at camp? I live away from Tampa, so I go online to find out the latest on my Bucs. But, everyday I log on, I have to read about Chris Simms and his sore arm. I don't care! He's a third string quarterback at best this season. It's always Petigout is out, Simms' arm is sore and Gruden/Allen are liars. Give me something else already. How does the O-line look? What about the linebackers? Secondary? Receivers? Anything other than Simms and his sore arm. He said it last week, it's no big deal. It's training camp, QBs throw about 573 passes every practice, their arms get sore. The hacks at the Times and the Trib and the TV stations need to get over whatever grudge it is that they have with the Bucs and start reported the real facts ... I don't your opinions on this anymore, because they are always slanted on the negative.

[AL]

Well Pete, the o-line is looking better and better everyday, but i dont thinkn they are up to stopping the ravens defense. Joseph and Trueblood are looking very good for sophomores, Sears is showing potential, he's good and has a lot to learn, I doubt he will start this year. Our defense is starting to look like the old, but younger. I am holding high expectations for Barrett Ruud this year, Phillip Buchanon also. I think this is the year we run a kick off for a T.D. Hopefully Pettigout will be fine to start in all games this year, I am still iffy on him. Jovan Haye is looking pretty good. I also hope Ryan Sims does good this year, that guy can be a monster. Our recivers need some help, they are all talented but need to be more consistant. Stovall is pushing hard for the #2 spot, he looks good, not as good as Clayton of '04, but good. The QB situation is typical, I really wish we could have signed Culpepper, but i think the #2 spot will be Mckown. I am a little disappointed in Gradkowski, and really disappointed in Simms. Lets hope all goes good next friday, and we at least have a wild card shot in reg. season.

[Pete]

Thank you AL for the first real report about training camp since it kicked off. Maybe you should start your own Bucs blog.

[larry d.]

What's that mean, a "sixth sense"?

[Larry]

A sixth sense? That's easy, he can see dead paople. When he looks to the sideline he sees Coach Mckay looking at his feet shaking his head. And every old Buc fan knows what that means to a player. Time is ticking.

[Larry]

Excuse me, that's dead "people"

[Larry]

Yes Al, thanks it is a pleasure to see news from camp besides Simms, rain, and Petigout has a stiff back. I can't wait for a few games and see how the Players bounce back then.