Looks like McCown's the guy

It appears quarterback Luke McCown is being prepped to start in New Orleans in the event Jeff Garcia is sidelined because of his lower back bruise.

McCown is expected to take the reps during workouts this week, meaning coach Jon Gruden likely has decided to make a change at the No. 2 quarterback position. Gruden said earlier in the week that his No. 2 quarterback would get all the preparation for Sunday's game rather than splitting snaps between McCown and Bruce Gradkowski.

Gradkowski played in relief of the injured Garcia but finished 9 of 19 for 106 yards.

Comments

[DR]

Pick your poison.

[Michael Hayes]

McCown will give us a better chance to win. All he has to do is play smart and make enough passes to keep the Saints from stacking the box. Let Graham AND Bennett run the ball. Oh, and NO turnovers!

If Garcia isn't ready by game time we're screwed!!! The Saints are hungry, home and only 2 games out of first so they need this win more then we do.

[txnflfan]

I agree..I just wonder why out of all the QB's in the league, they decided these two guys were the only competent backups

[Tom]

Let's hope that it is neither McCown or Gradkowski that will take center. However, I think Gruden made the right move to put McCown ahead of Gradkowski.

We need to attack Jason David. That guy may be the worse CB in the league. Unbelievably, he may be even worse than Fred Thomas.

[Cybuc]

Let's see, six turnovers last week & the Saints are more charitable than the Redskins. Maybe the defense can win this one all by themselves. A kneeldown every play by our QB whoever it is (assuming JG can't go) & bank on Tanard, Ronde, Derrick, Brian, etc. to take a couple to the house or close & we win 17-3. Now how's that for fantasy football!

[Sean Payton]

Hee hee hee

[Michael B]

Can someone tell me why Rattay was not brought back? He's no superstar, but would we not feel a million times better with the prospect of him starting than the two third string QBs we have now?

[Kurt]

Not a wise move playing quarterback carousel.

[Jason David]

Hee hee hee

[Joey Galloway]

Hee hee hee

[Dustin J]

Hey everyone don't forget how many QB's we had at the begin of the season. Jake is a starter and an even better back up. Chris is always going to be a back in my mind, but a good second string QB. And Luke and Gradkowski are cheap and young and still under contract. Where Rattay is better but older and would have cost more. We will be just fine Jeff will more than likely play

[Jake Plummer]

Hee hee hee

[Damien]

I'm not sure McCown won't give us a chance. Remember, we made the playoffs in '05 when Griese went down and Simms started off the bench, and went 5-0 to give us a wildcard seed. Too bad we screwed that up.

At any rate, McCown looked good in preseason, and seems to have at least a moderate understanding of the offense, so we might as well give him a chance. Better a 100% backup than 80% Garcia.

[Ron]

Good move. While this is an important game, the final four games and the playoffs are more important. Keep Garcia on the bench. Let him have two weeks to heal. Our last four games are very winnable with a healthy QB and we own the tiebreaker with New Orleans, if we take care of business with Atlanta & New Orleans.

Don't sacrifice Garcia for a game that is not as important as it might appear.

[Ron]

Oops. I meant Atlanta & Carolina

[Ecp]

According to the reporter, Luke is "expected" to take the snaps with the first team, but Gruden stated after practice that they split them equally and has not decided on a starter. What gives? More rampant speculation from the Times? Or is Gruden being coy?
BTW, nice to see EG out rushing alleged superstar Reggie Bush in both yardage and yards per carry.

[Daniel]

All a defensive coodinator has to do is look at tape of Grads and see he hasn't completed a pass over 20yrd in the air. That is not to say he never will, he is a Garcia clone and those same knocks about Garcias arm strength chased hime to the CFL to start his career. Besides arm strength or the percieved lack of arm strenght, Grads pocket pressence is that of a first year player, maybe because he only has 11 starts under his belt. A playoff chase is not a good place for on the job training, but Garcia needs the rest. Who ever starts, McNown or Grads, we need to air it out early just to keep the Saints D honest and the running lanes open. A four wide look to exploit the saints weak pass defense mixed in with some screens, draws and slants would be effective against the Saints as they tend to over persue. An early score to help keep the noisey crowd out of the game will be benificial to a young QB as well. Thats probably asking for too much, but gruden HAS to run his WHOLE offense and not be so conservative, regardless of who starts.

[Ignatius]

I just got my playoff invoice in the mail. Bad karma. Bet the farm on the Saints.

[DR]

Daniel, good point. They need to air it out because the Saints defensive secondary is horrible!

[Skylar]

I know it's not saying much, but Grad actually had more 20+ yd completions last year as a starter than Simms had his entire time here. And even though he only started 11 games, I believe he had the most of any rookie QB in Bucs history, so you might want to check your facts Daniel before you make certain untrue statements. I'm just saying...

Kudos to the Times for rocking the boat and making false assumptions when we need a little unity at 1 Buc Place. It's obvious you guys have been waiting for this opportunity to take your shots at the organization. Did you send a copy to McKay directly?

[Daniel]

Skylar, Those twenty yard completions were with YAC. My comment was a "pass over 20yrd in the air" I really don't remember one, INCLUDIND preseason. Listen I didn't say that Grads wouldn't develop if given the time, but a playoff run is not a great time for on the job training. Obviously you didn't read my post clearly. I called Grads a garcia clone. That means he COULD develop into a servicable NFL starter. I'm not writing him off like the rest of the fans, but you have to admit, he hasn't shown as of yet he can hit the deep ball.

[DR]

McCown hasn't proven anything in the NFL either. In fact, he has proven that he is a 3rd string QB at best or shouldn't be in the league.

[Stephen_Holder]

Skylar, I believe I missed the part where we take "shots at the organization" in this report. How this is rocking the boat, as you say, I really don't understand. As for th McKay comment, I've already stated here before how I feel about those. We're out there every day talking to people, seeing things and hearing things. All we're doing is bringing that information to anyone who is interested. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

[Skylar]

If its so traightforward Stephen, then why did Gruden completely shoot your "assumptions" down after practice? You're making assumptions instead of stating the facts, which makes you know what out of you and me. Why didn't you just say that Grad and McCown split the reps and we're not sure who will get the start. Instead, your headline was "Looks like McCowns the guy"...Now with all that insight you speak of, you'd think you guys would be right every now and again, and if you were, we wouldn't be having this converstion.

As for McKay, you're fairly new to this scene, but your predecessors and some who are still around definitely have ties and are biased to Buc bashing. I apologize for including you in that category, as I have never seen that out of you personally.

[Stephen_Holder]

Skylar, I'll just leave you with this: Gruden admitted he is being coy about this. If we just took everyone at face value and printed what people told us as gospel, we wouldn't be doing our jobs. If every reporter revealed how they came about information in every story, we never would have learned about Watergate. Sometimes -- though it is not our preference -- we can't reveal how we come about information because of circumstances.

Here's what I can tell you (and this is repeated in today's newspaper). In this case, Gruden himself said whoever his choice was would get the majority of the reps, and even the QBs themselves admit that the starter gets about 90 percent of the reps most of the time. The person getting most of the reps right now is McCown. That alone is a very good indication, don't you think? There's more evidence that I won't get into here. I have no problem continuing the discussion if you want to drop me a line: sholder@sptimes.com. Figure I won't bore everyone here with my rambling. If not, everyone here knows where to find me if there are ever any issues.

[Daniel]

Stephen, I hope revealing your e-mail address doesn't mean you start recieving thoses chain e-mails and various junk solicitations that clog my in-box on a daily basis. Seriously, I think you have seperated yourself from the usual GruAllen bashing that is coming from BOTH papers. Don't even get me started on Duemig. I do understand Skylar's frustrations however, not nesassarly with you, but with the local media coverage of the team. I am not looking for ALL rah rah stuff, just objective reporting from the usual suspects. Not knowing the Bucs record, you would think we were on our way to a 5-11 based on some these stories. BTW, I have enjoyed your in-game blog immensely, I think I have participated in every one of them. Although I have been watching football for 40++ years, I still get alot of information and a birds-eye viewpoint from someone who obviously understands the game. That is why I continue to come to these blogs, reading opinions from knowledgable fans like Skylar, Tom and DR(yes DR) is a plus too.

[DR]

I thought it was a fair assumption to say that McCown is may be starting. The article read "looks like" which is not a definite term. Skylar is assuming what you mean and assumptions get you nowhere. It's fair to assume that if a 2nd string QB is not getting the normal 90% of the snaps like a starter, then there are issues. Stephen, you do a great job. You go to these practices and report what you see. I appreciate your insight. These guys expect you to write about super bowl plans and be unrealistic about how good the team isn't.
I don't think Gruden even believes what he's saying.

[aaron]

i agree stephen, you are doing a good job reporting what you see. out of anyone on this blog you are the single person with the most know about the bucs. we are all fans, but it is your JOB to cover the bucs. me and these other guys do other things for a living and the bucs are our hobby, they are your job. so dont worry about what skylar rambles on about. besides he is from the Tribunes bucs blog anyways. anybody who knows if you want the real deal for bucs coverage you come here and not over there.

[John P]

After 15 yards in 4 second half series, why would Gradkowski deserve playing time? The only reasonable 'assumption' is that anyone healthy enough to play (besides Bruce) would be the starter. If McCown wasn't getting the snaps - now that'd be a story. That being said - the only thing that will convince me Garcia's not playing would be for him to show up on the inactive report. Until then I still expect a miracle recovery, or at least Garcia on standby if McCown falters.

I don't think anyone has anything against Grads - he just doesn't play like a guy you'd want as your starting QB.

A side note on the slant of Bucs stories....last year when the Bucs started out horribly I though the press spin was shockingly positive to start off with, but it grew more derogatory as time went on. Now, this year - the Bucs started out fairly well but the press slant was cynical and unconvinced(including fans like me) - but it's growing less so each week. I'm not singling out any journalist, just the overall tone of coverage.

If there is such a thing as sports writer's neutrality, I've never seen it. It's impossible to work that closely around people for long periods of time without developing some deeply seated impressions. I think a few reporters around town root for the Bucs (based on the underlying optimism in their writing) - and there are definitely a few that write as if they truly enjoy seeing them fall on their faces.