Jon Gruden: 'Injuries are mounting'

Addressing the media during Monday's news conference at One Buc Place, Jon Gruden said injuries "are mounting to say the least."

Bucs safety Jermaine Phillips broke his arm in Sunday's loss to the Falcons and is out for the season. Also banged on Sunday were Derrick Brooks (ribs) and Gaines Adams, adding to a growing list of Buc injuries.

"The injuries are a big concern for us. That's the number one concern," Gruden said. "We have to get some people well this week."

Jeff Garcia's strained calf is a significant concern. The injury caught the Bucs off guard heading into Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"We prepared Jeff to play. Neither Luke nor Brian got a heck of a lot of reps," Gruden said. "Neither one of those guys was really prepared to be the starter."

The Bucs will assess Jeff Garcia's injury over the next few days. Coach Gruden hopes to choose Sunday's starting quarterback by Wednesday.

"Hopefully Garcia in the next 48 hours feels a lot better," Gruden said. "We need him."

Asked to assess Brian Griese's performance against the Falcons, Gruden said "(Griese) went out there and did some excellent things." Though Gruden said inactivity contributed to Brian Griese's four sacks, he acknowledged Griese's job was hindered by costly penalties and poor field position.

Responding to a question about WR Joey Galloway's recent inactivity, Gruden said: "the versatility issues play into the problem. He's a split end. Antonio (Bryant) is a split end." Gruden also praised Antonio Bryant's play this season, declaring him the comeback player of the year.

Jon Gruden summed up the Bucs strategy as the playoffs approach: "All I know is we've got to win."

Comments

[Kennedy]

Gruden should split his end right on out of town if he can't figure out how to get Galloway and Bryant on the field at the same time.

[shane]

Gruden lost the game yesterday period; a game that could have meant winning the division when Carolina loses this week on the road to the Giants. Unless Carolina loses it's last two games(And the saints have nothing to play for) on the road and Bucs win their last two, which would give them the division title based on tiebreakers, the season is over with one road playoff game loss to come against the Vikings or Cards.

[Jay]

Gather round childrens, because Jay is going to tell you a little tale. For the first time all season, I'm going to defend Jon Gruden. No no, it's not a sign of the apocalypse (although it did snow in New Orleans). But coaching and playcalling didn't lose this game.

The players did.

I'm calling out Jermaine Philips, despite breaking his arm, he wasn't tackling at all. He was throwing shoulders, diving at ankles, and basically not using any kind of technique to make the play. I know the guy is hurt, and it's really poor taste to pile on, but he's a much better player than that. He does get credit for stripping the ball at the last second, which was a total heads up play that deserve praise. However, if he wasn't caught out of position, it wouldn't have been a catch to begin with. Safety is far too important of a position to bring just mediocre performance to. Which brings me to Sabby Piscatelli. I know he's still a little green, and needs more playing time, but he too was out of position, and not tackling the way that it is expected from any Bucs safety. John Lynch set the standard (although towards the end of his career, he was a liability in coverage) for hitting and defending. Now I just expect nothing less from Sabby. He's a professional, talented young man who has a chance to rise up to the challenge, or just be another Sammy Davis (did I mention that I loathe him?), Dwight Smith, or Will Allen. Now he has his chance.

With all the injuries, I expect to see more Quincy Black, which might not be a bad thing. I love me some Derrick Brooks, but just as we needed to have someone ready to step up when Lynch left, we need someone for when "my favorite player" retires. I would hope that with Philips out they would consider re-signing Brian Kelly and using him in blanket coverages.

But the bottom line is, Gruden didn't lose this game. The defense was great, but the red zone offense was horrible. The penalties killed them, and despite all the opportunities, the Bucs just failed to put away a division rival. It wasn't from a lack of chances, it was from a lack of execution on the offense, which to paraphrase former coach McKay, I'm all in favor of.

[shane]

Jay, I have 4 words for you. FREE AGENT MATT CASSEL.

[Opinion Master]

what is up with the right tackle position for the bucs? Trueblood is Kenyatta Walker all over again, penalty after penalty after penalty.

[shane]

No way Trueblood is our starting right tackle next year unless the coaching staff really is not watching the right tackle position during review of the game film. He is good for 1 sack allowed and 2 penalties each game. And now teams the past two weeks(Abraham and Peppers) are lining up their best pass rusher against him from time to time in critical situations to get a sure crack at the QB. Pathetic.

[IdahoBUCfan]

Play Luke! You can not convince me that we had a better chance of winning with Brian! I think we had very little chance with Brian in there after being hurt these past several weeks. Gruden sees these guys every day, I admit, but c-mon! If Luke is incapable of doing better than 10 pts then why is he even on the team? Many of those motion penalties would not have happened with another QB in the game! Coach Gruden, Please give Luke a shot this week!
GO BUCS!

[Mediocre]

Shut up, Jonny-Boy!!..most teams are injured this time of year...in fact, The Steelers...(you know, Jonny, one of the elite teams in the NFL, with Mike Tomlin coaching) have been banged up all year. So shut up and keep coaching here, cause I want to stay right here in Tampa Bay!

[Dave]

Nice insights Jay. Greise may have been the safe bet, but that's all it was. Greise had plenty of time to get rid of the ball on Saturday and all of those sacks were a result of him holding onto the bsll to long. Doesn't he know how to throw the ball away. If Haye and Hovan return this week the defense will be fine. Worst view of the day was when FOX replayed the Greise INT which he threw into double coverage. Play was brillantly constructed and the safety bit on Clayton on the designed dig freeing Bryant up down the sideline. Greise locked on Clayton and never got off. The play is only designed for Clayton if he is in single coverage. If he is doubled, Greise should have known Bryant was all by himself. Of course Greise probably doesn't have the arm to reach him anyway. So frustrating to watch. Would like to see Panthers and Bucs play again with both sides completely healthy

[Dave]

Mike Tomlin is coaching Bill Cowher's team. Sound familiar, (mediocre). Besides, Pittsburg is hardly an offensive juggernaut.

[Drew]

A franchise QB with YA Tittle's mobility, Joe Montana's smarts, Brett Favre's arm, Tom Brady's composure and Dan Marino's quick release is all I want for Christmas.

Josh Johnson? Maybe... However, we'll never know, because Gruden will never play him.

[OAR]

This sounds like a stooge convention. You guys should really watch another team(I guess the Panthers would suit your wagons).
Man the NFL is so lucky to have you guys as head coach potential, cause there should be plenty of openings Detriot, Cleveland, Buffalo, Oakland, etc(the list is there guys go for it).