McCown reacts to rampant QB rumors

One more tidbit from today's workouts.

QB Luke McCown couldn't pretend to be unaware of the rampant speculation linking the Bucs to Denver QB Jake Cutler. And before that, the Bucs were involved in talks with New England about QB Matt Cassel.

"I love being here and I'm glad to be here and I want the Bucs to succeed," he said. "I couldn't (be upset). Mark (Dominik) wants to be the best GM he can be. Raheem (Morris) wants to be the head coach he can be. They have to do their jobs, and their jobs are to put together the best team they can put together. If they feel like that's another option, I can't blame them for that. I wouldn't agree with it. But I can't blame them for that.

"I have an opportunity to prove that I'm the franchise guy that they're looking for. I want to be the quarterback here for the next seven, eight, nine years. I'm going to do my very best to prove that. . . It's not personal. It's a business and you have to understand that."

Comments

[oldtimer]

This guy's a pro! I like his game and his attitude. I say screw Cutler and stick with this guy.

[Sir Pritam the Great of England]

It's his decision-making that worries me

Come Week 8, we'll REALLY see if this guy is NFL starting material.....

[skp]

contrast that with cutler's reactions to the moves in denver and tell me which guy you'd rather follow? i'm rooting for mccown to be the man here for the next 7, 8, 9 years as well...show 'em, luke

[ref813]

His decision-making should improve once he gets more playing time. He will also have a better O-line, which should cut down on many of the types of errors he made. Some sacks and a stupid safety aren't the end of the world. He can get better. He is more physically gifted than any QB we've had in quite a while. He can run better than Garcia and he actually has a strong arm. This could backfire. I'd rather take the chance than give up potentially 2 1st round picks for Cutler. We already know that he is making dumb mistakes after 3 years starting. He's not a good teammate, either.

[Brian]

This kid will be a good Qb with enough experience. He is smart, a good athlete and can make all the throws. Stick with him!

[Ish]

Most of the mistakes he made were in an offense that veteran QBs with even more experience had trouble with. Gruden's offense was always described as complicated and difficult to master.

Given a simpler offense (which we've now got), with easier reads, a line with more experience and another good receiving option (Winslow), Luke should start displaying a cool hand.

[Grs]

LOL what else would you expect a 3rd stringer who became a starter overnight to say?

[cody]

Good decision making comes with experience and coaching; two things he has never had thus far. I can think of a bunch of QB's that have had or still do have bad decisions from time to time that most fans would jump up and down to have: Cutler, Romo, Favre.

I'm really rooting for Luke, how can you not? He's a great guy that deserves a true shot at this. Chris Simms, Rob Johnson, Shaun King, Bruce Gradkowski; if those guys can get a shot so should Luke.

[Stephen Holder]

Ish, I'll share with you a little extra something here. I asked McCown today whether the new streamlined scheme will help many of the young players who struggled to grasp Gruden's. His answer surprised me. He basically said it wasn't just the young players who struggled. And the struggles were the result of the gameplans being too expansive.

He believes Jagodzinski will have a much more condensed gameplan which will reduce the amount of material players have to master in the days leading up to a game. That should minimize mistakes on gamedays. In case you're wondering, he also pointed out the fact that they'll have less volume in the gameplan doesn't mean they'll be limited in what they can run. We don't want to get too technical just yet, but the offensive changes I'm hearing about all seem like very productive ones.

[Russell]

Before we all say this kid can't be our franchise QB, lets see what he can do with a coach and an offensive coordinator with some integrity. Gruden could find a way to screw up any young qb. If they pull of a trade for Cutler, great. If not, great. I am looking forward to seeing what Luke's got to offer.

[Jon]

Not too many players could handle Gruden's system at any of his stops, and remember, he's been around dozens of the best players in the past two decades (Favre, Waters, Young, Rice, Montana, Garner, Brown, Gannon, Garcia etc.)

I agree 100% with Holder, that Jag's offense is far simpler and easier to absorb than was Gruden's, without being so overly simplistic that it's basic.

There's something happening here, and what it is is becoming clear.

[Krutch]

How can we not give this guy a chance? Where did guys like Tom Brady, Matt Cassel, Matt Hasselbeck and to a lesser extent: Shaun Hill, Marc Bulger, Trent Edwards and Kyle Orton get their start? Low round picks who needed to be given their shot. I agree with Sir Pritam, give him 8 consecutive games running our offense.

[D Block]

Ok as you all know i said we had a chance at getting Cutler. If you have the chance to get him and you don't believe in your QB you make the deal. I also said a month ago that i liked the idea of Luke & JJ competing for the postion as well because there are not any good QB's in this years draft or FA so roll with what you got. McCown has every right to be pissed! he hasn't lost the team a game and like Graham said he probably should have been playing. We will all get our chance to see

[D Block]

Hey Holder they are talking about less verbage. Grudens play calling was long like this" Rocket zulu larry flanker slash 2 eggnog" And the play would be TE out WR 1 do a post all backs stay in and block on 2!

[jerseybuc]

Regarding the expansive gameplans....Remember the Saints home game in 07, we jumped all over NO and took a big early lead, and Gruden and Garcia got into it on the sideline pretty good. We were up by two TDs, and Gruden was upset that Garcia was changing the plays he was calling. Jeff said after the game that they had 500 plays....couldn't understand why the coach didn't want to use em.

[Gru]

This is totally unbelievable! The way you bash me is unforgivable. I brought you a Super Bowl. To state my game plans were to complex is like stating a baby isn't capable of learning to walk. It doesn't take a genius to learn my playbook. A little common sense goes a long way in understanding the play calls.

Not even removed TWO Months' from my tenure as HC and you blog like I was a worthless piece of $H!T.

Too think, I was willing to bring the play-by-play calling to this site on GAME DAY. Will never happen, I'm over and done with it!

Still enjoying life and the free cash (lots of it!).

[Drew]

Gru, chill out! No one here is saying there's no Love for you. Their just saying, you blew it dude!

[Drew]

As far as the play calling goes. Mr Holder does a far better job than you'll ever do.

[Go Long]

HEY~ Where are all of the WHINERS who said the Bucs disrespected Garcia when they went after Favre last year??!! Where are you? Maybe Garcia should have reacted EXACTLY as McCown has. His comments are PERFECT. Team just wants to get better and the GM and HC's jobs are to make the team better. You all killed Gruden & Allen for trying to get Favre and no one is batting an eye at trying to get Cutler. I'm just saying. Garcia is right where he belongs UNEMPLOYED. Good luck Luke you are a CLASS ACT!

[conradbuff]

LUKE FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!! GO LUKE

[Go Long]

D Block - I like some of your insights - but don't comment on Gruden's play calls. You have NO IDEA what you're talking about. We'll see how this offense goes. Gruden accomplished A LOT with very little talent. You will see that this year, although I do believe with Winslow & Ward they have some more talent to work with....but they are worse then who will you blame?

[Tom M]

Off topic. I teach guys/gals to fly airplanes. Important airplanes. These are people who are pros and want to do the work I do. They are accomplished pilots.

On topic. Every once in a while I get a "student" for lack of a better word that I cannot figure out. A person who has flown most of their adult life but makes crazy decisions. Weird mistakes. Things that make me question their judgement. Now, sometimes, they need a little more experience. Other times, rarely, I determine they cannot do what we do. They slipped through the cracks professionally. They are great people to have a beer with, but I don't want them making decisions in an airplane.

My hope is that McCown needs a little more experience and that he isn't like the latter folks in my experience. I like the guy. I love his athleticism. Good luck. But if he can't make the decisions well, they need to pull the plug quickly.

[Brandon]

Block:

For all your chest pounding and such, you just proved beyond a reasonable doubt that you never played football beyond 8th grade. Your fictitious play would never be called in high school let alone the NFL. Every play called in a huddle or sideline ALWAYS starts with either the personnel grouping or formation... and WR1 is never called "WR1"..., "WR1" is almost always called "x".

Tom M.:

To make your analogy relevant, equate McCown to a guy/gal that has logged plenty of time in the flight simulators but very little real air time... but when he did he made very few mistakes for somebody of his/her experience.

Luke's biggest problem is the clock in his head, not his decision making, just knowing when it is time to step-up, throw the ball away, or take off scrambling. Experience is USUALLY the cure for this malady... of course with some guys it only got worse with experience (Carr, Rob Johnson).

[Spooky]

Classy move yes, or maybe an acknowledgement that there are more experienced, accurate and stronger players out there.

Still, I give him a nod for maturity and for handling what could be a Cutleresque or Garciaesque moment with some panache.

[Darryl]

he can welcome all the competition he wants,but he will lose.if some here think the buc,s will win many games with luke,your in for a real upset this season.talking like a good sport dosent make you play better.

[DR]

Sorry, but McCown has no right to talk about anything right now. He was signed as the only option at the time and an obvious upgrade with a trade for Cutler is something they need to jump on. Cutler has a great arm and is a proven QB in this league. McCown hasn't proven anything.
The Bucs had a real complex playbook last year that consisted of 4,025 pass plays under 5 yards.

[Greg285]

McCown's name should not even be used in the same sentence with Jay Cutler! The Bucs need to do everything possible to get Cutler or they are in for a long, long season if McCown is the starter heading into the new season..I'm tired of the other teams in the divison going out and acquiring franchise QBs and the Bucs and Panthers are the only teams who think they can win with average QB's.....

[OAR]

DR-flip foosball genius, you have no right to talk about anything right now!

[willem]

bring back more rounds 8,9 in the draft so we have more to trade and babble about

[TheBucStop.Net]

Hey Guys I have a cpl questions about this trade everyone seems to want. You know this Cutler deal.
First question Will he come with a money back warranty for Spleen damage?
Second Question if we are going to go for a smash mouth running game attack Why the hell would we need Cuttler?
Luke's Arm is more than strong enough for him to get the ball down the feild and he is accurate in his long ball. I know he makes mistakes but is that not what a head coach does as well is to work hand and hand with his QB and TEACH HIM Now there is a idea! Remember this is not Jon Gruden.
Do we not need some run stoppers that can get the job done? or that can actually even cause some pass rush to happen. Because if my memory serves me right the Stars of this leauge the MAJORITY of them anyways have all come in the first Two rounds of the draft. And yes Lynch was a diamond in the seventh round. I too thought of him
Trading off our first round of the draft and lets see and the second is already gone. So now we add a third rounder as well Hmmmmmm That would put us in the fourth round and lets see ohhh yeah. Thats where we got Dre Moore who has yet to hit the field lol.
All I am saying is we could do better if we wait. You never know what happens in the future. So dont be so quick to jump on the Cuttler Bandwagon.