Gruden's top pick enjoys his tough love

"I've been hard on him,'' Bucs coach says. "I apologized to Marquise (Walker) publicly and privately ... ''

[Times photo: Kevin White] Marquise Walker (4) gets congratulations from Keyshawn Johnson after his fourth-quarter touchdown Friday in Jacksonville.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 20, 2002

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"Where's John Lynch?" Gruden asked. The Pro Bowl safety rose to his feet.

"What round were you drafted in, John?" Gruden inquired.

"The third round," Lynch responded.

"Where's Marquise Walker?" Gruden said, his voice growing louder. Walker stood like a man facing a firing squad. "He was drafted in the third round, same as you, and he's been to four Pro Bowls," Gruden said. "But he's outworking you. You've got to outwork him."

It has been four months since the Bucs drafted Walker, the all-time leading receiver at Michigan, and he has lived nearly every day of it in Gruden's doghouse.

Rarely does the Bucs coach throw him a bone.

One day two weeks ago, long after the field had emptied of players and coaches after the second practice, Gruden drilled Walker on nearly every formation and motion in the playbook.

Playing quarterback, he barked signals at Walker at a frenetic pace in mock drives that went the length of the field and back.

"Coach is always yelling at me," Walker said. "It's cool, though. He's got to yell at somebody, why not me, a rookie player? It's cool. If he's not yelling at me, that's when I'm worried.

"He killed me that day. It was after practice and we went over every audible in the book, just nonstop. But it was cool. I got everything right. It was just back and forth, back and forth. Anything that helps is good."

If Gruden is guilty of applying tough love on Walker, it's for good reason. He needs Walker to quickly develop into the fourth or fifth receiver behind Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell and Joe Jurevicius.

"He's shown flashes. We've got to have a lot more consistent play from Marquise, and I've been hard on him," Gruden said. "I apologized to Marquise publicly and privately and every way that I possibly can."

"But we've got to get more consistent play out of him. And more versatility, a guy who can play on special teams, a guy that can play as a third or fourth or fifth receiver in any situation. He's a rookie, he's learning, and we've got to improve there."

At 6 feet 2, 219 pounds, Walker possesses the size and skills that Gruden covets in his offense. But Walker has struggled to digest the array of routes and adjustments.

He is not alone. Gruden has been nearly as critical of receiver Frank Murphy, whose play-making abilities have been tempered by dropped passes.

"When you throw your cape off on third and 8 and come off the bench to make a play, you've got to catch the ball consistently," Gruden said of Murphy. "And you've got to be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there. There's some instinctive things he's going through the first time. We like Frank a lot, we've just got to improve our consistency there at that position."

Walker is off to a decent start. He has three receptions for 46 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown from Shaun King in the Bucs' 20-0 win Friday at Jacksonville.

"It's just a different situation," he said. "I've got a couple of good, Pro Bowl veteran guys in front of me. So what I'm doing is just learning from them. They just tell me it's long. Take one day at a time. You're a rookie. Coach is going to be on you. Stuff like that.

"(My goal) is just to try to be that fourth receiver. I know I've got three great receivers in front of me, good receivers. I'm just trying to get that fourth spot right now and whenever I've got to go in, just get the job done."

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