Gruden, Reid have Packer ties

PHILADELPHIA -- As a young offensive assistant at Green Bay, Jon Gruden tried to uphold a Packers tradition of riding a bicycle to work.

"He cracked it up coming to work. He was riding in a snowstorm and ran into a parked car," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "He was limping a little bit."

It's no accident, however, that Gruden and Reid will be on opposite sidelines as head coaches today at Veterans Stadium.

Reid, 43, and Gruden, 39, served on Mike Holmgren's first staff at Green Bay in 1992. Reid coached tight ends, the offensive line and later quarterbacks. Gruden coached receivers until he left for Philadelphia in 1995, becoming the NFL's youngest offensive coordinator at age 31.

In fact, Gruden and Reid are two of four members of Holmgren's 1992 staff who are coaches. The 49ers' Steve Mariucci and the Bears' Dick Jauron are the other two.

"Jon and I did a lot of Sue Ann Bagels together," Reid said. "It was a little bagel shop right up the street. We'd get there early in the morning and take a break around 7 and grab some bagels and come back to work. So we did a little bit of the grunt work, but Jon is a great football coach."

Did Reid and Gruden bring bagels for the rest of the staff?

"No, we didn't get any bagels for anybody," said the stocky Reid. "You can tell I didn't give anybody any bagels."

McNASTY: No quarterback has elicited more respect from the Bucs than the Eagles' Donovan McNabb.

"This is the ultimate threat," defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "What can't he do well? That's all I want to know. Where is his weakness?

"Coach Andy Reid had been around this system for a very long time. He coached (Brett) Favre, and he knew this guy here had some of those same attributes. It isn't hard. He's got all the tools. If you've got all the tools, it's easy."

McNabb started hot, earning NFC offensive player of the month honors for September.

In five games, he has thrown 11 touchdowns and run for three.

And to think, Eagles fans booed McNabb's selection with the No. 2 overall pick in 1999.

"No different than any other city that didn't like their draft pick," Sapp said. "I'm sure they weren't jumping up and down in Tampa when I got picked here, either.

"You weren't there. You weren't walking the streets around Tampa. That's why I feed them with a long spoon. I remember. Elephants never forget."

TOUGHEST VENUE?: Traditionally, Lambeau Field in Green Bay is where the Bucs rarely walk off as winners.

But beer for spilling beer, there might not be a more difficult place to play (especially for the Bucs) than Veterans Stadium.

"It's an environment that's definitely different," Bucs general manager Rich McKay said. "Lambeau is intimidating because of the history, the aura when you're around there. Always at Lambeau, you just had the feeling in the fourth quarter, you're going to be ahead, and it's going to come down to the fourth quarter and something bad is going to happen.

"That's not always the case in Philly. It's just a very hostile environment."