Bucs: Quarles covers Bucs' LB needs

Quarles covers Bucs' LB needs

Inside or out, the veteran's speed and versatility have been on display.

By ROGER MILLS, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA -- The Bucs are probably one of the few teams in the NFL that can do it.

In Tampa Bay's cover-two defensive scheme, middle linebacker Shelton Quarles has, among other responsibilities, one unenviable task. When a receiver scampers down the middle of the field, Quarles has to stay with him. Whether it's 5, 10 or 30 yards deep, he's Quarles' man.

Across the league that might be considered an unreasonable expectation for a middle linebacker (usually much bigger than receivers or backs), but the Bucs know Quarles has the speed to keep up most times. Proof came on third and 8 from the Bucs' 46, with a little over eight minutes left in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Falcons.

Falcons quarterback Michael Vick stepped up in the pocket and launched a bomb down the middle intended for receiver Trevor Gaylor on the edge of the end zone.

Quarles stuck to Gaylor like lovebugs to a windshield and with an outstretched arm he deflected the ball as the two tumbled into the end zone. A 46-yard touchdown pass was aborted by a 40-yard linebacker sprint. On a day when the Bucs defensive players each found ways to make a big play, Quarles' touchdown-saving sprint exemplified one basic tenet of the Bucs defensive philosophy: speed kills.

"It is a pretty rare thing to see a middle linebacker down there like that, but when you're playing and trying to make reads and stuff like that you don't ever notice things like that," Quarles said. "I was reading his move and then all of a sudden he broke down the middle. I turned and thought, 'Oh, I better start running now!' And I was able to make the play. In that situation, I have a job to do and the last thing I want to do is let down my teammates."

Added coach Jon Gruden: "Shelton Quarles is as fast as there is in the league at the middle linebacker position. He is a factor in our two-deep scheme, running with the No. 2 man down the field whether it's a tight end or a wideout. He has that ability and darned if he didn't make a couple of big plays (Sunday)."

But the sixth-year veteran out of Vanderbilt didn't stop there. Quarles proved his value over the next three quarters by accomplishing something neither Gruden nor defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin had ever seen in a game.

With starting strongside linebacker Al Singleton suffering from cramps, Quarles moved to Singleton's position while his teammate got fluids in him. And when Derrick Brooks scampered 74 yards for an apparent interception return for a touchdown, only to have it nullified on a Greg Spires offside penalty, Quarles replaced Brooks at the weakside position, to give his teammate a breather. He finished the game playing for Brooks.

"Isn't that something," Kiffin said. "I have never seen a guy play three spots in one game. We were banged up. Al went into the locker room and in the end, we put him in on the weakside to get Brooks off the field. The (strong and weaksides) positions are two he hardly plays and I think (linebackers coach) Joe Barry will tell you he graded out perfectly."

Quarles, 31, wasn't particularly green to the other two linebacker positions. He began his career as Brooks' backup on the weakside and was the starting strongside linebacker the past three seasons (1999-2001).

"At the time, Coach Barry told me to go in for Derrick or move over to Al's position and I just did it," said Quarles, who is from Nashville, Tenn. "I had to erase any thoughts of one position and immediately switch to another. Coach said, 'Shelton, get your mind straight, you're playing (on the strongside).' I didn't have time to think about it."

Such versatility explains why Quarles was moved to the middle in the first place after the offseason departure of Jamie Duncan to the Rams and the shoulder surgery of Nate Webster. While obviously lacking traditional middle linebacker size -- he's about 223 pounds this week -- the coaching staff gambled on his speed and attention to detail.

"We draft that way," Kiffin said. "It goes with the whole system. We're going to draft speed and quickness. I don't care how much a guy weighs. I couldn't care less how tall he is. I care if they have speed."

But Quarles' quick feet are going to be tested down the stretch if he is going to hold off Brooks in the duo's race for team leader in tackles.

Brooks, a five-time Pro Bowl player many consider the fastest linebacker in the game, has led the Bucs in tackles the past four seasons but entered Sunday's game trailing Quarles 132-129. Against Atlanta, Brooks had 11 and Quarles had eight, tying them at 140 with three games left.

"He picked up a lot of ground on me Sunday," Quarles said. "I'm going to have to make every one. I'll be trying to sprint to every pile and make as many assists as I can. We don't like too many J.O.Ps (jump on piles) here, but I'm going to have to take what I can get."