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TAMPA - The final team meeting of 2003 occurred Monday morning at One Buc Place as coach Jon Gruden met briefly with players. There wasn't much to say after a disappointing 7-9 season.
"I commended them for playing hard, many men playing hurt, overcoming adversity," Gruden said of the team's first losing season since 1996. "At the same time, I challenged them to take some time off, get mentally and physically rejuvenated.
"When the offseason program begins on March 22, we expect them to come in here full force and ready to go."
Players trickled out of the facility throughout the morning, many carrying large garbage bags filled with contents from their lockers. Receiver Keenan McCardell, who reviewed film of Sunday's 33-13 loss to the Titans before leaving, said the mood was bitter.
"We expected more out of ourselves," McCardell said. "We expected more out of this team. But the page is turned right now. We've got to look at the 2004 season right now.
"I know things are going to be improved because like good competitors, good fighters, you always come back."
DOCTOR, DOCTOR: Evaluating the team's health will be high on Gruden's offseason to-do list. Several players with serious injuries in 2003 expect to return, including fullback Mike Alstott, receiver Joe Jurevicius, cornerback Brian Kelly and safety John Lynch, who is scheduled to see a neck specialist in the next week to determine the extent of nerve damage in his right shoulder.
Alstott, who had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck, has been cleared to begin rehabilitation.
"When you think of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you think of Mike Alstott - punishing, physical, closing back," Gruden said. "He's in there banging away on the treadmill. He's had great reports from the physicians that he will return.
"We don't just want him to come back and play. We want him to come back and be great, a Pro Bowl player, an impact leader for us. And that's the program we are on right now. That's one reason to be excited."