Gruden has little to say on Bucs having four QBs

The move to keep Simms is "unprecedented," explains the coach, who's ready to focus on Garcia.

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
Published September 3, 2007

TAMPA - Jon Gruden tried to take the fifth on the fourth quarterback.

The Bucs coach didn't want to discuss the decision to keep Chris Simms, deferring questions Sunday about the 53-man roster to general manager Bruce Allen, who was unavailable.

Gruden's only position: The move is "unprecedented," but he and Allen are "on the same page."

"I'm ready to start talking about my starting quarterback Jeff Garcia, for crying out loud. I've talked enough about the other quarterbacks," he said. "You've seen them in the preseason. We've all had Chris' situation well-documented. He's a young guy with talent who really hasn't been able to showcase his stuff. But we're not ready to give up on him."

Simms, 27, is recovering from a hip strain and did not practice Sunday. He played just six snaps in the preseason and has struggled to regain his passing mechanics since his splenectomy in September 2006.

The decision to keep Simms, who signed a two-year contract extension in December that included $5-million in guarantees, could have an effect on Sunday's opener at Seattle.

To make room for Simms, the Bucs released kick returner Mark Jones, 26, who had 20.1 yards per kickoff and 8.3 yards per punt return.

Special-teams coach Rich Bisaccia said Joey Galloway, 35, and Ike Hilliard, 32, will be the primary punt returners, and cornerback Phillip Buchanon is a possibility. Running backs Earnest Graham, Michael Pittman and receiver Michael Clayton will be used on kickoff returns.

"Well, it's a tough situation. He's a good player, great guy and hard worker," Gruden said of Jones. "I think he's an NFL returner. You saw that a couple years ago. It will be done by committee. We're going to get Galloway some looks. We think he's rare at that. We think Buchanon has punt-return ability. And we think Ike Hilliard against some teams that don't give you many options - we have three guys that can catch it, and that's the decision at this time.

"I don't feel like I'm handicapped in any way. We have four (quarterbacks) at this point in time, and we'll re-evaluate our quarterback situation as we go."

Gruden declined to name his No. 2, but it is expected to be Luke McCown, 26, with second-year player Bruce Gradkowski the inactive third quarterback.

"We have three young guys now that have some playing experience and talent, and we have a veteran guy that we're high on," he said. "We're not in any hurry to lose a guy that we deem a pretty good prospect at that position.

"It is (unprecedented). There's a lot of unprecedented things in store for me, hopefully. I'm going to talk about Jeff Garcia. I'll let Bruce Allen talk about every guy on our roster and why we chose the people that we chose. I'm just trying to get started with Seattle."

The team did make some roster moves Sunday, picking up Carolina receiver Taye Biddle and Pittsburgh cornerback Anthony Madison off waivers and releasing cornerback Sammy Davis and linebacker Leon Joe. Biddle could be used as a punt returner. In the preseason, he had seven catches for 190 yards, averaging 27.1 yards, and two touchdowns.

The four injured players waived Saturday - tackle Chris Denman, cornerback Carlos Hendricks and receivers Chas Gessner and Paris Warren - cleared waivers and will remain with the team on injured reserve.

Running back Kenneth Darby, cornerback Marcus Hamilton, tight end Keith Heinrich, receiver Chad Lucas, center/guard Enoka Lucas, tackle Dennis Roland and fullback Byron Storer cleared waivers and were signed to the practice squad.

Rick Stroud can be reached at stroud@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 2, 2007, 22:46:06]