Best move might be for Garcia to sit out

By RICK STROUD, Times Staff Writer
Published December 2, 2007

TAMPA - A prediction: Jeff Garcia will not play today against the New Orleans Saints.

The Bucs have repeatedly compared his lower back contusion to the one Brad Johnson suffered late in the 2002 season.

If that's true, Garcia could miss a week or two.

You remember Johnson's injury? Initially, it was reported as a lower back contusion he suffered in a win over the Detroit Lions. He has since revealed he had a small fracture in his back.

Johnson missed the next two games - a loss to Pittsburgh and a win at Chicago - then benefited from the Bucs getting a bye in the first round of the playoffs. He says he needed all 21 days to feel well enough to practice before the NFC divisional playoff game against Garcia's 49ers.

"It was a lot of pain tolerance," Johnson said. "I had the fracture, but the muscles and everything were very sore, and I couldn't bend over to tie my shoes. I went to get an MRI and needed help to get onto the table. The doctor asked me how I thought I was going to do next week, and I said, 'You tell me how I'm going to do. I can't get on this table.'

"To be honest, I didn't feel completely healthy until about February."

The Bucs say Garcia has no structural damage to his back, which could mean no fractures. He underwent an MRI and CT scan last week.

"Everybody gets the MRIs and finds - we find injuries that maybe they had eight years ago, six years ago," coach Jon Gruden said. "This (expletive) MRI machine, excuse my language, it's not for me, you know what I mean? So I'm basing everything I do on if he's out here. And he'll not be out here until the trainers release him to practice. All I can say honestly is he's making improvements, and for that I'm excited."

Garcia's wife, Carmella, said on her weekly radio spot that she had to help her husband off the couch Monday. "I don't want him to play, that's my thing," she said.

But Garcia felt much better by the end of the week and even participated in practice Friday. He was listed as questionable for today's game.

"I know a couple quarterbacks around the league have missed a game or two because of that similar type injury," Garcia said. "I guess Brad Johnson had a similar thing happen to him a few years ago when he was here. It's just one of those things. I haven't really ever had an injury like this before. I've had years ago a lower back problem that eventually alleviated itself, and I got over it, but this is just something that was different. It's similar to what I guess a hip pointer would be but more so to the backside of my body instead of to the side or front of my body."

Everybody knows Garcia, 37, will be his own worst enemy. And the Bucs could take a three-game lead over New Orleans and a series sweep with a win today, virtually locking up the NFC South.

He might wake up this morning, use the extra time before the 4 p.m. kickoff to get more treatment, take a shot and decide to play. But the Bucs might be wise to err on the side of caution with this injury to have Garcia for the remaining four games - and beyond.

"It's really about the individual," Garcia said. "Everybody responds differently to these types of injuries. There have been players that have missed games because of this injury, and how I'm going to respond or how I'm going to come back is all about the time and just how my body reacts."

[Last modified December 1, 2007, 16:53:24]