Tampa’s Jeff Garcia: What Gives?
Coach Jon Gruden pulled the rug out from underneath Jeff Garcia on Wednesday, announcing that Brian Griese will lead the Buccaneers in week 2 (and the speculation in the Tampa Bay area press is that the move could be permanent). Gruden offered his reasons for the move as follows:
“I’m a pretty good judge of Jeff Garcia and I’m a big believer in him,” Gruden said in explaining the move. “I just believe that right now, what we’re seeing is not what Jeff Garcia is capable of doing.
“Right now he’s not the same guy that he was. So until I see the ball thrown with the crisp, accurate velocity, the confident swagger that we’re used to seeing, we’re going to let him sit out.”
Garcia hurt his ankle in the season opener and it was really swollen on Monday, evidently, which is part of the reason for this move. But there is more going on here. Here’s my take:
What exactly did coach Gruden expect after the Tampa front office (with input from the coaching staff, no doubt) ardently chased after Brett Favre during the offseason? At one point, Garcia described himself as a “dead man walking” in respect to his future with the team. Now, coach Gruden calls him out on the carpet for not having a “confident swagger”? That seems pretty callous from where I am sitting.
Yes, pro football is a tough game for tough guys, but torpedoing your starting QB after one rough game seems pretty extreme to me. There has to be more going on here than we know about, folks. Garcia may have clashed with Gruden behind closed doors during the preseason (or someone else on the staff) during the Favre saga. Or maybe, Garcia just got sick of being under appreciated.
We’ll see how Griese does on Sunday, but if you’ve rostered Jeff Garcia I suggest that you pick up Griese if you have room on your roster for him. Garcia may be benched if Griese does well vs. the Falcons.
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