“I’m just a journeyman according to some people; why should I have any hard feelings? I’m thankful to have this job. I might pay Bruce and Jon for bringing me out here”, Garcia said…What am I going to say? It’s the unfortunate part of the business,” Garcia said. “That’s what this sport is. It has two sides. Obviously, a game for all of those who play on the field and love to play the game, but there is a business side, too. Part of teams trying to reach that championship position is trying to strengthen their team. Whether they thought that was strengthening or not, as much as I believe that I can be a strong point for this team that is what they had to look into. So be it. It’s all said and done. We’re moving forward.”

“I always tell people you want to play three safeties at all times,” said Defensive Backs Coach Raheem Morris. “If you can do that and limit some of the reps off of Tanard Jackson and Jermaine Phillips then you get better reps off of those guys when they are out on the field. If that’s fifteen from each and you can give Sabby thirty then, well, you never know what you will get…“It’s not over yet,” said Morris of the fight for playing time. “They’re still battling it out and we keep it hot in our room. We keep the controversy going so you guys will be buzzing.”

“It was a matter of leg angle, which is no big deal,” Bryant said. “It’s just that the first time it happened, it happened in a game. That’s what makes it tough.”

“You never really know about a guy until the pads go on, so that was good to see,” Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. “Anytime you can get to the quarterback, we like that.”

“Yes, I’m concerned,” Gruden said. “If you’re the head coach and you’re (top) receiver hasn’t practiced yet, yes, you’re concerned. But we’re also looking at it optimistically because we proved the other night that we have some young guys who are capable of playing and we’re thrilled with that.”

Jeff Garcia was out on the field for a while, but didn’t participate in any of the team drills.

Ben Troupe and Sammy Davis also practiced on a limited basis.

Gruden must have busted some heads after the Dolphins game because this was a very physical practice. Gruden has been taking it easy on the guys so far this camp, but he may be thinking that he needs to ratchet it up a little.

During both sessions, music was playing over the loudspeakers while the players were stretching. Some of it was country music. I don’t know… do you think a lot of those guys listen to country music? Besides Chris Hovan, I mean.

It seemed like the offense was getting balls batted and intecepted and quarterbacks were getting sacked all day long. This was not a good day for the offense.Except one nice play where Luke McCown read a blitz and threw to Micheal Spurlock running a hot route who took it in for a touchdown.

Greg White spent more time in the backfield than the running backs did. This was a huge day for White.

Paris Warren somehow caught a ball with Ronde Barber draped all over him.

McCown started off good, but really started to decline as the morning wore on. Brian Griese started off kind of bad and didn’t get much better.

Jimmy Wilkerson actually intercepted a pass off a deflection. This guy is athletic.

Byron Storer absolutely leveled Dexter Jackson after he caught a punt. Jackson isn’t supposed to be tackled on drills like that, but he bounced right up and was fine.

Speaking of Jackson, his improvement since the rookie minicamp has been excellent. He runs lean routes and has much better hands than he showed in May.

There was a real fight when Ryan Nece blocked Brian Clark on his blindside and knocked him to the ground. They grabbed each other’s facemasks, but some other players came in and broke it up before it could get good.

The afternoon practice was mostly in the tent and not open to the media. The outside portion was pretty much warm-ups and the receivers looked a lot better than they did in the morning.

Kevin Carter was back in at tight end in the afternoon.

Sorry for the lack of posts this weekend.  I just returned from a business trip to beautiful Denver, and was feeling a bit under the weather.  I will try and get you updated as much as possible. 

• Joey Galloway (still), Jeff Garcia, and Jovan Haye did not practice all weekend.  Antonio Bryant returned from missing Sunday’s practice to Monday’s morning session. 
• Monday’s afternoon session was cancelled, as the players went to see the Dark Knight.
• Backup QB Luke McCown fumbled two snaps, to the ire of HC Jon Gruden:

“Well, Luke McCown had [two fumbled snaps],” Gruden said. “We don’t get out here early every day all year and get the center-quarterback exchanges for any other reason. That’s the fundamental in this game. At this point in time, it’s ridiculous.

• McCown appears to be flashing signs of brilliance every day, but also continues to make stupid mistakes (fumbles, picks).  Gruden will not tolerate said mistakes. 
• On the backup QB situation:

“I really feel good with the way Brian Griese is moving this football team right now,” Gruden said. “He’s making a lot of throws, really good decisions and he’s handling the no-huddle offense extremely well. I like the flash that Luke McCown has. He’s got some real flash playmaking ability. We’ve just got to harness it a little bit better. We’ve got to do a bit better job coaching.”

• On the improvement of DE Gaines Adams:

“I see a lot of what I saw last year in the second half of the season,” Gruden said. “I see a guy that not only can rush the passer and has speed to get the corner, but he’s also becoming a much more complete player. We’re running the ball left in our 9-on-7 drills more than we ever had, just to try to get him ready for the regular season and obviously we want to try to become a better running team, left and right, inside and out. He’s a more complete player and he’s got great upside.”

• Mike Alstott will be honored at halftime of the Seahawks game on October 19th.  According to PewterReport, the game will have a special commemorative ticket, a Mike Alstott commemorative gate giveaway, and there will be the halftime ceremony for Alstott.
• Monday’s training camp summary from BucsStats.com:

Jeremy Zuttah is probably as far along now as Arron Sears was after a few regular season games. I think Sears is still a lock to start at left guard, but he better watch out.

Aqib Talib had another good day in practice. He’s still inconsistent, but when he’s on, he’s really on.

Charles Bennett had to leave practice because of dehydration.

• Sunday’s training camp summary from BucsStats.com

Ryan Sims‘s size makes him an excellent partner for Chris Hovan. They were nearly unblockable today.

Ryan Nece is doing everything possible to stick around by excelling in special teams drills. Nece is clearly on the bubble because of linebacker depth, but he refuses to go quietly. It’s kind of inspiring.
Gruden punished some penalties and missed assignments by making them run sprints (or “gassers”) across the width of the field.
Gruden singled out Brian Griese as having a particularly good day in the blitz pickup department.

Ben Troupe played some H-back today, lining up in the backfield and blocking as a fullback.

• Saturday’s training camp summary from BucsStats.com

With Jovan Haye out with a groin strain, Ryan Sims has been getting a lot of action at starting under tackle and is really doing a nice job. He’s not as quick as Haye or Dre Moore, but he’s got a nice blend of functional speed and power.

The dropped passes didn’t stop when Brian Griese finally took over. Really, just about every receiver that was thrown to had a dropped pass.

Gaines Adams nearly took Warrick Dunn‘s head off when he got stuffed on a running play. Not in a bad way, though. Adams has the chance to be one of the elite pass rushers in the league if he keeps up progress like this.

• Did we draft Dexter Jackson to be Devin Hester or to replace Joey Galloway:

“If he’s doing his job as a returner, that’s what he was brought here to do,” receivers coach Richard Mann said. “So, whatever else we get, that stuff is gravy. I think with the juice that he’s got, when (coach Jon) Gruden goes back to his little laboratory, he’ll come up with some creative ways to get him the ball.”

• A nice piece from The St Pete Times dealing with the 5 most impressive players of the first week.

Those players are Brian Griese, Michael Clayton, Jeremy Zuttah, Aqib Talib and Michael Spurlock.