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Posted Apr 12, 2007 by Katherine Smith
Updated Apr 12, 2007 at 01:04 PM
If Jeff Garcia is to become the starting quarterback like many people have predicted, he’ll have to take the job from Chris Simms.
During this week’s OTAs, Simms took snaps with the first team, while Garcia got most of his work with the second and third teams.
“I’ve been getting a good amount of first team reps,” Simms said. “We’re kind of a little bit all over the place. Quarterbacks are trying to get reps, linemen are in and out, running backs are in and out.
“As far as who’s starting and who is not, I’m not worried about it. I’m really not.”
Simms admitted he had a little rust due to the fact he hasn’t played since he ruptured his spleen in the Sept. 24 game against Carolina, but he’s experiencing no problems with his body.
“I took a few hits today. I took a few good ones,” Simms said. “I’m not supposed to get hit, but I guess they wanted to test the spleen. They wanted to test the space where the spleen was.”
Garcia got an instant reminder on the practice field this week just how involved Gruden’s offense is and how much work he has ahead of him.
“I think for me, it’s just getting to a point where it’s comfortable,” Garcia said. “I’m learning once again, not a lot going through my mind. The mental part of the game, I need to get under wraps so I can just come out on the field and react. It’s still a work in progress for me.”
Garcia is getting married next weekend in California, but said he won’t miss any of the remaining OTAs.
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Reader Comments
Por (Charlie Carr) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
don’t worry Jeff, Simms and Gruden will be gone by mid season.
Suggest removalPor (John Lauer) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
By the time the season starts Simms will be where he belongs, on the bench. His niche in the NFL is as a back-up. Jeff Garcia is a much better player and could possibly lead the Bucs to the super bowl.
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
simms should be the starter,theres a old saying that you shouldnt lose your job over a injury,yes simms had some terrible times last year,but look at the play of the line also,they didnt help at all,all the blame cant b on simms shoulders,if he starts messing up ...go ahead let garcia play,but simms knows this system and if gruden is seriuosly putting the shotgun in the offense..which i hope he does….than that will also help simms cause he played alot of shotgun in college,lets not forget we did win a division title with him in as our starter….ITS GOING TO BE A NEW DAY IN TAMPA BAY IN 07….....B.U.C.A.N.E.E.R.S…. GO BUCS…..
Suggest removalPor (Colin McCormick) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
How soon we forget the dozens of batted balls thrown from the hands of Chris Simms. This trend never improved up until his injury, it only got worse. He has proven nothing except for narrowly winning some tight games two seasons ago. Gimme a break, John!! John, break off your love fest with this guy and start shackin up with veteran QB’s!
Suggest removalPor (ALISTER GILMORE) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
I truly hope Chris Simms wins the starting quarterback position. Because if he does win the position thats means he has really matured from his mistakes and that he is ready to lead this team for a long time. But if Jeff Garcia is the better quarterback at this time then he needs to be on the field. We(buccaneer fans) want a Super Bowl. RIGHT NOW!!!!
Suggest removalPor (julian fullmer) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
so go with the best player and go with somone who knows the system jeff hasn’t learned all the plays and fakes and terminology of the offense yet thats why he’s taking second string snaps simms is the starter for now dosn’t mean he’ll be starting when the season gets here.
Suggest removalPor (Craig Prestero (Gold Medalist Chef)) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Simms still has not really proven himself. he’s good but if Garcia can learn the system he really is the man we need. go with the the veteran is what I say but, I am just A fan of 25 years born in ib Tampa. GO BUCS!
Suggest removalPor (kyle fanning) on April 12, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Simms injuring his spleen the 4th game in the season is the only reason he has an outside chance of starting. If his spleen injury hadn’t occurred, he wouldn’t even be on the team right now.
Suggest removalJeff Garcia doesn’t have the weapons to help him out like Philadelphia did (Westbrook, Stallworth, Good O-line), but that might change in the draft.
Por (eric 'phillybuc' robinson) on April 13, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Seeing what Garcia can up here last year, he can definitely step in and make things happen. But you gotta see first what #2 can do.
Suggest removalPor (Jim Wilt) on April 13, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Jeff, Sims and Coach Gruden gone by the middle of the season?? No way, I hope you don’t jump on the wagon in Oct. when we are about 6-2 and headed for a play-off run.
Suggest removalPor (Michael Harris) on April 14, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Simms will be traded on draft day. Allen will look like a guru, when he wheels and deals for two first round picks and lands two top notch players. I wish Simms the best. Nice young player. Great arm! Not very accurate. Perfect fit for Al Davis’s Raiders. Toss it up high Cris and let Randy Moss run under it.
Suggest removalPor (Kurt A Hartless) on April 14, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Simms has a losing record as a starter. He sat the bench for 2 years and took over a 5-0 team that ended up 11-5. He went 0-4 last year and looked absolutely putred. Garcia, Rattay & Gradkowski should make the team. Grad showed promise under fire while Rattay should have been the starter anyway(coach’s fault.) As for Allen being a guru; well, he needs quite a few ‘attaboys to make up for all of his screw ups (see Sapp, Lynch, Greise, D. Jackson, McFarland, etc.) You should really put your money on Kiffin righting the defense so that we are at least in each game as Gruden has yet to peak #19 in offense as a Buc.
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 15, 2007 (Suggest removal)
kurt, if you really think about,you should blame mckay before you blame allen,mckay is the one that gave them all the big contracts and when they wanted to resign they wanted more money than what they were worth,lynch im behind you 100 percent no reason for him to be let go to go to another team,but give me a break,sapp,his last 3 yrs here nothing but down hill(what has he done in oakland…nothing)dexter jackson was a one yr wonder and he hasnt done much since either….griese got hurt and simms was doing good,mcfarland..we got a 2nd rnd pick for him…which is what he is worth,boger never lived up to being the replacement for sapp…bogers numbers never got better over a period of time…so why waste the money….
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 15, 2007 (Suggest removal)
when allen took over this team we were millions over the cap,it took him almost 5 yrs to fix the problems mckay left…so in my opinion,allen has gone a better job than people give him credit for…hes made some bad decisions,but he has also made good ones as well….the guy deserves some credit for getting this team out of a hole in the salary cap issues we had….and this year i feel gruden and allen have made excellent decisions to make this team better….GO BUCS
Suggest removalPor (Kurt A Hartless) on April 16, 2007 (Suggest removal)
I’m going to have to agree to disagree with you on this one Patrick. Sapp posted 10 sacks last year. That’s about double of any other DT in the league. Booger was never meant to be Sapp’s replacement (who is?) and he always did a solid job (we could ill afford to lose depth at DT.) We agree on Lynch, which was a putred move. I’ll cede Jackson. But most of all; if it wasn’t for the NFL raising the salary cap, we’d still be in cap hell. What got us into cap hell were the Stinchcombs and the Garners…not McCay. I approach this administration as I do our current political situation, with much hope and little faith.
Suggest removalPor (Dexter Fields) on April 16, 2007 (Suggest removal)
It’s funny how people want to give allen and gruden credit for doing nothing.For years we had this great defense that was given to these two jokers and the only thing they had to do was build an offense.For years we only drafted offense and we still have problems with offense-amazing!In one draft we drafted 3-4 WR’s-where are these guys,i don’t get it,how about those tackle’s we drafted a couple of years ago.
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 16, 2007 (Suggest removal)
well in my defense…..10 sacks compared to what he use to get…thats a major decrease…as for boger,he was suppose to be the next sapp i remember everybody talking bout he was going to be the next one…everybody thought so highly for him and he didnt meet the expectations of what he was thought of,as for the remarks about gruden and allen doing nothing,like i have stated before this offense looks a hell of alot better than when it did when dungy was here…gruden has had a player over a thousand yards every year he has been here..dungy didnt….dungy averaged 10 pnts a game in the playoffs..gruden averaged 32 in the playoffs the yr he came here….
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 16, 2007 (Suggest removal)
regaurdless of who is coaching this team,we have always had problems on one side of the ball…when dungy was here he couldnt score more than 13 pnts a game half the time,averaged 10 pnts a gme in the playoffs ......run..run..run..punt,that was our offense pretty much for 6 yrs(dungy ball)...now its the opposite our offense is slowly making its way into the picture and our defense is struggling…the coaches are to blame..the players are to blame…the whole team is to blame for there drop of success…this off season to me is the best to date in a while…we finally filled holes and got depth, no excuses for this organization…..lets stop pointing fingers and win some f^&*king games and get back to the playoffs where we belong…go bucs
Suggest removalPor (Dexter Fields) on April 16, 2007 (Suggest removal)
There is a difference,gruden is supposed to be this offensive guru,he won the super bowl with dungy’s defense-since then our offense haven’t improved.Our defense is not strugging our defense is old and you can’t blame them for getting old.Our coaches and owner are to blame-players can’t sign other players.
Suggest removalBy the way,dungy is a defensive coach,he didn’t call offensive plays when he was here and we barely score 13 pts with this joker.Nothing havn’t changed-open your eye’s.
Por (Patrick Dotson) on April 16, 2007 (Suggest removal)
nothing has changed…we actually have running backs and recievers getting over thousand yards a in 5 years in a row..cant say that bout dungy can you…..that isnt change….oh in the super bowl,the offense and defense both scored 3 t.d.‘s,so dont give me that crap the super bowl was won by only the defense…...check the stats our offense is better since gruden has been here….thats called change…..things dont happen over night…....weve won a division title 1 out of the last 3 yrs..thats not that bad….fiquring the nfc south to me is one of the toughest divisions in the league….so this team isnt any worse than when dungy was here…..at least we dont have to always rely on our d to win games now…like when dungy was here….
Suggest removalPor (Dexter Fields) on April 17, 2007 (Suggest removal)
We won 4 games last year,(really 3 games)-but we are a better team.If we where a better team we would have been at least 9and7.We have one receiver that can only get open, a running that didn’t get 800 yards,who is our quarterback?-what football are you whatching,JAGUGARS?We still have problems on the o-line.You give gruden to much credit,this guy is becoming more of a bad play caller,he’s not a personel person,he can groom young players,he can’t draft.I don’t need to look at stats-I’m pointing at the score board,get it.
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 19, 2007 (Suggest removal)
why i give gruden lots of credit…..18 yrs in coaching,first bucs coach to win two divisional titles,has the two best records in bucs history(12-4 and 11-5),has won 4 divisional titles,a conference championship and a super bowl ring,most wins in a season by a bucs coach,youngest coach to win a super bowl,only coach to win super bowl his first year as head coach of a team,third coach since 1966 to win 40 games b4 his 40th birthday,only the the 3rd coach in nfl history to lead different teams to the playoffs in consecutive years…thats one hell of a resume not to give a guy credit…what does your nfl resume look like Mr.fields…..i guess gruden does know what he is doing after all….GO BUCS
Suggest removalPor (Patrick Dotson) on April 19, 2007 (Suggest removal)
have to make i correction gruden was the second bucs coach to win 2 divisional titles…john mckay was the first….but gruden was the first bucs coach to win two divisional titles in his first 4 years as head coach of the bucs
Suggest removalPor (Dexter Fields) on April 19, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Two seasons later-what have you done for me lately beside allow our defense to become the oldest in the league.An offense that was ranked 29th,didn’t win a game in our DIVISION,put our quarterback in a position to be put out for the season,start a 7th round pick QB over a veteran,come to New Jersey last season to play the Gaints on the windest day of the year and try to air it out.He wins with someone else’s team-what player got better under him?He only can coach veterans,he is not a mentor-we will never get better with this guy.IF you want to live by the sword be willing to die by the sword.
Suggest removalPor (Tony Gontanelli) on April 19, 2007 (Suggest removal)
Give me a break! Simms had two years to show us what he could do. He showed no maturity on the field. He would still have spleen if he knew how to throw the ball away and not run back 15 yards. Sure he knows the system, but so does Garcia. Garcia knows how a west coast offense is run. The only thing that Garcia needs to learn is the complex playbook. He is a veteran that shows promise under pressure and shows endurance on the field. This is not just some washed out quaterback like we are talking about here. He has two all-star games under his belt and a completion rate of over 60%. There shouldn’t even be a blink of an eye or the pause of the breath when it comes to chosing Garcia over Simms.
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