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Wednesday Gruden Quotes

Posted Sep 10, 2008 by TBO.com

Updated Sep 10, 2008 at 05:09 PM

Courtesy of the Buccaneers

(On the quarterbacks and injured players)
“We’re going to start Brian Griese in the game. I’ve talked to Jeff [Garcia], I’ve talked to Brian. It’s just my opinion, and we’ve talked about it a lot with our coaches, [that] Jeff right now is not himself. We’re going to give him a week off and try to get him ready to go. Brian Griese’s a guy that’s had a good training camp. We’re going to give Brian the ball and we’ll rally around him. Hopefully Jeff can get back ready to roll soon. Derrick Brooks did not practice today. His status for the game will be questionable. And obviously we have some rotations we’re looking at; I have no announcement as to who would start if Derrick doesn’t play.”

(On what Griese brings to the table)
“He’s a good quarterback. Everybody who was at training camp and saw us playing in the preseason realizes that he’s sharp. He’s a good player, he’s had great success here as a quarterback and the team’s confident in him. We’ll do the best we can and we’re excited about seeing Brian Griese. At the same time, we’re hoping to get Jeff back soon.”

(On if Griese is showing more than he did two years ago)
“Brian did a lot here. If you consider all the elements. He didn’t have this offensive line when he played. He did not have some of the weapons, I think, that we possess now. Statistically, and from a functional standpoint, he did some great things here and won a lot of games for us. His won-loss record was quite impressive. Like I said, he’s a guy that will lead us this Sunday and we’ve got to rally around him.”

(On if Michael Clayton will be active against the Falcons)
“We hope so. Again, we had some tough calls last week, we’ll have some tough calls this Sunday. Again, we think Dexter Jackson gives us something in the return game. It’s hard to get six receivers active. Sometimes last year we only had four. We were afforded five last week. When you work with Monte Kiffin, man, sometimes it’s hard to get any offensive players active.”

(On if Griese has an opportunity to prolong his starting stint)
“Life is all about making the most of your opportunities, who are we kidding? We are very fortunate to have him. I don’t want to underestimate the things Luke McCown has ahead of himself, either. We don’t have a lot of controversies to speak about at this point in time. We’re doing what we think gives our team the best opportunity to win this game, this Sunday, and we’d better be ready to go because the Falcons, they’re pretty impressive on the tape I’ve seen.”

(On playing at Raymond James Stadium)
“We love playing at home and we’re disappointed, obviously, that we don’t have a victory to show for our season right now. But I think our fans are going to like our team. They’re going to play hard. We’ve got some really good players. Like I said, if we can clean up a couple aspects of our play we’ll be okay, but we’ve got to coach better.”

(On how strange it would be not to have Derrick Brooks in the lineup)
“I was thinking about that driving to work. I asked him when he was on the treadmill trying to get ready, ‘Derrick, what am I going to do? What are we going to do?’ It’s such a blessing and a luxury that we’ve had. You’re fortunate to come across a guy like that. We just hope he can keep his string alive because we need him. I know if he doesn’t play, it will really disappoint him, just to put it mildly. At the same time, I know he’ll be one of our biggest coaches on the sideline, helping the guys that are his replacement.”