Buccaneers Head Coach Jon Gruden Quotes 8/31/08

[INTWTF]

HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN

(On the roster cuts)
“Obviously we had some tough decisions and we’re excited to get the season going. New Orleans is going to be a great challenge in itself, but we feel like we’ve got 53 quality football players and now we’ve just got to prove it.”

(On if there is a backup plan due to Hurricane Gustav)
“I don’t have any information on that. I just pray that the storm stays out at sea and that no one gets hurt. But I don’t have any knowledge on that.”

(On WR Dexter Jackson’s play in Houston)
“He showed a lot. He had a big pass interference call penalty which set up a score, he had a big end around, caught a big pass on third down and had the 83-yard punt return. He’s getting there. He’s certainly a guy that’s getting better and a guy that we are excited about.”

(On game planning for New Orleans even during the preseason)
“You have to look at New Orleans. They’ve made multiple changes. They have some new players in key positions – Jonathan Vilma, Sedrick Ellis, they’ve added some corners, Jeremy Shockey. They’ve got a great quarterback and they’re well-coached. Yeah, we tried to moonlight a little bit and see what’s going on. There have been some changes in there structure, and I’m sure they’ll have some changes they haven’t shown waiting for us.”

(On if there are spots on the roster that are still thin)
“We’re going to keep looking around. As I said earlier, we’re confident that the 53 guys here earned the right to be here. But that doesn’t mean that we’re done looking. We’re no different than any other team in this league that I know of.”

(On only having seven healthy offensive linemen with Joseph out)
“It’s a bit of a concern. Obviously Davin is a big loss for us. Jeremy [Zuttah] has got to really step up. Anthony Davis had his best game of the preseason the other night in Houston and Dan Buenning will have to be the backup signal caller. We’ll have to do the best we can in the time being. Hopefully Davin is a quick healer.”

(On going into the season with the same starting QB as last year)
“It’s actually refreshing to have the same guy two years in a row. We like Jeff [Garcia] a lot. He’s had a tough offseason in regards to the calf injury. He’s missed a lot of time, but he was outstanding here today. He’s the strength of our offensive football team. He’s a veteran signal caller and he’s a great competitor. I think Brian Griese and Luke [McCown] showed that they’re really capable of running the offense and they’ve had success in the system themselves. We are excited about the quarterback position and we’ll see what happens.”

(On where Garcia is now compared to earlier in the preseason)
“I think he’s good. We had Jeff and a number of players out there before the Houston game about five o’clock. We were out there about two-and-a-half hours before kickoff and I personally got to chase him around like a chicken and test his mobility. We worked him hard, really hard, all those guys. I can’t speak for him, but I do think he’s close to 100 percent. I think he feels a lot better.”

(On Chris Simms and some other cuts)
“We had some tough decisions. It’s hard to say goodbye to Chris. He laid it on the line here and did some great things for us and I’m confident that he’ll get another opportunity. I can’t really speak on every single player, but we had some tough decisions. With that being said, it was emotional, to a degree, and hard. But it is every year. Ryan Nece is a guy that played a lot of football here. I wish all those players the very best. Unfortunately we’re only allowed to keep 53 guys.”