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Bucs Not Concerned About Preseason Record

By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 20, 2007

TAMPA - There is one thing Tampa Bay Buccaneers players, coaches and fans have to keep remembering.

It is only the preseason.

Granted, the Bucs (1-1) showed it could be a long season after their 31-19 road loss against Jacksonville on Saturday, but last year's preseason shows how insignificant exhibition records can be.

Indianapolis finished 1-3 and Carolina was 4-0, but the Colts won a Super Bowl title. The Panthers were not a playoff team.

"Some of our guys need 14 [preseason] games based on what I saw [against Jacksonville]," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said.

Gruden will have to condense that number with only two more exhibition games remaining.

The most important preseason contest will occur Saturday when Tampa Bay travels to play against Miami. Game 3 is when starters typically play two quarters before being pulled. Most starters will not play in the final preseason game, making Saturday the barometer for gauging the Bucs' progress.

Tampa Bay showed some improvement against Jacksonville, but not enough to erase any memory of last year's 4-12 season.

Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia completed all six of his passes for 43 yards and one touchdown, plus had an exciting 6-yard run after breaking a tackle, but Tampa Bay's offense still struggled. Cadillac Williams rushed three times for minus-1 yard, while backup quarterback Luke McCown had a team-high 37 rushing yards on three attempts.

Meanwhile, receiver Maurice Stovall and running back Kenneth Darby both fumbled in Jacksonville territory, while Tampa Bay had problems snapping the ball to its quarterbacks, which Gruden said was "inexcusable."

"We got to finish drives. We didn't make them [Saturday night]," McCown said. "Those are things you have to look at and get better at. One miscue here or there. Those are things you cannot have. You have to finish drives in the red zone, and you got to be able to take care of the football."

The Bucs' reserve players showed they must learn how to take over after starters are pulled.

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Jacksonville scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter. Rookie safeties Tanard Jackson and Sabby Piscitelli had the most obvious struggles, but to be fair, there were few bright spots after the starters were pulled.

"You can paint a short picture, but at the end of the day, the Bucs lost," linebacker Derrick Brooks said. "It wasn't the first group won and the second group lost. It's the team. Some of these guys playing later in the game are fighting to be on this football team. As we well know from 2006, these are gentlemen we had to depend on when the first wave of guys got hurt. They had to step up and play.

"You got to force yourself to look at the full picture. We just didn't do enough things [Saturday] to win a ballgame."

Winning is not the most important facet of preseason. Showing signs of progress remains key.

Tampa Bay has not looked well after two preseason games, but right now, the Bucs do not have to.

It is only the preseason.

"The biggest thing is it doesn't count," Bucs defensive lineman Kevin Carter said. "It's a preseason game. It's a practice game. It's just a game to get us ready for the regular season.

"As long as the loss isn't real right now, we can go back and correct our mistakes, and as long as we improve, we'll be OK."

Reporter Anwar S. Richardson can be reached at (813) 259-8425 or arichardson@tampatrib.com.