Monday Player Interview Transcripts

[Gettin'Vicious]

Monday Bucs Transcript

What Bucs coach Jon Gruden and others were saying on Monday (courtesy of Buccaneers):

HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN

(On who stood out to him during today’s practice)
‘’I can’t call anybody out. There were some good things and some things that weren’t so good, but I’m not calling anybody out.’’

(On WR Maurice Stovall leaving the field early)
‘’He had to get an IV. It’s nothing serious. He ran out of fluids this morning.’’

(On if he’s seen the intensity he likes)
‘’Yes. Some guys it’s not good enough yet. We’ve got a long way to go. We’re playing a lot of different combinations. There are some very physical plays, but we’re not there yet.’’

(On if DE Gaines Adams is holding his own)
‘’I’m going to reserve comment on Gaines until a week or so into camp. I hate to talk about him every day. It’s too early to tell. He’s doing some good things. There are clearly some things he’s got to pick up quick.’’

(On DE/LB Patrick Chukwurah)
‘’He’s also an athletic guy who’s got great energy, and he’s a physical guy who can run and rush the passer. He’s a versatile guy; he can play a lot of different positions. And he is doing some good things.’’

(On if LB Derrick Brooks was still limited today)
‘’Yes.’’

(On having 16 first-rounders on the team)
‘’What was that statistic again? I don’t know what your point is. It doesn’t matter what round. We brought some guys in in free agency who were formerly first-round draft choices. Some of these guys we actually liked ourselves, as a staff, coming into the league. And some of these men sometimes when they change teams, they find a new niche, they find a new home and they play better. We think Sammy Davis coming out of Texas A&M was interesting. We like [Luke] Petitgout. We’re glad he’s here. I don’t care what round he was in. We needed help there and we got it. We think Jerramy Stevens has proven he can play in the league. He’s been starting for a very good football team. But where you get picked in the draft really has no meaning in terms of who we go after. We want to try to acquire good players. We were able to get some guys who we did like as a staff, and we’re happy about that.’’

(On QB Bruce Gradkowski)
‘’He’s doing some good things, obviously. He managed the no-huddle offense today and did some good things. He is a lot further along today than he was at this time a year ago, but he still has a ways to go.’’

(On the competition between wide receivers David Boston and Maurice Stovall)
‘’We’ve got a lot of competition. Luke McCown is in it at quarterback. He’s taken a lot of snaps. At wide receiver, David Boston has been excellent. Maurice Stovall is doing exactly what we wanted him to do, and that’s step up and be a much better player his second year. And he is doing that.’’

(On if WR Michael Clayton is getting more special teams work than in prior seasons)
‘’No, not really. He’s playing special teams because we did lose some key special teamers.’’


DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MONTE KIFFIN

(On LB Cato June)
‘’Cato is a playmaker. He’s got speed. I like our linebackers’ speed right now. I don’t know if you noticed Quincy Black, [Adam] Hayward, [Jaime] Winborn, and then you throw Cato in there. You can’t beat it. He’s a good football player. We know he’s a good football player. Until you really have a guy in your system and in the meeting every day and on the field, you never know for sure. Cato is outstanding. He comes to play every day.’’

(On his expectations for DE/DT Kevin Carter)
‘’I’m glad he’s here and not in Miami. I’ll tell you that right now. He’s a real pro. He’s never missed a game, and he doesn’t miss many practices either now. We may give him a day off – they call them the Milkhouse gang or whatever – but he’s going to be here every time he can be here. And that gives us – Greg Spires doesn’t have to play 65 plays. You need depth on the defensive line. That’s where you go back to your rush. You can’t be rushing in the fourth quarter if those guys have played 65 plays, been playing the whole game. Your defensive line, to get a good rush, has got to have some depth.’’

(On if he thinks LB Jamie Winborn could start for other teams in the league)
‘’I definitely do. I definitely do. And he had to make that decision because he could have left this year. He decided to stay, and we re-signed him, which is good. We wanted him back. He just hasn’t played in actual games for a while, but we’ll find out a lot in preseason.’’

(On if LB Cato June has an advantage, having played in a similar defense in Indianapolis)
‘’Yes, there is a little carry over. There’s no doubt about that. When you call Tampa-2, it isn’t like he’s never heard that before. There are a lot of things that are very similar, although I think wherever he went he’d be a darn good football player. He could learn the system.’’


LB BARRETT RUUD

(On if it’s sunk in that he’s the starter at middle linebacker)
‘’Yes, it has. The whole offseason I was mentally preparing for that so it really has. I’ve enjoyed it, I don’t know if you get any breaks considering last year I was on all the special teams, but Rich [Bisaccia] has taken care of me a little bit as far as that’s concerned, but he still makes me get a few reps in there.’’

(On if he spoke to Shelton Quarles yesterday)
‘’Yes, I did. I mostly talked about his golf game and he claims it’s improving, but I’ll wait and see about that in person. He’s a good friend of mine and it was good to see him out.’’

(On if Shelton Quarles gave him any advice)
‘’He wasn’t really giving me advice, he was just asking how things were going. I did hear him asking what’s the call here, what’s the call there, so he was still kind of into it himself, but we were talking about anything and everything.’’

(On being in charge of the defense)
‘’I actually feel a lot more comfortable. I think last year I was always kind of in the mindset of don’t screw anything up. You’re in here, but you’re not in here the whole time, you’re in here to make sure the defense keeps running, but don’t screw anything up, whereas now, it feels like you’re more relaxed, you just go play. You’re going to make some mistakes but you don’t have to worry about looking over your shoulder to when you’re going to go out. You just go out, make plays and don’t worry about the consequences. Just go out and relax and play normally instead of worrying about not giving up the big play.’’

(On if the game has slowed down)
‘’Honestly, I felt pretty comfortable all of last year. It was good, I guess the first game starting was a little bit different, it’s different playing a whole game but after that, I felt pretty good last year, pretty comfortable in there, but kind of what I said earlier, it’s more of a comfort level knowing that it’s my job now as opposed to kind of filling in for a little bit. I was always kind of a guy where Shelton [Quarles] would come out a lot and I would come in for two or three plays a lot of times and I would be on the sideline looking over like that, so it’s just a lot more comfortable I think for me.’’

(On his expectations for the season and goals coming out of training camp)
‘’I really don’t have any specific goals for the season. I’ve always been more of a day-by-day type player where I try to improve something every day. When I look at film and I was really bad dropping in Cover 2 today, that’s something I’m going to work on, or if I got picked up in a blitz, I’m going to work on using my hands in blitzing people. I don’t have a specific goal, it’s more of a day-by-day improvement that hopefully leads to success over the season.’’

(On LB Jamie Winborn)
‘’I think Jamie’s always been a really underrated player. I think he’s really a versatile guy, I think he’s playing the Will now, but in his career he’s played the middle, he’s played the outside 3-4, he’s played outside in 4-3, he’s played the inside 4-3, so he’s played pretty much everywhere and he’s a good special teams player and he’s really an all-around football player. So I think he’s a guy that’s really a valuable guy for a team because he can play a lot of positions.”


TE ALEX SMITH

(On the competition at tight end)
‘’It’s a big competition – a lot of talented guys. Jerramy [Stevens] is a proven starter. He’s played in a Super Bowl and put up some big numbers. And Anthony [Becht] has been playing for a while as well. So it’s really a challenge just to get everybody on the field and just let it shake out that way.’’

(On how he viewed the signing of TE Jerramy Stevens)
‘’Coach Gruden loves the tight ends. He brought in Doug Jolley last year to try and help boost up the tight end position. He likes to have as many as possible. You could see three of us on the field at once, at times in a game. It’s just a matter of having as many at his disposal as he can and just creating mismatches on the field.’’

(On the Buccaneers bringing in QB Jeff Garcia)
‘’I’m excited. I think there are going to be a lot of down-field opportunities for me and other players as well. Just his scrambling ability alone – I think that will create a lot more opportunities as well. We watched a lot of tape on him from Philadelphia. He scrambles, and you just have to stay alive and know that he’s going to be looking for you downfield. Just that aspect of his game alone I’m very excited about.’’

(On what stands out about Garcia)
‘’Just the leadership role. In the huddle, he’s demanding everybody’s attention. Everybody’s eyes are on him. When you have somebody who can assert himself in that manner, especially with a young team – we’re a little bit older than we were, but we were very young last year and didn’t really have someone to step up. Alstott, of course, is our team captain, but he’s not as vocal as say the quarterback position is going to be. So to have somebody like a veteran like Jeff come in and take that attention – he demands everyone’s attention, and I think it shows in the results.’’

(On how the offensive weapons on the team coexist)
‘’That’s the thing we’re trying to work on. We have plenty of weapons – from Joey [Galloway] to David Boston, Michael Clayton, Cadillac Williams. You don’t think there would be enough opportunities for everybody on the field. But in this offense, anybody can be a star at any given time. That’s the great thing about it. There’s no one person who is supposed to get the ball at any particular play. So everybody just keeps working and knows that their number could be called at any moment in time.’’

(On Coach Gruden commenting that specific plays are designed to get him the ball)
‘’I’m happy about it, but at the same time I know I have to produce. If my name is called, I know I have to get the job done. For him to tell me he has the confidence in me makes me want to go out and make it happen. There are things we had been trying to do in the past where my number has been called, and I couldn’t quite get the plays through that we wanted to. But anytime he wants to call your number, you know you want to step up to the plate.’’

(On if he is expecting a big third year)
‘’I’m kind of to the point now where I’m hoping I know who the guy is. I’ve played with four different quarterbacks right now so far in two years. And if I know who the guy is going to be and we can finally get a chemistry going, I think that will be not only big for me but for the team as well. Everybody will be on the same page. Everybody won’t be kind of scrambling, trying to figure each other out. So I’m definitely looking forward to this year. I have no pressure on my back. I just want to go out and play and make things happen. Nobody is expecting us to win. Nobody is expecting us to do anything. So if we just go out and play like we have nothing to lose, I think we’ll be great.’’

(On how the slow start created problems last year)
‘’It did. Unfortunately, a lot of games were like that – where we would start slow and have to battle our way back. It’s just one of those things where if we get out of the gate like we know we can, we think we’ll be dangerous. I think our defense is healthy finally again. And to have them play well, we can continue to do the things we want to do. We got away from running the ball because we’d be down early. So if we get Cadillac [Williams] involved and have our defense playing well, I think we’ll be off to a fast start.’’

(On if defense handled him differently because the Bucs had a rookie quarterback last season)
‘’Anybody who would have been in that position, not just a rookie. We had a very young offensive line, and we weren’t running the ball very well, so when defenses know you’re not going to hurt them with the run, they can tee off on you on the pass – especially when they know there are young guys out there. I would hate to put anybody back there in that situation. Bruce [Gradkowski] did the best he could. He looked great at times. It was just a tough position for anybody to be in, but all those guys had to go through that learning curve. And I think they got that year of experience under their belts now.’’

ww.tbo.com

[buctildeath]

Thanks, I enjoyed that.