k19
Active Member
- Messages
- 2,968
- Reaction score
- 18
Simms Considered Candidate To Start
By ROY CUMMINGS rcummings@tampatrib.com
Published: Aug 1, 2005
LAKE BUENA VISTA - It's the preseason, and once again the preseason belongs to Chris Simms.
Because the regular season always seems to belong to someone else, this is Simms' time to shine. This is when the Bucs' quarterback of the future gets the chance to close the gap between himself and Tampa Bay's quarterback of the present.
And make no mistake, Coach Jon Gruden fully expects Simms to do nothing less.
"Chris is competing with Brian Griese to be the starter," Gruden said. "He's in his third season with us now, so that's just the way it has to be with him. He's got to compete with Griese."
Many, including Simms himself, were under the impression Simms would spend the preseason competing with newcomer Luke McCown for the backup job. Gruden's claim indicates otherwise, and as he said, maybe that's how it needs to be.
Simms, whom the Bucs selected with the final pick in the third round of the 2003 draft, is slated to be a restricted free agent when the season ends. That means Simms' brief tenure with the Bucs soon might come to an end.
That's not what Simms wants. Ever since the Bucs became the only team not to pass on him three times during Day One of the 2003 draft, he has dreamed of taking over control of the Bucs offense -- for good.
That dream almost came true last season, but when Simms was knocked out of the Bucs' Week 5 game at New Orleans with a shoulder sprain, his first pro start came to an abrupt end, and everything changed.
Griese became the starter, and when he played well enough over the next 10 weeks to earn a five-year, $30 million contract, Simms' future with the Bucs became tenuous.
It still is. That's why this might be the most important preseason Simms has had. If he can't supplant Griese as the starter, Simms' future might be determined by how he performs during training camp and exhibition games.
Gruden apparently has taken that into account. Though he also needs to prepare Griese and get McCown indoctrinated into his system, he is giving a heavy dose of the training camp work to Simms.
"He's taken more reps here in five practices than he took in the first 10 or 12 last year," Gruden said of the University of Texas product. "And we're going to try to get him more work in the specific areas where we think he needs it.
"I mean, things happen differently in the red zone and in the two-minute drill and at the end of the game. And he understands that, but he needs to experience that because sometimes you don't see those things in the game."
One thing Simms has experienced is quarterback battles. In fact, he was in one with Griese during training camp last year, and he wound up winning out, earning the backup job behind then-starter Brad Johnson.
"The one thing I've learned about these kinds of battles is that it's all really out of your control," Simms said. "The only thing you can control is what you do on the field, so you do your best to let it develop from there."
The other thing Simms has learned is that the chances of a team's No. 1 quarterback playing every snap of every game are slim.
"We're a great example of that," he said. "Last year the third-string quarterback wound up being the starter. So you just have to be ready to go in there no matter what.
"That's why I'm not going to worry about competing for the starter's job with Griese either way. I mean, that's great to hear, but I just have to come out here and work hard every day and let it go from there."
By ROY CUMMINGS rcummings@tampatrib.com
Published: Aug 1, 2005
LAKE BUENA VISTA - It's the preseason, and once again the preseason belongs to Chris Simms.
Because the regular season always seems to belong to someone else, this is Simms' time to shine. This is when the Bucs' quarterback of the future gets the chance to close the gap between himself and Tampa Bay's quarterback of the present.
And make no mistake, Coach Jon Gruden fully expects Simms to do nothing less.
"Chris is competing with Brian Griese to be the starter," Gruden said. "He's in his third season with us now, so that's just the way it has to be with him. He's got to compete with Griese."
Many, including Simms himself, were under the impression Simms would spend the preseason competing with newcomer Luke McCown for the backup job. Gruden's claim indicates otherwise, and as he said, maybe that's how it needs to be.
Simms, whom the Bucs selected with the final pick in the third round of the 2003 draft, is slated to be a restricted free agent when the season ends. That means Simms' brief tenure with the Bucs soon might come to an end.
That's not what Simms wants. Ever since the Bucs became the only team not to pass on him three times during Day One of the 2003 draft, he has dreamed of taking over control of the Bucs offense -- for good.
That dream almost came true last season, but when Simms was knocked out of the Bucs' Week 5 game at New Orleans with a shoulder sprain, his first pro start came to an abrupt end, and everything changed.
Griese became the starter, and when he played well enough over the next 10 weeks to earn a five-year, $30 million contract, Simms' future with the Bucs became tenuous.
It still is. That's why this might be the most important preseason Simms has had. If he can't supplant Griese as the starter, Simms' future might be determined by how he performs during training camp and exhibition games.
Gruden apparently has taken that into account. Though he also needs to prepare Griese and get McCown indoctrinated into his system, he is giving a heavy dose of the training camp work to Simms.
"He's taken more reps here in five practices than he took in the first 10 or 12 last year," Gruden said of the University of Texas product. "And we're going to try to get him more work in the specific areas where we think he needs it.
"I mean, things happen differently in the red zone and in the two-minute drill and at the end of the game. And he understands that, but he needs to experience that because sometimes you don't see those things in the game."
One thing Simms has experienced is quarterback battles. In fact, he was in one with Griese during training camp last year, and he wound up winning out, earning the backup job behind then-starter Brad Johnson.
"The one thing I've learned about these kinds of battles is that it's all really out of your control," Simms said. "The only thing you can control is what you do on the field, so you do your best to let it develop from there."
The other thing Simms has learned is that the chances of a team's No. 1 quarterback playing every snap of every game are slim.
"We're a great example of that," he said. "Last year the third-string quarterback wound up being the starter. So you just have to be ready to go in there no matter what.
"That's why I'm not going to worry about competing for the starter's job with Griese either way. I mean, that's great to hear, but I just have to come out here and work hard every day and let it go from there."