Brian Griese hung his head often last season with the Bears. Does Gruden secretly want him to start Sunday?

The Bucs have now moved closer to an all-out starting quarterback controversy.

The team announced today that Jeff Garcia has a swollen ankle and is listed as questionable for Sunday.

Joe’s take is that there is no way Garcia will sit out the home opener Sunday against Atlanta. That’s why the team has trainers, doctors and quality pain medication.

But at his Monday press conference Chucky said Garcia must have significant practice time this week, according to the Tampa Tribune.

Gruden said Garcia would need to participate in the majority of reps this week in order to play, and considering Garcia seemed a little rusty against New Orleans, he will need to practice on Wednesday and Thursday to convince coaches he is ready to go.

“We have to get the quarterback the reps,” Gruden said. “We have to get wired in. We’ll do that, here, in the next 24, 48 hours. We’ll make sure we get all the information we need to to do what gives our team a chance to get back to 1-1 and win our first football game.

Joe is concerned that these quotes are not gamesmanship to keep the Falcons guessing. But they actually reveal that Gruden is eager for an excuse to give Brian Griese a chance to run this offense.