Without hesitation, Coach Gruden has turned to Brian Griese.

It’s the one handoff Bucs fans shouldn’t be happy about: Brian Griese taking over as the Bucs’ No. 1 quarterback. 

The official word is Jeff Garcia has a sprained ankle, a slow-healing calf muscle and overall he isn’t quite right. (That last part sounds very Chris Simmsesque.)

Unoffically, Jon Gruden has leaped again at the opportunity to push Garcia out of the mix. It’s as if Gruden’s saying, “Don’t let the doghouse door hit you in the ass.”

From the coach filled with fight, albeit misguided sometimes, Gruden was way too quick today to say  his hand-picked savior will put his feet up against the Falcons on Sunday.

No Gruden telling Garcia to get his ass on the field. No Gruden saying he’ll let his field general make the call later in the week. Nope, just a quick handoff to Griese, not even a bluff to keep the Falcons guessing.

It’s like Chucky has completely forgotten – or is totally unaware – Garcia saved his job last year.

So here we are. Gruden’s having flashbacks to Griese’s 5-1 start in 2005, before he suffered a season-ending injury. What glorious memories. The Bucs put up a stunning 19 points a game during that stretch, with Griese tossing seven TD’s and seven picks. He was a model of consistency.

Oddly, after that performance, Griese couldn’t land a starter’s job before returning to the Bucs this year.

But now he’s back in the No. 1 spot against a young Falcons team that is very unlikely to experience another miracle this week.

The stage is set Brian. You perform and your pal Chucky will call your number in Week 3, and Week 4 and Week 5 … as if you never got hurt in 2005.