Joey Galloway had no need for his helmet against the Panthers on Monday. Chucky implied Galloway will only play if Antonio Bryant is hurt. "We've kind of moved on a little bit," Gruden said.

For a change, the Tampa Bay media blitzed Jon Gruden with firm questions about Joey Galloway. And Chucky was clearly uncomfortable in the pocket under all that heat.

Galloway did not play one snap against Carolina and has been rarely used since returning 100 percent from a foot injury six weeks ago.

Rather than take the high road and talk only about how he looks forward to working Galloway into the offense, Gruden fired shots at his former No. 1 receiver. 

Gruden said Galloway is not adjusting well to his role off the bench, “not comfortable playing 18 to 20 plays a game.”

“It’s frustrating for me,” Gruden said.  

Asked why Galloway is not seeing the field at all, Gruden said, “Antonio’s the reason. … Hopefully, you’re not holding that against me for playing Antonio Bryant.”

Gruden went on to sing his recurring song about Galloway “missing an awful lot of time with injuries” during training camp and the season.

“We’ve kind of moved on a little bit,” Gruden said.

Joe sees no reason why Chucky can’t use Galloway effectively in the offense. And based on the way Galloway conducts himself on his radio show (Mondays at 6 p.m. on WDAE-AM), there’s no reason to think Galloway would be unaccepting of contributing just 20 snaps a game.

Even Keyshawn Johnson praised Chucky on Monday for his play-calling during the Super Bowl season, when Gruden found 225 catches for Joe Jurevicious, Keenan McCardell and Johnson.

Chucky needs to find a way to maximize Galloway’s talent. With a very average running game, the Bucs need a more productive wide receiving corps to win in the playoffs.