Things will change for Garcia, Brady as they tune up in preseason opener

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Jeff Garcia and Tom Brady know things will change as the preseason goes on.

Garcia needs time to work with his new teammates. Brady just needs healthy teammates to work with.

Both quarterbacks saw limited time in their teams' preseason opener Friday night, a 13-10 victory for Garcia and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the New England Patriots.

Matt Bryant's second field goal of the game, a 32-yarder as time expired, gave Tampa Bay the win.

Garcia, who was 6-1 as a starter with Philadelphia last season as a replacement for the injured Donovan McNabb, signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in March. He finally gives coach Jon Gruden a quarterback he feels is an ideal fit for his version of the West Coast offense.

The 37-year-old Garcia was 1-of-4 for 4 yards against New England. He overthrew an open receiver on a third-down play, and Joey Galloway dropped a short throw on third-and-2 on Garcia's last play.

''It was just one of those things where the timing wasn't right tonight, and the location of the ball wasn't where it needed to be,'' Garcia said. ''Those are things that will be ironed out and we will get much better.''

Brady played two series, going 5-of-7 for 34 yards. He didn't have wide receiver Randy Moss, who was obtained in a draft day trade with Oakland and sat out as expected with a sore hamstring that's slowed him during training camp, or running back Laurence Maroney and receiver Dante Stallworth.

''I'm looking forward to getting everybody back. We've had a bunch of guys out,'' Brady said, when asked about Moss. ''We'll see what we're made of when we get out there and see what we can produce,'' Brady added. ''Hopefully, it will turn out better than 0-for-2 drives, like we did tonight.''

Luke McCown, who didn't play in 2006 after undergoing knee surgery, played in a game for the first time since the 2005 preseason and completed all seven of his passes for 68 yards and one touchdown for the Bucs.

Bruce Gradkowski, who started 10 games for Tampa Bay after Chris Simms suffered a season-ending injury last September, led the Bucs to the winning field goal. He got lots of help from fourth-string rookie running back Kenneth Darby, who finished with 84 yards on 15 carries.

l Jets 31, Falcons 16

Thomas Jones, acquired by New York from Chicago in the offseason, ran eight times for 27 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown that was set up by Leon Washington's 86-yard kickoff return. Backup quarterback Kellen Clemens was 16-of-22 for 174 yards and three touchdowns, two to Sean Ryan.

Joey Harrington, the man who replaces Michael Vick while he is away from the team facing federal dogfighting charges, was 6-of-9 for 88 yards in new coach Bobby Petrino's offense. Jerious Norwood, starting for the injured Warrick Dunn, had eight carries for 29 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown.

l Bills 13, Saints 10

Rian Lindell's 54-yard field goal with 3:23 to go gave Buffalo (1-0) the win.

Tyler Palko, an undrafted rookie from Pittsburgh, was 15-for-27 for 172 yards and a touchdown for the Bills. He also scrambled for 47 yards. Second-year reserve running back Fred Jackson ran for 49 yards and scored the Bills' only touchdown on a tackle-breaking 17-yard run that he capped by diving over the goal line.

Drew Brees completed 12 passes to seven receivers for 118 yards on two offensive series for New Orleans (0-2). Both drives stalled inside the Bills' 30, and new kicker Olindo Mare made one field goals and the other was blocked.

l Rams 13, Vikings 10

Kevin Lovell's second field goal of the game, a 40-yarder as time expired, gave St. Louis the victory. Second-round draft pick Brian Leonard, the backup to Pro Bowl pick Steven Jackson, rushed nine times for 36 yards and caught five passes for 30 yards. He scored on a 10-yard run in the first half.

Dontarrious Thomas returned his second interception of the night 82 yards early in the third quarter for the Vikings' lone touchdown. Ryan Longwell pulled a 42-yard field goal wide left with three minutes left. He didn't miss a kick under 46 yards all last season. Tarvaris Jackson was 8-for-11 passing for 83 yards and he gained 25 yards on two scrambles.

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