It may be Garcia's turn at quarterback

TAMPA - The mystery of who will be Tampa Bay's quarterback for Sunday's game against Carolina will be unraveled on Wednesday.

Indications are, however, that Bucs head coach Jon Gruden could be leaning toward Jeff Garcia.

With Brian Griese nursing a sore elbow, Gruden could justify the switch because of Griese's injury.

Gruden seemed to be setting the stage for the team's second quarterback change in four weeks on Monday, when he labeled Griese questionable for the home game against Carolina.

"We're concerned about Griese's arm and encouraged by Garcia's progress," Gruden said. "He's ready to play and we'll address that on Wednesday."

Griese's elbow injury in the third quarter of Sunday's 16-13 loss to the Broncos in Denver opened the possibility, as Gruden mulls over not only whether Griese will be healthy enough to play, but whether he deserves to remain Tampa Bay's starting quarterback.

Griese doesn't think the elbow injury is serious enough to keep him out of the lineup.

"I'm just going to ice it as much as I can. The good thing is it just seems to be a bruise," Griese said. "My shoulder is a little bit sore, (team doctor Joe Diaco) tested it, and it's not anything structural."

Griese missed a wide open receiver in the end zone -- tight end Jerramy Stevens, in the first quarter. Garcia replaced Griese in the third quarter and took the Buccaneers on a 90-yard drive in the fourth quarter that led to their only touchdown of the game. But he also threw an interception and directed four straight three-and-outs.

Griese's 64.6 quarterback rating is 29th of 33 NFL quarterbacks and 16th, next to last, in the NFC. He has thrown six interceptions.

So Gruden might want to get go in a different direction. "The signs are very positive (from Garcia) and I'm excited about that," Gruden said.

Garcia pronounced himself healthy, after he went through a rash of injuries, dating back to a strained calf muscle that forced him to miss practically all of training camp, followed by an injury to his little finger and ankle.

"I feel great, like I'm extremely healthy," Garcia said. "I took a few reps early in the week, my throws were sharp, crisp, accurate. I had some bounce to my step."

Bucs notebook

RB Warrick Dunn moved into 20th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list, increasing his career total to 10,452 yards after picking up 74 yards on 11 carries Sunday. He passed Eddie George (10,441) and Tiki Barber (10,449). "The people on that list are great, great backs. Just to be in the company with those guys, I'm honored," Dunn said. "I think it's just good to be, in a sense, recognized. The milestone is good, but there's still a lot of football to be played."

LB Barrett Ruud (knee) was also labeled questionable by Gruden. Ruud leads the Bucs with 48 tackles and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions. Adam Hayward, instead of Matt McCoy, replaced Ruud, because he had been getting more reps in practice, while McCoy had fought through an injury, Gruden said.

The Bucs will resume security pat-downs Sunday for all fans entering games and the policy will be in effect for the rest of the season. It was put in place for all NFL teams by the league.

Offensive tackle Jeremy Trueblood said there was nothing the line could have done to protect Griese from getting splattered by blitzing cornerback Champ Bailey on the play that he was injured. "No one saw it. They disguised it really well," Trueblood said.

G Davin Joseph held up well in his first game since he broke his foot in a preseason game against the Patriots. "We tried to go early right behind Davin, let him come off the ball," Gruden said.

Gruden says he has no idea when WR Joey Galloway will return from a foot injury that has sidelined him for the past three games. "To speculate is unfair to our fans," Gruden said. "He's working at it."