Elbow injury greases Griese's exit

By Brad Byler, Special to the Rocky

Published October 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

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Jack Dempsey / Associated Press

Buccaneers quarterback Brian Griese gets hit by Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey during the third quarter. Griese injured his right elbow on the play and did not return.

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A helmet to the right elbow of Brian Griese ended the former Broncos quarterback's day prematurely Sunday, and his return to Denver didn't end as he had hoped.

But the Tampa Bay quarterback said the injury probably will not keep him out for long.

"It's going to be all right," Griese said. "I took a helmet right on my elbow. It kind of swelled up a little bit and caused some discomfort, but the doctor doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong structurally."

The play that knocked Griese out of the game came early in the third quarter on a corner blitz by the Broncos' Champ Bailey. Griese fell into a pile near the Buccaneers end zone after the sharp blow, and Jeff Garcia finished the game, won 16-13 by the Broncos.

"I was really looking forward to the game and didn't foresee it ending this way," said Griese, who completed 13-of-19 passes for 88 yards. "But it was good to be back in Denver and good to go out and compete against these guys. We didn't get it done today, but it's a long season."

The blitz caught the Buccaneers by surprise. Bailey timed it perfectly, delaying his rush until the last second, and the Tampa Bay offensive linemen couldn't make an adjustment.

"You never want to see a quarterback get hurt," Buccaneers offensive tackle Jeremy Trueblood said. "Those guys are back there looking down the field looking to make a good throw and make a play for us and they don't need to be worrying about getting hit and blindsided. It affects them throwing the ball, so we can't have that."

Trueblood might not have been responsible for picking up Bailey on the blitz, but the third-year lineman took responsibility for two false-start penalties and a holding call that slowed the Buccaneers' momentum.

"It's just a lack of concentration," Trueblood said of the false starts. "It's very costly. I could make excuses all day, but there's no merit to any of them."

Overall, Tampa Bay had five penalties for 30 yards. The total isn't eye-catching, but on a day the Buccaneers seemed to be caught off-guard by the aggressiveness of the Broncos defense, the penalties stalled their drives.

"We had five or six brutal false starts," Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said. "We were backed up most of the day."

Griese, who faced his former team Sunday for the first time, acknowledged there was plenty of emotion against the team that had drafted him.

"Sure, there's a lot of emotion," he said. "I've had a lot of experiences here, a lot of great memories and a lot of great friendships that I value. It just would have been nice to get a win."

• October 5, 2008

  8:04 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  willysfish writes:

  Sorry OILY, but ain't happenin' in D town.

  Thanks for the Oakland win with the separated shoulder and the support of the community.

  Nice D today...though still 300+ yards.

• October 6, 2008

  1:48 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  MileHighSlade writes:

  Another gritty win. Just need to score one more point than the other team. Wasn't happy to see Griese put out early. Im fans of both he and Chuckie. Get well and good luck going forward.

  The Chargers continue to stink. I'd imagine that they will somehow try to blame Ed Hochuli for getting beat by the worst team in the league. Nothing better to see than that bunch of whiners losing and losing horribly.

  KC got a donut hung around their neck.

  Go Donks.

• October 6, 2008

  1:50 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  RockLobster writes:

  Don't think you can call Miami the worst team in the league any longer. They have now beaten the two teams that played in last years AFC Championship game after all. I'd say Parcell's has that bunch pointed in the right direction.

  And I don't think I'd be talking smack about KC after what they did to us last week. But that's just me!

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