Highlights

HERM EDWARDS: “When you look at the Tampa offense, Coach Gruden has done a good job. It’s a fast-paced offense with a lot of personnel and a lot of shifting and movement. Quick passing game. With (QB) Garcia they run some boots, play-action very well.

(Garcia) is a very good quarterback in avoiding the rush. He always seems to have his eyes down field. Has a good feel for the West Coast offense and can always dump the ball off when guys are covered. Does a good job of really hitting the third or fourth outlet when he gets in trouble.

“They’ve got some good runners. Warrick Dunn was actually there when we were down there (as coaches). We actually drafted Warren and then he went to Atlanta and now he’s back - stop-and-go type of guy with good hands.

“Defensively, they’re back to playing Buc-Ball, as we called it. They don’t give up a lot of big plays, or big runs or big passes. They hold you to about 15 points a game, can rush the passer. They tackle real well. They’re built for speed, very aggressive that way and can blitz you a lot. They blitz a lot on third downs, bring pressure on the quarterback.

“They played in a one-score game last week. It is going to be a test for us – probably one of the best defenses we’ll play all year. Tennessee was very good and these guys are right up there with Tennessee. Not as big, but probably just as fast.

“It was a project begun in 1996. I think the only guys left when I was there on defense are Monte, the coordinator, Derrick Brooks and Ronde.”

Q: Can you tell us the status of Larry Johnson?

EDWARDS: “I think we sent out a statement (yesterday).”

Q: The spread offense doesn’t exactly go along NFL norms or even Herm Edwards norms. Is that just something you have to do to stimulate this offense the rest of the way?

EDWARDS: “Whatever way you can move the ball. If a spread offense takes us in that direction I still don’t think you can live in it. It’s like anything else, if people get a bead on what you’re doing the first thing they do is attack you. We caught the Jets a little bit by surprise because we stayed in it a lot and they hadn’t practiced it.

“Monte will see it on tape and it’s not a surprise any more. They’ll have something for it. The first thing you do is bring pressure and try to knock the quarterback down. You leave your edges open all the time when you spread people out. You leave your tackles in space and you’re vulnerable to blitzes. You’ve got to get the ball out fast.

“You can run it some but we didn’t have a lot of runs in that offense. There are some positives in it and some negatives but you don’t live in it, that’s for sure.”

Q: How comfortable are you using it because it doesn’t happen very often in this league?

EDWARDS: “Oh, I’m comfortable using it. I’m comfortable moving the ball and trying to score points. That’s what you’re trying to do. But you still have to run the ball. It still goes back to that whether you’re in the spread or a traditional offense. You have to be able to run the ball and be balanced. If you’re not balanced and play unbalanced and, especially if you have to throw the ball a lot, you generally don’t win.”

Q: Is that part of the evolution of this team, finding out what works?

EDWARDS: “That and what the quarterback is comfortable doing. For us, that’s how Tyler felt. He’s very comfortable doing that. (Offensive coordinator) Chan (Gailey) has done that before; he did it in Pittsburgh. They used that a little bit as a filler, but then they got back to running the ball too. I think it’s another way to open up the offense. We had some success with it.”

Q: Does it hurt your chances of running?

EDWARDS: “There are only certain plays you can run with one back in the backfield and you’re spread out. It makes it a little bit difficult, but there are some runs you can run. You’ve got to keep them honest. You have to be able to run the ball in that formation.”

Q: Are you surprised that college defenses are having so much difficulty in stopping the spread offense?

EDWARDS: “Because of quarterbacks now being in the gun a lot they get the ball out of their hands so fast. This is a little bit like the ‘run and shoot’ was when Mouse Davis (was a coach). Warren (Moon) came into the league with it out of Canada and his coach came with him down to Houston.

“They were very good throwing it around. It stayed in the league for a while and then it kind of went away.”

Q: What was the defensive book on stopping it?

EDWARDS: “Pressure. You pressure the quarterback. When you throw it all the time what happens to you is you get in the habit of throwing it all the time and that’s okay when you have a lead. But the problem is when you do have a lead you want to try and shorten the game. If you can’t run the ball because you don’t practice running now you can’t run the ball. At the end of the game, what are you doing: you’re trying to run the ball and you can’t because you don’t practice it enough. You’re always throwing that little bubble screen, a little wide pass that’s like a toss play.

“The elements slow you down with that offense when it gets cold. If you’re not a dome team and you have to play outside weather becomes a factor all of a sudden. It’s raining, it’s icy, it’s cold. All those things become factors. At the end those are the teams that go all the way when you can run the football.”

Q: Do you think it will progress back to the NFL with all those college quarterbacks running it now?

EDWARDS: “I think what happens is it leaves your quarterback vulnerable and he gets hit a lot. The thing about defenses is there are big defensive players at linebackers who are a lot faster. Defensive linemen are a lot faster. So the closing ability is a little bit different than in college. You’ll get some teams that vacillate, but I don’t think anyone is going to live in it.”

Q: Did you talk about this style of offense when Tyler made his start in Atlanta, or was it something that was predicated on the injuries to Brodie and Damon?

EDWARDS: “We had it. It was one of those change-of-pace deals, but he is really comfortable in it. He kind of showed that in Atlanta when he kind of got into it in the two-minute. He felt very at ease doing this.”

Q: You always coach to your personnel, but this offense generally has a good blocker in the backfield. What you have are more halfback types.

EDWARDS: “You make a good point. Once you show it defenses then look at it and go and try to attack it. Then we have to have things to counterattack. When we were in New York, believe it or not, Vinnie (Testaverde) ran this offense. What Vinnie always used to say was he would prefer to spread them out and see the blitzes coming. He just felt he could beat it if he saw it coming. He was in the shotgun and he thought he had enough time. It’s one of those things that if the quarterback feels comfortable and can get the ball out of his hand, then it’s just a matter of beating the one-on-one coverage.

“That’s what you live with. If you throw a lot of incompletes you live with a lot of three-and-outs and the clock stops and your defense goes right back on the field. If you miss the first one you’re in second-and-10. It becomes a long football game.”

Q: What colleges do also is run their quarterbacks. Are you comfortable having the quarterback running eight or more times a game when it opens up?

EDWARDS: “Not that many, no. Nobody does, not really. That’s why you don’t live in it. The reason is the linebackers run you down and they hit you. It hurts and you get your quarterback hurt. If your quarterback is running nine or more times a game in this league he’s not going to finish the season. He’s not going to last over 16 games.”

Q: How comfortable are you with Tyler reading the defenses?

EDWARDS: “The guy’s only played two games. He had a good game; he did some things very well. He threw the ball very well; he didn’t turn the ball over. But there are some throws that if he would have made (the outcome) may have been a little different too. That’s part of the process to learn how to play in this league.

“But this will be a good test for him. This is a good defense. They can bring pressure. They can drop in coverage. They can rush four guys. They blitz on the strong side, the weak side, out of the nickel. Ronde is probably the best nickel back in football and is a heck of a blitzer. I think he has something like 30 sacks, somewhere around there and somewhere around 30 interceptions. You’ve got to be ready. They’ve got a young quarterback (in their sights). I’ve been with (Defensive coordinator) Monte (Kiffin) a long time and I know how he thinks. He’s going to put pressure on the quarterback. No doubt about it.”

Q: With Brodie down now is there any thought that Tyler can be the long-time foundation at quarterback for you?

EDWARDS: “The more he plays the more we’re going to find out. That’s the great thing about what we’re trying to do with this whole football team. We have a bunch of young guys playing and by the end of the year you’re going to know where they all stand, if they’re top quality starters or back-up guys. We’ll have a good idea of the players that are playing on this football team and how they play and the amount they should play.”

Q: So, the jury is still out?

EDWARDS: “Sure. He’s started two games. He played better in this (past) game. He hasn’t won a game. He did good and hopefully he gets better. All we want is these kids to improve every week. If they continue to improve like they did last week we’ve got a chance to win some games down the stretch here.”

Q: Do you know how your two and three quarterbacks will line up now?

EDWARDS: “Right now that’s a good question. I think both of them will be available but who we deem number two we haven’t decided. Gray is a veteran kind of guy who’s played and has caught on pretty well. He’s a quick read, a smart guy.”

Q: Are you hopeful that he becomes your number two because of the experience factor?

EDWARDS: “You would hope so. That would be the way you would kind of lean right now. He’s played in some games. He played out here against us our first year here (in Kansas City with Jacksonville) and did a good job.”

Q: There were reports that Daunte Culpepper was coming to town and it was cancelled. Did you guys cancel it or did he?

EDWARDS: “There were reports but it never came to fruition. We talked to him and he talked to us. Right now I think he’s in Detroit.”

Q: Did he have a workout scheduled here?

EDWARDS: “We had talked about it. But it never got confirmed or solidified. That’s what it was: a workout to see where he was at, to look at him, no different than when we bring in a bunch of guys every Tuesday. We brought in those two quarterbacks two weeks ago. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

Q: But you didn’t tell him not to show up or did he blow you off?

EDWARDS: “He didn’t blow us off; it never worked out. Perception is perception and the conversation we had was a private one.”

Q: Will Colquitt be available this week?

EDWARDS: “We’ll see. He’s feeling a little bit better and we’ll find out tomorrow. It’ll be day to day.”

Q: Jamaal Charles’s condition?

EDWARDS: “Jamaal same way. He’s getting treatment but he was walking around.”

Q: If he can’t go will what will…

EDWARDS: “We’ve got (Dantrell) Savage. Only one guy can carry the ball at a time.”

Q: You don’t anticipate making any player moves?

EDWARDS: “Well, we haven’t decided what we’re doing yet. We’ll see where Jamaal is at.”

Q: The defense got turnovers but the running defense still…

EDWARDS: “The one run got us and that was 60 (yards) I think it was. They hit a couple of passes on us, but I thought we took the ball away which was good. You’re playing an offense that moves the ball and the quarterback made some plays but he also gave us the ball too. Couldn’t get them stopped at the end which you wish you could hold them to a field goal.”

Q: You only had the one sack but you had some hurries that turned into interceptions. It was probably your best pass rushing day so far this year.

EDWARDS: “Yeah, it was and I think Tamba (Hali) going to the other side helped us a little bit. I think he felt more comfortable over there and I thought the pass coverage was pretty good. The two young corners played pretty good again.

“Generally when you’re plus three in turnovers you win those games on the road. But we didn’t. But (Flowers) played good. They went at him and caught some balls on him, but he picked off two. We probably had a chance to get maybe four or five.

“I didn’t like (Flowers) dance at the end. I told him we don’t do that around here. We’ve got a lot of good young football players and they’re getting better. You see it every time they play and they’re gaining confidence. We’re going to have to play really good defense against (Tampa). They don’t give up a lot of points and you don’t want to get down early. It can become a long day if you do. They’re giving up about 15 points a game.”

Q: Hali is going to stay on that defensive side now?

EDWARDS: “He’s more comfortable over there. He was over there for two years and we decided to move him back over there. And he’s healthy. The last three games he wasn’t healthy. He had a knee (injury) and couldn’t maneuver as he’s capable of doing.”

Q: Do you have a timetable when Larry Johnson may be back?

EDWARDS: “No, that’s in the commissioner’s hands, the league’s hands. They’ll do what is right for the league. I stand behind the commissioner 100% and I know this organization does and he’ll do what’s right.”

Q: Do you expect the NFL Players Association to have a say in this?

EDWARDS: “They generally do. That’s just the process. It all works out.”