Carmella Garcia, Jeff Garcia's wife, was on the Ian Beckles Show this morning saying that Jeff has gotten better every day since Monday and was even dancing in the living room Wednesday night. She didn't say what she did to help him heal or get him dancing, but I like to imagine that it involves various oils and her needing a neck brace at the end of the day. Whatever she's doing, she's good at it because Jeff was back out on the practice field today.

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The Buccaneers say quarterback Jeff Garcia missed practice again yesterday and his status for Sunday’s game at New Orleans appears questionable at best.  Garcia has a deep bruise in his lower back.  Luke McCown has the upper hand on Bruce Gradkowski this week for the starting role.  McCown received reps with the first team at practice again yesterday.  Head coach Jon Gruden is not tipping his hand as to who will start.  The 7-and-4 Buccaneers can move one step closer to winning the NFC South with a win.  The 5-and-6 Saints need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Pete Prisco, about whom I have no strong opinion either way, had thought the Bucs would continue last year's trend of being terrible, and I guess he told Derrick Brooks about it. When he went back and spoke with Brooks again last week, Derrick made sure he remembered the conversation.

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Pete Prisco, about whom I have no strong opinion either way, had thought the Bucs would continue last year's trend of being terrible, and I guess he told Derrick Brooks about it. When he went back and spoke with Brooks again last week, Derrick made sure he remembered the conversation.

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(The "Five Things" portion of the preview won't repeat for the second divisional games. I'm not nearly creative enough to come up with ten things per team.)

The way it looks now, Luke McCown will be starting this game, which cripples the team pretty severely from an offensive standpoint. The Bucs will need to run the ball a lot and we already know Michael Pittman will be out. Pittman is an excellent blocker and blitz-killer and New Orleans already has the #9 run defense in the league. I expect the Saints will stack the box with as many as nine until McCown can prove to them that he can throw the ball. Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard and Alex Smith really need to step it up at least in the first half and catch whatever McCown is throwing. Dive, slide, jump, tiptoe... whatever. If the Saints don't have to respect the pass, it's over. Lucky for us, the Saints have one of the worst pass defenses in the league, so opportunities should present themselves if McCown can just stay alive long enough to step up and throw. I expect Earnest Graham to get a decent number of yards (maybe 60 or so), but on a lot of carries.

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So which will play on Sunday? Our starter, Garcia? Our QB that can't hit the broad side of a barn, Bruce? Or "use the Force," Luke? If I had my druthers, Garcia would go, and there are some indications that he's getting better, as he apparently took a few reps today. But he'll need to still greatly improve to play Sunday. He's improving quickly, but will it be enough? Some don't think he should play, and should rest for a couple of weeks, but the reality is that we need to win this game. Winning this game means that any combination of another Bucs' win, or both a Saints and Panthers loss, means we win the Division.

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This is an interesting stat I wasn't aware of: I'm told Joey Galloway has at least one touchdown reception in his past six games against the Saints. On Sunday, he can become just the third player since 1970 to record touchdown receptions in at least seven consecutive games against a single opponent.

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Wide receiver Ike Hilliard says he’ll miss Redskins safety Sean Taylor.  Hilliard lived down the street from Taylor, who was shot Monday morning and died Tuesday.  The 24-year-old Taylor was fatally wounded in the leg when intruders entered his home.  Hilliard said everyone should be concerned for the safety of their families and the act that happened Monday could happen to anyone.  There is no word yet regarding a funeral for Taylor.