Cadillac Williams will practice with the Bucs Wednesday for the first time since suffering a torn patellar tendon in his right knee 13 months ago.

Williams is on the Physically Unable to Perform list. He will have up to three weeks to prepare to play before the team has to decide whether to activate him or place him on Injured Reserve.

“All indications are that the Cadillac is ready to come out of the garage and take some runs,” coach Jon Gruden said Monday during his radio show.

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There is a big difference between Bucs quarterbacks Jeff Garcia and Brian Griese.

Griese, the true drop-back passer who was benched after an injury last week, relies on the pocket to give him time.

Garcia, he’s a scrambler. The play is never over even when the pass protection breaks down.

Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium, Garcia was scrambling all over, making plays. He was 27-of-36 passing for 310 yards and a touchdown as he guided the Bucs to a 20-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Garcia set the tone early as the Bucs came out of the blocks firing at the Seattle defense. Four of the first six Bucs plays were passes, the fourth one being a 47-yard touchdown to Antonio Bryant that gave the Bucs an early 7-0 lead.

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If the Bucs are going to keep intercepting passes - they had three off tipped balls Sunday - they might need a little more time to practice their celebrations. Each pick in Tampa Bay’s 27-3 win over Carolina was followed by a 15-yard penalty. Kool and the Gang they are not. Forget the traditional methods of commemorating joyous occasions. High-fives, backslaps and confetti just won’t do.

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Gary Shelton:  Jeff Garcia truly back from exile

Tom McEwen:  Bucs getting better

David Whitley:  Jeff Garcia returns to save the day

There is no explosiveness in the Bucs passing game. They have misplaced the bomb. With all the check-downs, dump-offs and flares in the flat, it’s like playing quarterback in a phone booth. After five games, Jon Gruden’s offense is averaging 5.45 yards per pass attempt, tied for 28th in the league with the Seahawks, which makes a simple game of catch in the driveway seem like a Hail Mary by comparison. “When I watch the film, I can see that it’s not an explosive offense,” said ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski, who spends hours breaking down plays each week for NFL Matchup. “Big plays come in the passing game, and they don’t have the speed outside to attack down the field. They’ve got a lot of possession-type receivers and no one who is going to make the safety bail.”

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For the last month, Jeff Garcia believed the next snap he took at quarterback would probably come in another uniform. “I think what entered my mind is that it might have been my last snap here in Tampa, as far as whether I would finish the season off here or somewhere else,” Garcia said. “Those were the thoughts going through my mind.” But late in the third quarter of Sunday’s 16-13 loss to the Broncos, starter Brian Griese took a hard hit from blitzing cornerback Champ Bailey, badly bruising Griese’s throwing elbow and spraining his shoulder.

Garcia had been the inactive third quarterback since being benched after the season-opening loss to the Saints on Sept. 7. But for some reason, coach Jon Gruden had elevated him to No. 2 on Sunday.

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Gary Shelton:  No matter the QB, offense will strugggle

Martin Fennelly:  Big day has familiar Gruden ending

Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden won’t say whether QB Brian Griese is on the proverbial “short leash” after throwing twice as many passes to the opponent as touchdown passes.

As far as Griese is concerned, he doesn’t have to.

“I understand that you can’t turn the ball over in this business and be successful for an extended period of time,” said Griese, who has won three straight games since taking over for Jeff Garcia despite seven turnovers (six interceptions, one fumble) during that span. “For me to go forward, I plan on fixing those mistakes.”

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TAMPA - Jon Gruden never had much tolerance for his quarterbacks throwing interceptions.

But on Monday, the Bucs coach put more spin on the situation than one of Brian Griese’s wayward passes.

In the past two games, Griese has thrown a league-worst six interceptions. He is 29th in the NFL with a quarterback rating of 62.5 and 27th in the league with a completion percentage of 55.5.

“You got some real good stats there,” Gruden said. “He’s 3-0 as a starter, how ’bout that?

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TAMPA - The offense has turned the ball over seven times the last two weeks, yet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have withstood the rain of miscues and come away with a pair of victories.

What does that say?

“It says we have a good football team,” said quarterback Brian Griese, donator in six of those seven costly instances. “I’d like to find out how good we are if we don’t turn the ball over.”

They’re also a close-knit team that got even closer Sunday.

Matt Bryant, who Saturday buried his 3-month-old son in Texas, provided the go-ahead points with his third field goal with 2:26 to play, and defensive end Gaines Adams and running back Earnest Graham combined for back-to-back big plays to close out the Green Bay Packers 30-21 in front of an emotionally charged sellout crowd of 64,122 at Raymond James Stadium.

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Gary Shelton: Matt Bryant stands tall after son’s death

David Whitley:  Bryant honors son with class

TAMPA - The Bucs had not signed a replacement for K Matt Bryant late Friday, and chances are they won’t before Sunday.

Based on P Josh Bidwell’s strong suggestion, Bryant’s gear was packed and ready for transport to the stadium, and indications are Bryant will kick Sunday, just four days after his infant son, Tryson, died unexpectedly at the Bryant family’s Tampa home.

A funeral service is scheduled for this morning at the Agape First Christian Fellowship in Graves, Texas. Bidwell and several other members of the organization are expected to attend, Bucs coach Jon Gruden said.

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TAMPA - The exhausting, come-from-behind overtime win at Chicago made for a quiet plane ride home for the Bucs on Sunday night. But quarterback Brian Griese thinks that type of victory, which is rare in the NFL, could energize the team for weeks.

“I think these types of wins can really propel your team,” Griese said. “I think the biggest thing that I’m going to take away, and hopefully every guy in this locker room will take away, is a belief that no matter where you are in the course of a game, you’re going to get it done in the end. That’s a powerful thing for a team - for everybody to believe in each other, offense, defense, special teams. That’s a big piece of having a winning team.”

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