All along Raheem Morris had said he would have his starting quarterback (along with "most" of the starters) determined after the second preseason game but before the third preseason game. That's been the plan all along, to give the starters time to work together.
After a pretty obvious winner in game one (Byron Leftwich), the competition seemed a formality at that point. Stories started trickling out of Leftwich being the guy, possibility of McCown gettting cut and at that point it was rumored that any "competition" was just smoke being blown.
Game two has come and gone and with McCown leading two TD drives, it appears that any decision will be put off, at least until the third preseason game.
As reported on the Pewter Report, Morris had this to say
I don't really want to say anything more than that right now because we haven't had our meeting yet, but that may be a thought. We might extend it - it might go to overtime. That's a good thing, too. Initially, you set a deadline, but sometimes deadlines are set to be broken.
Reading between the lines, that may indicate a problem for the Bucs. The old saying goes "If you have two quarterbacks, you have none" seems to apply here. I don't envy Morris' decision here.
To take it a bit further Morris talked a bit about each QB.
More than one of them has stepped out of their box and showed some things, what Luke did last night was really good. Josh Freeman played well, and had he gotten a few more snaps maybe it could have been really good. Leftwich, had he hit that pass to [Mike] Clayton, it might have been a great night for him. All three quarterbacks played well last night. Last week, everybody was knocking on Josh Johnson's door. They've all done a good job. That's why I'm saying that we might have to go upstairs, reevaluate this thing and figure out what I want to do with my deadline.
So yea, they all have had some positive plays. But how did "all" three quarterbacks play well last night? I thought four of them entered the game. Seems someone (Editor's Note: Josh Johnson) has gone back to being the forgotten man.
The troubling quote?
With the way they're playing, I mean, there was a time when I said I wouldn't keep four quarterbacks, but I don't even know if that's true anymore. We have to go back and evaluate everything, and keep the best 53 people
I could maybe understand Gruden's reasoning for 4 QB's. You had three veterans and one young guy (JJ). This year, I don't see the reason to protect 3 young QB's (everyone but Leftwich). Only one of them will be around in future years, and it's the dude that got the big contract.
Buckle Buc's fans. This looks like a split decision that (and I hope I'm wrong) may be flop-flopped as the year goes on.