Gruden, Kubiak eye final roster decisions for Bucs and Texans

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Midway through the monthlong NFL preseason schedule, Jon Gruden was asked how many games he thinks teams need to get ready for the regular season.

The Tampa Bay coach replied that based on the large number of mistakes the Buccaneers made in their first two exhibitions "some of our guys need 14 games" instead of the customary four.

He was only half joking.

At a time when teams get nearly 100 percent participation in offseason conditioning programs and minicamps, veterans hardly need four dress rehearsals to prepare for games that count.

Young, inexperienced talent is an entirely different matter.

When the Bucs and Houston Texans take the field for their preseason finale Thursday night, the main objective will be keeping starters healthy while making last-minute evaluations on players still trying to win jobs.

Texans quarterback Matt Schaub won't play at all, and Tampa Bay regulars Jeff Garcia, Joey Galloway, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber will see little or no action.

"When you get to this stage of the preseason it's an opportunity for a guy to get one final opportunity to earn a right to be on our football team, and I'm sure Houston and a lot of teams in the league look at it that way," Gruden said.

Sage Rosenfels will start at quarterback for Houston. However, coach Gary Kubiak wants to spend most of the night trying to determine if third-string rookie Jared Zabransky has a future with the Texans.

With Chris Simms still trying to regain his form after missing most of last season with a spleen injury, Tampa Bay's backup quarterback job remains open. Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski are the leading candidates for the No. 2 job behind Garcia.

Teams are required to trim rosters to the limit of 53 players on Saturday. One decision Gruden has to make is whether the Bucs will part with Simms, who only played six snaps in the preseason, or keep four quarterbacks.

"I can't say that we wouldn't do that," Gruden said. "We're going to try and keep our best players, and certainly we've got some good quarterbacks."

The coach shed little light on his plans for Simms against the Texans, other than "we're going to do our best to get him on the field." The fifth-year pro played briefly against Miami last week after sitting out the first two preseason games.

Rosenfels likely will play up to a quarter for the Texans, then hand over the offense to Zabransky, an undrafted free agent from Boise State.

"That's the only way you find out about guys like this, giving them an opportunity. He's going to have to go in there against a good defensive football team, a Monte Kiffin defense, a visiting stadium. I'm interested to see how he handles himself," Kubiak said.

"Our decision is simple. Do we think he has a chance some day to be a player in this league? And if he does, we have to find a way to keep him on this football team."

One other position where Kubiak faces some potentially tough choices is receiver. He said he'll likely keep five or six on the roster.

"We're going to look at those guys extremely hard and what we're doing in this game. They're going to all play a lot," Kubiak said.

"That includes Keenan (McCardell), getting a big look at him, especially throughout the first half. We have some very difficult decisions. Bethel (Johnson) is going to return kicks. We're going to do everything we can to let those guys sort that out themselves, but that will be a difficult decision."

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