As a horde of media crowded around him after Wednesday’s morning practice, Bucs reserve quarterback Brian Griese, whose name has been linked to a possible trade that would bring Brett Favre to Tampa Bay, shrugged off the possibility that the talk is serving as a distraction. (View audio slide show)

“Watching that stuff yesterday, you talk about hypotheticals and nobody wants to deal with hypotheticals and we’re not going to do it and I think our team’s not going to do it so we just come out to work every day,” Griese said.

Told that his name was involved in rumors, Griese asked, “My name is?” and said he knew nothing of an impending trade. Griese was a conspicuous absentee from Tuesday’s afternoon session, which Griese described as a “senior day” for him. 

He said he hasn’t thought about the possibility of moving to another team.

“There’s so much for me to work on here with the game plan and getting to a point in this offense where I feel like I have mastered it.,” he said. “So I just focus on that and come out every day and work hard.”

-- EDUARDO A. ENCINA

(Pictured: Jon Gruden, right, bumps fists with Brian Griese, center, as Luke McCown, left, looks on. Times photo -- James Borchuck. Click to enlarge.)