Bucs give Glennon a day to rejuvenate

TAMPA — Despite Sunday's performance, in which he passed for the second-fewest yards in a complete game this NFL season, Mike Glennon still is moving the chains forward in his development.

That's according to coach Greg Schiano, who nonetheless told his rookie signalcaller to stay home from work Monday and recharge.

"You have to look at his body of work, especially as a rookie quarterback," Schiano said.

"He's been grinding really, really hard. Even in the bye week, this guy didn't take off. I just want him to take a breath. He'll come back (today) ready to go. I told him I don't want to see you in the morning. Stay out of here. Do what you do. Sleep. Whatever. We'll get cracking in the afternoon."

Glennon went 9-of-25 for 90 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in Sunday's 27-6 win over the Bills. It was the second-lowest passing output by a quarterback who started and finished. The Raiders' Terrelle Pryor passed for 88 yards against the Steelers this season (also in a victory).

Glennon has committed four turnovers in his past two games (also including the Dec. 1 loss to Carolina) after throwing only one interception over the previous six-game span. And the Bucs' epic second-half struggles continue. Tampa Bay had 28 total yards in the second half Sunday, and Glennon passed for only 20 after the first quarter.

"He's faced two of the better pass defenses for sure, one top defense period," Schiano said. "We missed some things for sure. There were some plays we left on the table that we can't afford to do. But they're multiple (in coverage and personnel) and for what we ask our quarterback to do, that's probably the toughest type of opponent to play."

While Glennon has struggled against the Panthers and Bills, the Bucs offense has been against the ropes with him.

Schiano acknowledges injuries have reduced the weapons for Glennon, but he says the offensive staff still has to find way to put players in position to score points.

"I'm disappointed," Schiano said. "We did pull the reins back some, but that doesn't account for some of the things we did that are very, very frustrating. We need to get better.

"With the offensive staff and me, we spend three or four hours on the tape. Look, I get it, we're missing this guy, we're missing that guy. I'm not going to ever use this as an excuse but I'm not going to also be naive to the fact we're playing with some guys that originally weren't in the plans. But now they're in the plans. I don't care if they're the best pass defense, the best rush defense, the best defense — we have to find a way to score points."

The Bucs didn't get much done on the ground, either. After running back Bobby Rainey's 80-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game, he rushed 21 times for 47 yards.

"You can't say, 'other than,' because it was an 80-yard run," Schiano said. "That has to be included. They're a good defense. The reason they're not tops in the league in run defense is because of things like that 80-yard run. They play a style of defense where they're going to press up the corners, they're going to play man on everybody and I thought our coaches did a great job of creating a game plan where maybe some of the man-to-man could be used against them in the run game and that's what happened on that play."

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The Bucs defense overcame the ineptitude of the offense, which is ranked 31st in the NFL. Tampa Bay leads the league with 21 interceptions and is second to Kansas City (plus 15) with a takeaway/giveaway ratio of plus 13.

"What we're doing is building depth," Schiano said. "Now these guys have played in NFL games and at times played really well. In the long run, that will behoove us but right now, maybe the defense has a little more of the onus on them."