In the last 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?

"I don't know how much latitude (he gets). Again, what I say publicly and what I say behind the doors are two different things. I'm not going to be overly critical publicly. I've got a lot of respect and confidence in Brian Griese."

That's because despite the turnovers, Griese has won eight of his last nine starts for the Bucs dating back to 2005.

On Sunday, the Bucs had a 20-7 lead before Griese's three second-half INTs - including one returned 62-yards for a touchdown by cornerback Charles Woodson - left his team trailing 21-20.

Griese had a 36.0 quarterback rating after completing 15-of-30 passes for 149 yards and three picks in the Bucs' 30-21 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Fortunately for the Bucs, they have taken advantage of good field position created by their defense. Tampa Bay has scored 48 points off turnovers this season, scoring at least seven points off takeaways in every game.

Playing against a Packers secondary riddled with injuries, Gruden said Griese made a "good decision" on his first INT, which was tipped by receiver Michael Clayton into the hands of Tramon Williams. On the second pick, intended for tight end Jerramy Stevens, he said Griese "missed the throw a little bit," and credited Nick Collins with "a superb play."

Woodson simply read Griese's eyes on the third interception.

"I think Brian telegraphed it a little bit," Gruden said.

But the criticism of Griese was not nearly as sharp as it has been for other Bucs' quarterbacks. By contrast, Jeff Garcia, who started the first game at New Orleans, threw just four interceptions all of last season.

"There's three or four throws he's made the last two weeks that have hurt us," Gruden said of Griese. "And there's about 35 or 40 throws that have really helped us. He made some throws yesterday after the third interception that were big-time plays, that changed the game in terms of field position. He made some decisions in the running game that were outstanding. So there are some areas that are very clear and obvious we need to clean up. He knows where I stand and where our team stands on turnovers. We've got to clean that up and we're going to work our butt off this week to get that done."