Garcia re-injured the calf in practice on Wednesday. He was benched after a season-opening loss to the New Orleans Saints but re-emerged as the starter following an elbow injury to Brian Griese. Since then, Garcia has gone 6-2 since getting his job back.

But if Garcia is unable to practice Friday, the chances of him starting at Atlanta would be slim.

"It's a concern," coach Jon Gruden said. "It's a calf injury. It's not the same part of the calf (as Garcia's training camp injury) but it is a concern. Hopefully, he can get well within the next day or two. We need him."

If Garcia is unable to play, he will be replaced by backup Luke McCown, who has not taken a regular-season snap all season. McCown went 1-3 as a starter for the Bucs last season.

McCown has been taking reps with the first-team offense in practice. Brian Griese, who is coming back from tendonitis in his right throwing elbow, is expected to see more action in practice Friday.

"Yeah, Luke has been taking a lot of snaps and Brian (Griese) is going to work himself back in tomorrow," Gruden said. "That's the first time really in the last few months, couple of months, that we've seen him throwing the ball as well as he is, so that's a good sign for us."

--It's the life cycle of the NFL that you have to move on to the next game. You can't dwell on mistakes.

But that might be easier said than done for the Bucs, who were embarrassed defensively in their 38-23 loss at Carolina Monday night.

The defeat means the Bucs no longer control the NFC South and are now fighting for their playoff lives. And after being gashed in the running game by Carolina, they face another top-notch rushing attack at Atlanta Sunday in the Georgia Dome.

But coach Jon Gruden has told his team to bury the loss to the Panthers as soon as possible.

"I do remember Minnesota going into New York and winning a convincing 41-17 game," Gruden said. "You would've thought all hell was going to break loose in New York after a couple days following that game. And I just think you've got to have a short-term memory. You've got to really live in the future. You're never as good as you think you are and you're never as bad as you think you are, no matter what anybody thinks.

"We're 9-4. We've played a lot of guys and we've played hard. We've got a lot of character and believe in what we're doing. You're not going to get any sympathy cards from the media, the Falcons or anybody else. Just get back there, put your helmet on and let's go play."

But some things are easier to forget than others. Tampa Bay allowed Panthers running backs DeAngelo Williams (186 yards on 19 carries) and Jonathan Stewart (15-115) to combine for 301 yards rushing and four touchdowns Monday night.

For the NFL's fourth-ranked defense, it was a humbling experience. The Bucs were manhandled by the Panthers offensive line. They missed tackles. They lost containment of their gaps. And on occasion, they were knocked silly.

Meanwhile, the Falcons are coming off a tough loss of their own at New Orleans. In fact, no NFC South team has lost at home this season to a division opponent.

QB Matt Ryan is a much better player than the one the Bucs remember in Week 2.

"I would really like to point out that we really grew up on that day in Tampa," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "Because through the first half of the football game, we did not play very efficiently or effectively. We went in at halftime, made some adjustments, and the thing that I think our players realize is that we were able to stay cool, calm and collected through that surge in the first half.

And in the second half, we made it respectable by moving the football and getting back into that game and being within a touchdown with three and a half minutes to go.

"Our quarterback grew up that day because he did not have a great experience in the first half but the second half he came back and completed I believe seven our of nine throws and drove us down the field on three separate occasions."

Like the rest of the NFL, Gruden has been very impressed with Ryan's development over the course of his rookie season.

"Not many guys have done what he's done. It's a hard league to start in as a rookie," Gruden said. "We started a rookie a few years ago. This guy comes into the league with a unique pedigree. He played an NFL offense. He played for two different coaches and was successful under both of them. He's a premier kid. He's smart. He's got great football awareness. He's just one of those rare guys. Unfortunately the Falcons drafted him.

"It's interesting. Some of the veteran quarterbacks we've talked about - Jeff (Garcia) and Kurt Warner and Kerry Collins among some of the other guys that have played extremely well, the veteran guys. Gus Frerotte's quarterbacking a division leader. And some newcomers have come in here and really choked the opportunity and done a great job."

SERIES HISTORY: 31st regular-season meeting. Bucs lead the all-time series 18-12 and have won 12 of the past 16 games with the Falcons, including a 24-9 victory in Week 2 in Tampa. Since the NFC South was created in 2002, the Bucs own a 9-4 series edge.