Brooks would not discuss his chances of playing Sunday.

"Unfortunately for me, I'm under strict orders .... I was told by my head coach not to really go into details about my situation and my injury," Brooks said. ""We'll know on game day whether I'll be ready to go or not. I'm under strict orders, more of a gag order. That's all I'm able to discuss right now. We'll see what happens on Sunday."

--The Bucs defense is built to avoid giving up big plays. But they allowed three long touchdown passes by Saints QB Drew Brees last week. On two of those plays, defensive backs were in position to defend the pass.

"Us in the secondary and the defensive backs room, we'll take responsibility for that," S Jermaine Phillips said. "Big plays are something that we're not supposed to give up. We're not supposed to give up explosion plays. Talib was in great position. He just jumped too early. Ronde was in great position and he just fell down. And I missed a tackle on Reggie Bush and all those resulted in touchdowns. If you take those away, I think we played pretty well. We played hard and we played fast, so that's all we can ask for right now."

--Rookie G Jeremy Zuttah will make his second pro start Sunday against Atlanta. Zuttah graded out pretty high in his debut at New Orleans.

"My confidence is pretty high," Zuttah said. "I feel like I'm getting better, and that's what I want to be doing right now so I'm feeling good."

BY THE NUMBERS: 2 of 12 - That's what the Bucs were on third down last week at New Orleans

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm not one of those guys (who drink) six cups of coffee on Sunday. I'm not one of those guys. I've been around those guys and it's fun to watch. But I'm not one of those guys. I'm pretty even tempered." -- QB Brian Griese.