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The St.Petersburg Times, published 1 October 2007
They tried to focus on the three-game winning streak, but the feeling of loss was all around the Bucs on Sunday. Cadillac Williams leaned on crutches as he slowly made his way through the locker room, his right leg bundled in a plastic cast. Teammates braced themselves for having to play without him.
Tackle Luke Petitgout slowly emptied out the contents of his locker while favoring his right knee, trying to block out the reality that his season is likely over, too. Jon Gruden called out the names of the players who will have to step up while insisting his club will not take a step back.
And so it went. The Bucs (3-1) had just beaten Carolina 20-7 to claim sole possession of first place in the NFC South. Yet after one of the Bucs' most convincing victories in seasons, doubt filled every hallway. Williams and Petitgout each likely suffered season-ending injuries. "I don't know what it is," Williams said. "All I know is it's severe."
Williams, 25, is thought to have torn the patellar tendon in his right knee when he was hit by Panthers safety Chris Harris at the end of an 18-yard run during the first quarter.
Both Williams and Petitgout, 31, returned to Tampa with the team Sunday night. Williams will fly to Birmingham early this week to undergo surgery from orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
"To lose, potentially these two men, it's not a good thing for us," said Gruden, who hugged Williams' mother, Sherry, outside the locker room after the game. "But we will show resolve as we did today, and we will complete the season with authority, I can assure you of that. We're going to have to move on. We've had injuries here before."
With the Bucs leading 7-0 in the first quarter, Williams took a handoff from quarterback Jeff Garcia and ran to the right. But his right foot appeared to catch in the turf as he was hit hard by Harris.
Williams immediately grabbed his right knee and was writhing in pain. The entire Bucs team surrounded Williams as he was taken off the field on a cart, hiding his face under a towel.
One series later, Petitgout's knee was hit from the side as he was blocking for Earnest Graham. Even as Gruden called for Donald Penn and perhaps Anthony Davis to take the place of the Bucs' starting left tackle, a defiant Petitgout was predicting better news. "I sprained my knee. It's sprained," the nine-year veteran said. "I shouldn't be out long. Not long, that's all I know. I've got to get more tests tomorrow."
Despite those injuries, the Bucs still managed to rush for 189 yards - with Michael Pittman and Graham combining for 138 yards on 32 carries. Before his injury, Williams rushed six times for 41 yards. It was, in many ways, a perfect game for the Bucs.
Tampa Bay took the opening kickoff and drove 71 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown, capped by Garcia's 3-yard scramble.
After Williams' injury, they made it 14-0 on Graham's 1-yard touchdown run. Receiver Ike Hilliard, playing on a sprained ankle, caught seven passes for 114 yards in the first half.
And the Bucs' suffocating defense didn't allow a point in the first half for the third straight game, falling 23 seconds shy of a shutout when DeAngelo Williams scored on a 24-yard screen pass.
Tampa Bay sacked Carolina quarterback David Carr three times and intercepted him once. At one point, Carr was 6-of-15 passing for 26 yards.
When Pittman entered the locker room at halftime, he threw his arms around Williams. "You can't really say it's going to be all right, because it's not," Pittman said. "He knows he's done for the season. ... It's tough. I'm at a loss for words. He's been battling injuries the past couple years, and I thought maybe this was the year he could go injury-free."
Michael Clayton said he was reduced to tears. "It brings tears to your eyes because that's like my brother," Clayton said. "You never want to see that for any player, but when a guy goes down like that who's close to you like that, man, it takes a little bit out of you. He told me we've got to keep fighting and was picking me up."
"Even though it's a very physical, brutal game," Hilliard said, "you just hate to see injuries like that."
Ronde Barber said some players were having trouble with their footing in warmups, especially near the sideline where Williams was injured. "I think it has something to do with the way it drains," Barber said. "It pools down on the sideline, and the grass gets a little high, and it's terrible. We were out there in pregame, and it wasn't good out there. ... He didn't get hit that hard."
But the injuries struck a blow to the Bucs' hopes this season, coming on a day when they played their best game - a victory nobody felt like celebrating.
"It's hard to swallow right now," Gruden said.
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