Posted by ESPN.com's Mike McAllister

HONOLULU -- Veteran quarterback Jeff Garcia's first season in Tampa Bay was a success, as he led Jon Gruden's Bucs to the playoffs while finishing with a 94.6 passer rating, seventh-highest in the league. The biggest negatives? A lower back injury that caused him to miss two regular-season starts, and the disappointment of losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants in the wild-card round despite playing at home.

As Garcia -- who was added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster as a replacement for Brett Favre -- prepares for his 10th NFL season, he told reporters here that he remains confident that his health will not be an issue moving forward.

ON BEING SMALLER (6-1, 205) THAN THE PROTOTYPICAL NFL QB:

"I'm not the 6-3, 6-4, 220-pound quarterback with the rocket arm. But I know that I mentally can do smart things on the field, and physically I have enough athletic ability and enough follow-through to make things happen when I do make decisions.

"I'm just trying to build on that. I think that from a competitive standpoint, I feel like there's not anybody that competes harder than myself and from a durability standpoint, I feel like I've been able to withstand. That's because I take tremendous pride in staying in shape and working hard on what I need to do in order to play this game at a high level. Hopefully I can do it for another couple of years."

ON PARALLELS WITH RICH GANNON'S CAREER WHEN HE PLAYED FOR JON GRUDEN IN OAKLAND:

"I think there are some similarities. I think being around coach Gruden -- his high energy, his excitement for the game -- it forces you to rise to his challenges and I think that's something that Gannon was able to do. I think one of the things with Rich is he really didn't have the exceptional years prior to getting to Oakland. ... I think for me, I've been able to do some positive things in the past years in other places.

"But being with coach Gruden at this time in my career is probably the perfect time because he will not allow me to just be content with what's happened in the past. He will force me to grow -- and I like that. I like the challenge. I feel like I can still better myself as a quarterback."

ON LOOKING AT HIS FUTURE IN MULTIPLE YEARS INSTEAD OF ONE YEAR AT A TIME:

"Well, [Gruden] keeps telling me that he needs me to play another 4-5 years. If that's what he thinks ... I still look at it as one year at a time.

"Really, though, it's about where am I mentally. Am I still enjoying the game? I feel like physically, I'm still fine. I'm still able to compete at a high level. Mentally is the main thing.

"But I do enjoy being around him. I want to make the most of these next, at least, 2-3 more years."

ON WHETHER IT'S TOUGHER TO STAY IN SHAPE THAN IT WAS EARLIER IN HIS CAREER:

"You know, your body doesn't respond as well as it did 5-6 years ago. But you know, my life has changed as opposed to 5-6 years ago. I'm married now. We're going to have a child in a couple of months. So many things that have changed in a positive way, I think, makes me more stable in my own life.

"I'm probably not burning the candle at both ends like I was 5-6 years ago. So that allows me to be more focused, and I know that working out is a priority for me. I don't allow myself to get necessarily out of shape because I know it's too difficult to get back into shape. ...

"I really just try to maintain throughout the offseason and never allow myself to slip out of whack as far as the tuning that I need to be in as a professional quarterback."