By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer

TAMPA, Fla.(AP) -- Rex Grossman made a strong case for winning a
job with the Houston Texans, shining on a stage not normally
reserved for a one-time Super Bowl quarterback to prove himself.

Fringe players often earn roster spots in preseason finales.
Grossman is hoping he secured a backup role behind Matt Schaub
and Dan Orlovsky after throwing for two touchdowns in Friday
night's 27-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"I don't control any of that. All I wanted to do was go out and
have a good game for either this team or somebody else,"
Grossman said. "That's not up to me. I thought I did that, and
we'll see what happens."

On a night when most starters on both teams rested, Grossman
returned after missing more than two weeks with a hamstring
injury. His only work during the preseason had been one pass
attempt in the Texans' opener.

The seventh-year pro, who led the Bears to the Super Bowl in
2006, teamed with Jacoby Jones on an 87-yard scoring play on his
first pass, and finished 9 of 16 for 197 yards and no
interceptions in three quarters.

"I was very impressed. You could see signs of that during camp,
whenever he was working that first seven or eight days," Houston
coach Gary Kubiak said. "Obviously he knows what this league's
about. He knows how to make plays. He was ready to play."

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay's first-round draft pick, started, with
Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown getting the night off after coach
Raheem Morris settled on Leftwich as the No. 1 quarterback
heading into the regular season.

The game also marked the debut of Greg Olson as the Buccaneers'
offensive coordinator. Olson was promoted Thursday when former
Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski was unexpectedly fired.

Freeman, who Morris selected 17th overall with intentions of
bringing him along slowly, and fourth-stringer Josh Johnson each
played a half for the Bucs (1-3). Both produced 10 points
apiece, with Freeman throwing a 23-yard TD pass to Cortez
Hankton, and Johnson tossing a 14-yarder to Ryan Purvis.

Grossman, who played behind Kyle Orton in Chicago last season,
signed with the Texans (2-2) in June and has been competing for
the No. 3 job behind Schaub and Orlovsky, who started Friday
night and completed 5 of 7 passes for 51 yards and an
interception before Grossman entered.

Grossman connected with Jones on his second play, then threw an
11-yard TD pass to James Casey to finish an 11-play, 56-yard
drive on Houston's next possession. He turned Kevin Bentley's
interception at the Tampa Bay 14 into a field goal, ending the
night with a 139.8 quarterback rating.

"I feel decent about my audition," Grossman said. "If they cut
me, then hopefully somebody else will pick me up."

Faced with trimming the roster to 53 players on Saturday, Kubiak
was noncommital.

"I don't know. ... We've got to look at a lot of things," the
coach said. "It's a tough process, that 53 situation, so we'll
see. He sure as heck helped himself."

Freeman was intercepted twice before giving the Bucs a glimpse
of what the team is counting on to be a bright future.

Making plays with his feet, as well as his arm, the former
Kansas State star led a 10-play, 74-yard drive in the final two
minutes of the half, capping the march with his touchdown pass
to Hankton.

Morris was impressed.

"He came out a little shaky. He had to make a couple of great
scrambles there, make a couple of good third-down conversions to
end that thing with a two-minute drive to get us in the end
zone," the first-year coach said.

"It's what you want to see," Morris added. "You want to see
these guys play better every time you go out there."