The Bucs got back to work Tuesday morning at the AdventHealth Training Center after two days off from full practices. It was perfect timing as Tropical Storm Debby hit the Tampa Bay area hard on Sunday and Monday. The team was in full pads for its 10th practice of training camp, with strong, gusty winds due to the storm exiting the state of Florida on a partly sunny day.
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said they will have a walkthrough Sunday before Monday’s off day. That was already planned with the schedule ahead of camp, but it coincidentally works out well given the weather forecasts over the weekend in Tampa.
Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Matt Matera, Adam Slivon and Isaiah Delgado were in attendance for Saturday’s practice. Here are their observations:
Bucs Who Were Not Practicing
The group of injured Bucs missing on Tuesday’s practice saw some familiar names with wide receiver Kameron Johnson, running back Chase Edmonds, outside linebacker Shaun Peterson Jr., strong safety Jordan Whitehead and inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis all watching on from the sidelines. Outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was dressed in pads, but did not practice due to a lingering injury for the second straight practice.
Wide receiver Sterling Shepard did not practice on Tuesday and was a new addition to the walking wounded.
The good news for the Bucs is that rookie defensive back Tykee Smith, who sprained his ankle during Saturday’s practice, returned to action on Tuesday and was a full participant. It was also good to see outside linebacker Yaya Diaby out at practice watching the action after missing the last couple of practices rehabbing his high ankle sprain. The fact that Diaby was not walking with a boot or a brace was also a welcomed site.
Baker Mayfield Cooled Off On Tuesday With Multiple INTs
Pewter Report tabulated the interception total from our daily practice reports and formed a story detailing all of the INTs through the first nine days of Bucs training camp. Third-string quarterback John Wolford had the dubious distinction of leading the team with six heading into Tuesday’s practice, but starter Baker Mayfield took the lead with a pair of picks as Tampa Bay returned to the practice field after two days off.
On the heels of signing a lucrative, three-year deal worth $100 million this offseason, Mayfield has had a hot start to training camp generally speaking. But the Bucs’ starter cooled off considerably on Tuesday throwing two interceptions and having two more potential picks dropped. Mayfield, who was the only QB who turned the ball over on Tuesday, with his first pick coming early on a deep ball that was overthrown intended for Jalen McMillan. Rookie safety Marcus Banks tracked the ball the whole way and collected his first interception of training camp.
That was Mayfield’s sixth INT of camp, but the day wasn’t over for the Bucs defense, which came into Tuesday with 14 picks through the first nine practices, including 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods. Mayfield nearly threw an interception to reserve safety Tavierre Thomas, who currently leads the team with three. Thomas had the ball in his hands, but bobbled it and that allowed wide receiver Chris Godwin to snatch the ball right out of the air. With Thomas reacting to almost having his fourth interception of camp, Godwin raced downfield for an easy – yet improbable – touchdown in dramatic fashion.
Mayfield’s second interception came in the red zone as cornerback Zyon McCollum jumped a slant pass intended for Mike Evans and made a clean pick. That was McCollum’s second pick during camp.
Mayfield nearly threw another pick, this time as he and Mike Evans didn’t communicate the route correctly. Reserve cornerback Josh Hayes read Mayfield’s eyes perfectly and almost made the interception near the back of the goal line, but the second-year DB couldn’t haul in the pass.
Mayfield wasn’t awful on Tuesday, and did have a couple of nice touchdowns to tight ends Cade Otton and Payne Durham. But he was a little more careless with the ball than both he and offensive coordinator Liam Coen would prefer. Perhaps it was the gusty conditions during practice that messed with Mayfield’s accuracy a bit. But Tampa Bay’s defense loved the fact that its interception total increased to 16 after Tuesday’s practice.
Todd Bowles Liked How His Veterans Responded On Tuesday
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles praised his veteran players for their focus after having the team’s first break from camp with back-to-back days off. Linebackers Lavonte David and K.J. Britt were on top of their game and made a bunch of plays during practice. The same could be said for defensive tackles Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey, while the veterans on the offensive line, tight ends Cade Otton and Payne Durham, running back Rachaad White and wide receiver Chris Godwin shined on offense.
“The older guys came ready to play, the younger guys [have] got some mental work to do,” Bowles said after Tuesday’s practice. “The mental part of it has gotta be key for us going into this ball game, especially the younger guys we wanna see play, so that’s gonna be important.”
The Bucs have three more days to prepare for their preseason opener on the road at Cincinnati against the Bengals on Saturday night.
“The next couple days will tell a lot,” Bowles said when asked which rookies have caught his eye so far in training camp.
Observations And Highlights From Day 10 Of Bucs Camp
Here are some quick-hitting observations from Tampa Bay’s 10th training camp practice:
• Although Bucs rookie Graham Barton is currently listed as the backup center on the team’s first depth chart, which was released on Tuesday, he is expected to win the starting job. But Robert Hainsey, who is entering a contract year in Tampa Bay, was the starter on Tuesday. Barton is improving with each practice and had an incredible 1-on-1 pass protection rep against defensive tackle Vita Vea near the start of Tuesday’s action. Barton used perfect technique to effectively block Vea and win the rep.
• With Yaya Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka out of action the Bucs’ starting outside linebackers on Tuesday were sixth-year veteran Anthony Nelson and rookie Chris Braswell, the team’s second-round pick. Braswell is coming along, albeit slowly. But the additional reps he’s getting against starting offensive tackles Luke Goedeke and Tristan Wirfs is only accelerating his learning curve.
• Behind Nelson and Braswell were reserve outside linebackers Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez on the second team. Both are battling each other for the right to be the No. 5 outside linebacker on the depth chart. Last year Watts won the job as an undrafted free agent over Ramirez, who was a sixth-round pick, relegating him to the practice squad. Both second-year edge rushers made good plays on Tuesday.
• After getting body-slammed to the ground by Wirfs on one pass rush, Watts came screaming around the edge on the next play, beating Wirfs clean for a would-be-sack. Ramirez had a nice tackle for loss, shoving right tackle Brandon Walton aside and stuffing Sean Tucker in the backfield.
• The Bucs running game had some real bright spots with Rachaad White, D.J. Williams, Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker all having some big gains thanks to big holes to run through. But there was some give and take as the defense also made its share of plays, too. Safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith filled their gaps at the line of scrimmage and stuffed a few runs for no gain and defensive tackle Calijah Kancey also had a tackle for loss on a run by White in the backfield.
• Speaking of Smith, the rookie from Georgia also made a great play in pass coverage. Coming back from a slightly sprained ankle on Saturday, Smith was stride for stride with Chris Godwin racing down the field and timed his pass breakup on a Baker Mayfield throw perfectly.
• Backup quarterback Kyle Trask had a better than average day with his best throw coming on a rollout towards the sideline where he hit reserve receiver Ryan Miller for a touchdown pass in the red zone at the pylon. Miller also caught a touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield in the red zone, as he saw increased snaps with Sterling Shepard out on Tuesday.
• Third-string QB John Wolford ended practice on a high note for the offense’s red zone work, threading the needle on a touchdown pass to receiver Rakim Jarrett in the end zone.
