Bucs Camp Insider 8-2: O-Line Avoids Another Scare, QBs Dish It Out

It was a scorcher out at the AdventHealth Training Center as the Bucs hit the field for practice on Tuesday. That may have been a factor in a couple of brief skirmishes that went on in practice. They were quickly ended before anything escalated, but it did feel as if practice kicked up a notch.

Bucs Out Of Practice

Running back Giovani Bernard had the day off. Wide receiver Breshad Perriman and linebacker JoJo Ozougwu were both injured toward the end of Monday’s practice and were out on Tuesday. We will monitor whether they return to practice Wednesday.

Wirfs Is OK

There was a brief scare in the second half of practice as Tristan Wirfs was carted off the field. Thankfully, the All-Pro left tackle only suffered a cramp and is fine. Todd Bowles confirmed as much after practice. Wirfs is coming off of an ankle injury that he’s fully recovered from, but we’ve seen how the Bucs look without him in the lineup.

Hainsey Starts Slow, But Picks It Up Late

Robert Hainsey is going to be under a microscope from now until Ryan Jensen returns – whenever that is. That means the coaches are going to be hard on him, too. Hainsey had a rough start in the early run portion of practice. He botched a snap exchange with Tom Brady that led to a blown play. On the next one, Hainsey was beaten badly by Will Gholston. This led to assistant head coach Harold Goodwin chewing him out loudly for everyone to hear.

Bucs C Robert Hainsey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

To his credit, Hainsey didn’t let it get to him. He bounced back in a huge way in one-on-one pass blocking  drills against the defense. His opponent? Vita Vea. Hainsey did very well holding up Vea, who’s been a force early on in training camp. When they moved to 11-on-11’s, Hainsey once again held his own against the Pro Bowl nose tackle. There’s going to be more peaks and valleys throughout the month, but it was good to see the second-year center stick with it.

Intensity Ramps Up

Whether it was the heat index or the contact increasing in full pads, the Bucs were all willing to fight for themselves. We were close to a fight between rookie guard Luke Goedeke and second-year linebacker K.J. Britt on an early run play. Not long after, fellow linebacker Grant Stuard was in the face of tackle Josh Wells, which led to some pushing and shoving.

It wasn’t all beef, as plays were actually made as well. One of the highlights came from new Bucs safety Keanu Neal, who laid a good hit on rookie running back Rachaad White. It was one of those pops that was loud enough to make the crowd roar after the play.

The defense as an entire unit didn’t take the ball away, but they did a good job of stopping the run. There was one play in particular where Vea wrapped up Leonard Fournette in the backfield. Brady, who may have been in a bad mood for other reasons, screamed at the entire offense. “We need to get more than one f*****g yard!” Brady said. To no surprise, Fournette scored a touchdown on the next play on a pass from Brady.

Fournette had an interesting day as well, making some catches and dropping an easy one. Arguably the most exciting thing he did was successfully pick up a blitz from Lavonte David, stopping him before he could get to the quarterback.

QBs Cruising

Despite Brady’s anger with the run game, he didn’t have many issues throwing the ball around. He connected with Mike Evans multiple times, along with some mixing in completions to Russell Gage. Really, every receiver got in the mix with Brady. The only mishap was a near-pick from Devin White during a 7-on-7 drill.

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

We’ve come to expect that from the G.O.A.T., though. What we didn’t see coming was a multi-touchdown day from Kyle Trask, who received more work than he had previously. Trask was reading the defense well and going through his progressions, which led to consecutive touchdown throws to running backs Rachaad White and Ke’Shawn Vaughn. His most impressive throw had to be to about 25 yards down the field, over the middle to rookie Jerreth Sterns.

Blaine Gabbert brought it today as well. He probably had the highlight touchdown, finding Julio Jones in the corner of the end zone with Jamel Dean in coverage. Gabbert also pushed the ball down field more than we’ve seen, connecting with Tyler Johnson for a 30-yard gain.

Receivers Continue To Make Plays

Johnson once again had a fantastic day at practice. Along with making big plays down the field, there were a couple receptions he made jumping through the air to secure the catch. He found the end zone multiple times, including one to cap off the end of practice.

Bucs WR Julio Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Jones probably made the best play on the touchdown catch from Gabbert. He was involved a lot over the middle as well. Outside of Evans and Brady, it was Jones that got some of the larger reactions from the crowd.

The receivers were doing more than just catching the ball, though. Tampa Bay’s coaching staff loves it when a receiver can block, and we saw a great play from Jaelon Darden in that regard. There was a screen pass to Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who was sprung free for a touchdown after a great block by Darden on Zyon McCollum. The Bucs will be looking for more of where that came from. He made a nice catch on the sideline with tight coverage on him as well.

Kicker Update

It was Ryan Succop’s day to kick, and he did not disappoint. In the seven field goal attempts he had, Succop made them all. Each one he moved slightly back, with the veteran hitting the last two from about 49-51 yards. Succop has been known for his accuracy, but doesn’t have the strongest of legs, so it was a good sign he could go from there. It’s most likely his job to lose in camp, but a lot more will be decided when games come about next week. The Bucs resume practice again on Wednesday.

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