Inside Bucs OTAs 5-25: Star Defenders Return, QBs Clean Up Mistakes

The Bucs took the field at the AdventHealth Training Center on Wednesday for the second OTA session that was open to the media. Temperatures were in the upper 80s with breezy conditions under overcast skies.

More Bucs Veterans Show Up

Quarterback Tom Brady, left tackle Donovan Smith, running back Leonard Fournette, wide receiver Mike Evans, center Ryan Jensen and cornerback Carlton Davis III were not attendance on Wednesday like last week. Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting also missed practice this Wednesday as well. Wide receiver Chris Godwin (knee) and linebacker Lavonte David (foot) remain out due to rehabbing their injuries. But a few new faces have reported for the voluntary practices.

Inside linebacker Devin White and outside linebacker Shaq Barrett were at Wednesday’s practice, and have participated in a couple other practices since missing the first OTA last week. Wide receiver Russell Gage is also dealing with a minor injury and was in attendance, but not participating. Inside linebacker Grant Stuard was also at practice for the second straight week, but held out due to injury.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles remains very pleased with the attendance at this year’s OTA.

White has been working on his coverage drops in practice, and admitted that he still needs improvement in that area. He said that he was so used to playing man coverage in college and the adjustment to playing more zone at the NFL level has taken time. White did have a nice pass breakup while covering rookie running back Rachaad White.

The Arizona State product didn’t play much on special teams because he was a feature back. But he will play special teams during his rookie season in Tampa Bay. On Wednesday, White was back returning a few punts and was impressive.

No INTs From Gabbert, Trask

Unlike the Bucs’ very first OTA practice, which was open to the media, there were no interceptions from either backup QB Blaine Gabbert, who got the starter reps with Brady absent, or Kyle Trask. Both quarterbacks had some highs and lows in practices, but Bowles was bringing the heat with a lot of blitzes in the 11-on-11 periods.

One disappointing play that was noteworthy was Jaelon Darden streaking by Jamel Dean on a go route and Gabbert failing to hit him deep. Gabbert’s pass was a few yards beyond Darden. Whether it was a misfire by Gabbert or if Darden didn’t run a clean route was unclear, but it would have been a big touchdown if they had connected.

Gabbert and Trask both ended on high notes with touchdown passes inside the red zone simulating a scenario with just seconds left and needing a TD to win. After overthrowing Tyler Johnson at the goal line, Gabbert came right back to Johnson, who was well covered, on an identical route with a slightly better throw for the score. Trask threaded the needle on a pass to Travis Jonsen in between three defenders just feet inside the goal line to end practice.

Bucs Offensive Line Shuffle

With Jensen out, Robert Hainsey didn’t get any snaps on Wednesday. Instead it was versatile reserve Nick Leverett who was the starting center. John Molchon was the backup center during the practice.

Hainsey spent all of his time rotating in at left guard where Aaron Stinnie still got the starting reps. Rookie Luke Goedeke also got reps at left guard.

The Bucs continued to start Josh Wells at left tackle with Smith out, and Brandon Walton also got a look there. Newcomer Fred Johnson was reported to get reps at left tackle but it hasn’t happened in the two open OTAs yet. Johnson was exclusively at right tackle on Wednesday, backing up Tristan Wirfs.

Valuable Reps For Britt, McCollum

With the absence of Davis and David on defense, rookie cornerback Zyon McCollum and second-year linebacker K.J. Britt were starters. McCollum saw an extensive amount of playing time at left cornerback and took some lumps, as expected. Scotty Miller and Breshad Perriman got the best of the rookie on a few catches.

As a side note for Miller, he had a good day at practice. He was making catches both by the sidelines and on routes to the numbers looking like his old self. As Bowles stated after practice, he’s doing all the right things, hopefully he can just avoid getting hurt.

Britt has spent this offseason learning how to play both linebacker spots – Mike (middle) and Mo (weakside) – and is playing faster. Part of it might be improved conditioning, but Bowles attributes it to Britt processing the information faster on the field due to his increased reps. The Bucs would love to have David back on the field, but his absence is the best possible thing for Britt, who has drawn rave reviews from the coaches and scouts.

With Stuard and David out with injuries, the Bucs are thin at inside linebacker with just four players available. Aside from Britt and White, the only other inside ‘backers that took reps were undrafted free agent rookies J.J. Russell and Olakunle Fatukasi.

Left Turn For JTS

Joe Tryon-Shoyinka played just about all of Wednesday’s practice at left outside linebacker, and that’s a good thing. With Shaq Barrett getting most of his 19.5 sacks during the 2019 season from the right side, putting JTS on the left side makes a lot of sense for both players.

Tryon-Shoyinka has the size, speed, length and athleticism to give slightly less athletic right tackles fits. Him having a “home base” where he can hone in on a position will accelerate his learning curve. And going up against an All-Pro like Tristan Wirfs on a regular basis in camp will only make Tryon-Shoyinka better.

Bucs Safety Dance

New defensive back Logan Ryan is definitely a safety. He’s exclusively practiced with the safeties in the two open OTAs that the media has covered. However, Ryan did see a few snaps inside at slot corner. That might have been because of Murphy-Bunting’s absence more than anything.

The Bucs did deploy some three-safety looks at times with several different combinations of Ryan, Antoine Winfield, Jr., Mike Edwards and Keanu Neal. We’re not going to report on their alignments due to the team’s policy of not giving away that info due to the competitive advantage reasons.

Borregales’ Blunders

The most noteworthy aspect of the Bucs’ special teams on Wednesday was the field goal kicking of Jose Borregales. Tampa Bay was practicing normal field goals, but also rushing the field goal unit on for a last-second kick. Borregales had a bad miss on a knuckleball kick that went wide right. On another attempt just minutes later, he stroked the ball better, but also missed wide right.

Granted, Borregales was kicking into the narrow set of goal posts, which aren’t regulation size and are meant to be more challenging. But the kicks were also from inside 40 yards. In an interesting contrast, veteran Ryan Succop, who didn’t kick on Wednesday, was casually stretching by himself two fields away and didn’t seem fazed at all.

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