Bucs Camp Insider 8-16: Big Injury, Big Plays, Fights Galore

The Bucs had their lone joint practice of the preseason on Wednesday matching up against the Jets at their facility in Florham Park, New Jersey. The weather was considerably different than how it’s been in Tampa, with cloudy skies making it a cool 70 degrees at the beginning of practice.

However, the temperature heated up as practice went on, which also led to tempers flaring. Surely, this will be featured on the next Hard Knocks episode next week.

Pewter Report’s Matt Matera and Adam Slivon were in attendance as practice took place on two separate fields for the majority of the day. The Bucs defense went against the Jets offense on one field and vice versa on the other.

Bucs Missing Practice

Defensive lineman Calijah Kancey was seen on the sideline this morning but is still out with a right calf injury. Center Ryan Jensen was out again for the third day in a row, and inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis was out for another day, as was offensive lineman Raiqwon O’Neal. Outside linebacker YaYa Diaby and safety Chris Izien both worked in individual drills and separately with trainers, but were not participating in team activities.

Russell Gage Injured

The Bucs, unfortunately, had terrible news at the beginning of practice as wide receiver Russell Gage was carted off with a knee injury. He was diving for a ball on the sideline and came up injured. Gage was visibly in pain as he was slamming his fist on the ground as players went over to him and took a knee.

He couldn’t put any weight on his leg, and when he was carted off, he was in tears. It is a really tough blow for Gage, who had plenty of injury problems last season and was looking to rebound this year. Following practice, head coach Todd Bowles said that the team is hearing it’s going to be pretty serious.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Gage’s knee injury is season-ending.

Bucs And Jets Take “Chippy” To The Next Level

When two different NFL teams meet up for a joint practice in the dog days of training camp, a skirmish or dust-up to happen. The Bucs and Jets could’ve put together an entire boxing or UFC card with the number of times they went after each other on Wednesday. There were about six instances where players had to be separated after pushing and shoving, tossing, and moments of bad blood.

The first scuffle took place during a special teams drill, but then spilled over into 11-on-11 periods between the Bucs defense and the Jets offense. This included rookie safety Josh Hayes and a Jets receiver attempting to take each other down with Hayes’ helmet coming off. The most surprising of it all was inside linebacker Lavonte David getting into not one, but two fights. It was a rarity to see from the long-tenured veteran.

After making a tackle for loss, David and offensive tackle Billy Tuner were pushing and shoving each other, leading to a huge group of players coming over. The next one was even more intense as David was incensed going after Jets cornerback Brandin Echols. David, with his helmet off, kept walking over to Echols and screaming at him. He was eventually held back by Ryan Neal and Will Gholston, but a lot of damage was already done.

As a leader of the team, David showed a ton of fire on Wednesday.

Another notable scuffle that went on during 11-on-11s was between Bucs offensive tackle Luke Goedeke and Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson.

– Matt Matera

Bucs D-Line Takes Advantage Of Jets’ Injury-Riddled O-Line

We’ve seen some good days by the Bucs’ pass rush, particularly with the defensive front. They were great against the Jets on Thursday. Outside linebacker Shaq Barrett looks as quick as he’s been in camp, recording two sacks on the day, both against Aaron Rodgers. Defensive tackle Logan Hall and outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka each were in the mix as well, recording a sack.

Once again a standout player for the Bucs at outside linebacker was Anthony Nelson. While Nelson did record a sack, he also took a Zach Wilson pass to the house for a pick-six. Dropping back in coverage, something was off for the Jets as there were no receivers in the area.

Regardless of whose fault it was, Nelson was in the right place at the right time, securing the catch and returning the interception for a touchdown. Outside linebackers aren’t always dropping into coverage for the Bucs, but when they are, they need to catch the ball if the opponent throws it right to you. That’s exactly what Nelson did for the easy lay-up.

In fairness to the amount of time the Bucs spent in the backfield, it should be noted that the Jets were dealing with a rag-tag crew on the offensive line. Their starters Alijah Vera-Tucker, Duane Brown, and Laken Tomlinson were not participating. Rookie center Joe Tippman got some work at guard for the first time as well.

It was not exactly the toughest opponent for Tampa Bay’s defensive front to face, but the Bucs took full advantage and won most of the downs. It was another step in the right direction, in particular for Hall and Tryon-Shoyinka.

– Matt Matera

Trey Palmer Has Another Highlight Moment

Every Bucs wide receiver is going to need to step up with Russell Gage likely out for the season. A player that did so on Wednesday was rookie Trey Palmer, who already has momentum on his side from a very good start to training camp and the preseason. Late in practice, Kyle Trask connected on a deep ball of 60 yards to Palmer for a touchdown. It was the biggest offensive play for the Bucs in the joint practice. What was more impressive is that the corner that Palmer beat for a touchdown was reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner.

Following practice, Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans was really impressed by what Palmer was doing against the Jets defense.

“This was one of Trey’s best days,” Evans said. “He had a really good preseason game last game, scored a touchdown and everything. But today was his best day. He was making all kinds of catches, running good routes, using his speed. Really great day for Trey.”

– Matt Matera

Bucs’ Offense Displayed Some Toughness, Ability to Move The Football

For Tampa Bay’s offense, Wednesday presented a big test in going up against a New York defense with plenty of talent at each level. For the most part, the Bucs antiquated themselves well and the offensive line took no time to make their presence felt.

Besides the highlight play to Trey Palmer, it was a fairly normal day for the Bucs quarterbacks. Kyle Trask had the day filled with the most highlight-worthy plays. Yet he was nearly intercepted by linebacker C.J. Mosley on a pass to Mike Evans, but Evans caught the ball off the deflection. On another play, Trask escaped the pocket after being pressured and launched an accurate pass about 30 yards downfield to his target, but it fell incomplete. 

Baker Mayfield completed quite a few passes up the middle and was accurate for most of the morning. None of the passes exceeded more than 20 yards, but he showcased the ability to execute his reads and steadily move the football. 

John Wolford had a pretty quiet morning. He was the only quarterback that got intercepted, with Jets defensive back Derrick Langford picking him off and running it back to the house. 

The interior of the Bucs offensive line had the task of standing their ground against a prominent Jets pass rush that left tackle Tristan Wirfs spoke about in the most recent Camp Diary. For the most part, the Bucs stood their ground. 

Early in team work, there was a rep by right guard Cody Mauch showing off the edge that made him Tampa Bay’s second-round pick. Lining up against former second-overall pick Soloman Thomas, Mauch pancaked him at the line of scrimmage and won the rep. 

On another play, Mauch’s right-side partner showed his “glass eater” side. Right tackle Luke Goedeke got into a skirmish toward the end of practice against Jets defensive lineman Jermaine Johnson. Their chirping back and forth led to each needing to be separated.

Speaking to Rachaad White after practice, Tampa Bay’s running back gave his assessment of how it went.

“It was good,” White said. “Good to get out here, go against a different team, and see some different looks. Different looks that our defense doesn’t give, and going through the motions and things like that. It was good, very competitive, our team went out there and competed. That’s all you can ask for.”

With Mauch and Goedeke not backing down this morning, White spoke on how the team’s identity this season is built off the run game and displaying physicality and toughness on a regular basis.

“I feel like we handled ourselves very well, White added. “We came out there and competed, we were very physical. We are going to be a running team, and hang our identity off of running, so I feel like we came out there doing it. Coach [Dave] Canales did a great job of calling certain plays, giving different looks. All my guys up front, my tight ends, they all did a great job blocking. Going out there and being physical.” 

– Adam Slivon

Bucs Observations

• Bucs wide receiver Trey Palmer picked a great day to have a great day. Besides beating Gardner on a deep ball, he adjusted nicely on a pass from Baker Mayfield toward the left sideline to make the catch, gaining about 15 yards in the process. 

• Tampa Bay’s secondary got off to a slow start to practice as 7-on-7’s began with a deep ball connection from Aaron Rodgers to Garrett Wilson, followed by Zach Wilson to wide receiver Irvin Charles on the next play. The Bucs DBs bounced back though, rarely allowing any other plays over 15+ yards. The only player that seemed to really go off for New York was Wilson, last year’s first-round pick, who was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year last season.

• Cornerback Carlton Davis III had a few bright moments on Wednesday. He was beaten by Charles on the Wilson throw, but then later on had two straight pass breakups against Aaron Rodgers. The problem is, his second PBU should’ve been a pick-six after jumping the route and seeing where Rodgers was going with the ball.

• Center Robert Hainsey was seen walking to a separate field with a trainer later in practice. This will be something to monitor for tomorrow’s practice.

• Running back Rachaad White ripped off a 20-yard run in practice. The Bucs wide receivers noticed how much better the run game was in the joint practice against the Jets.

• Outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka needs to have a big year, and it starts by stringing together solid practices. Wednesday was a good start. Throughout the morning, he applied pressure on quarterback Aaron Rodgers and finished with a sack. On a couple of other rushes, he got to the backfield, forcing the quarterback to make a quick read.