Bucs Camp Insider 8-17: Straight Off The Bus To Ballin’ Out

The Bucs practiced on some new stomping grounds this morning. Having to adjust last minute after the Jets canceled the second joint practice, the Bucs borrowed the Giants facility to get some work in. Buses literally pulled up right in front of the gate to the Giants’ practice field as players put on their helmets, stretched and got taped up straight on the grass.

Weather-wise it briefly drizzled toward the end of practice and the temperature was in the mid-70s. While the team played with a lot of flair yesterday, they kept their cool today as many starters rested.

Bucs Not Practicing

Quite a few players were held out of practice today. That included wide receiver Mike Evans, safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Kedrick Whitehead Jr., and running back Chase Edmonds. It appeared that Evans had a standard off day, while Winfield had a wrap around his right leg.

Inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis worked out on a separate field with trainers, as did outside linebackers YaYa Diaby and Jose Ramirez, and safety Chris Izien.

Others that were not dressed to participate include defensive lineman Calijah Kancey and offensive lineman Raiqwon O’Neal. Center Ryan Jensen was also not seen again and has missed four practices in a row.

Bucs WRs Begin Making Case For Bigger Role

After Russell Gage’s season-ending injury yesterday, it means the wide receiver room will need to step up. Todd Bowles said as much after practice in his press conference.

“I think someone has to step up fairly early than probably normal, but we have our top guys, we have [Deven] Thompkins, who has played a lot,” Bowles said. “Obviously [Trey] Palmer has made some plays, Rakim [Jarrett] has got to get healthy and David Moore has made some plays. We still got a bunch of guys that are vying for spots so we’d like to see somebody emerge pretty soon.”

Wide receiver Deven Thompkins added to Bowles’ assessment.

“I’m really impressed by our group that we have,” Thompkins said. “All of us, we have our own different skill set and what we bring to the table.”

Two guys in particular had solid mornings and showed off their skills. With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin not participating in team drills, it really gave the Bucs’ backups even more reps to impress the coaches.

Kade Warner had the most productive day of all of them. He notched a few catches from Kyle Trask, but the biggest came on a throw from John Wolford. Dropping back, Wolford threw a ball 20 yards up the seam in tight coverage with Warner making the catch.

While Warner was the most consistent receiver, the newest addition to the team had the biggest play.

Cephus Johnson, a rookie in multiple ways as a player and wide receiver, caught a John Wolford pass 30 yards downfield. To make the reception, Johnson used every bit of his 6-foot-4 frame to ward off the defender and catch the jump ball. For both of them, standing out amongst a competitive room is vital.

While neither is likely to make the 53-man roster, right now they are playing for the chance to be on the team’s practice squad and potentially earn a call up with further development. Having big plays only aids each of their respective cases.

It’s Wolford Of Wall Street In New York

Credit to Matt Matera for the nickname for John Wolford. While he is no Jordan Belfort, Wolford was shrewd with his passes and had the most snaps of any Bucs quarterback, taking roughly half of them.

Besides his connections to Warner and Johnson, he was precise in targeting his tight ends up the middle and making short completions to the running back rotation.

As James Hill opined in a Pewter Report story on Thursday, Wolford could be a primary backup for many NFL teams. He has played well throughout much of training camp by limiting mistakes with the snaps he is given. Playing in the Rams’ offense for the past couple of seasons has also helped him in learning the scheme quickly and helping Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask as well.

As he takes a backseat to the lone quarterback battle still remaining in the league, Wolford is someone that can be counted on to keep the competition level high and provide quality reps spreading the ball out. Thursday was no different.

Trey Palmer Follows Up Big Play With Bigger Inner Belief

After having one of, if not the biggest, play of training camp, Bucs rookie wide receiver Trey Palmer backed up his play when talking to the media briefly after practice.

Beating Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is no small feat, but Palmer did not even realize it was him.

“Nah, no name no face,” Palmer said of the play. “That’s how I always go by.”

Palmer has always faced a high level of competition that has brought the best out of him. It also means that he has confidence in his own abilities. He elaborated further on the play, noting it’s not the first time he’s faced a prodigious cornerback.

“I always have my confidence,” Palmer added. “I’ve been doing this since I was in high school, going up against [now Texans cornerback] Derek Stingley. I’m always used to that, so basically to me it was just like practice. Doing the technique that I learned and really just making a play.”

As wide receivers coach Brad Idzik reaffirmed after practice, “Trey’s not afraid.”

Bucs Observations

• While the Bucs’ edge rushers pressured Aaron Rodgers at joint practice yesterday, it was the secondary’s turn today. Surprisingly it was not Carlton Davis III nor Jamel Dean nor Zyon McCollum and his 4.3 speed getting to the backfield. On back-to-back plays, cornerbacks Anthony Chesley and Keenan Isaac came off the left edge and recorded sacks. In Todd Bowles’ defense, blitzes are often dialed up in various ways. This leads to many contributors to the team’s sack totals. Chesley and Issac were the latest to get in on the action.

• The tight ends didn’t have much of a showing against the Jets, but they were much more involved on Thursday. Cade Otton and David Wells both made some catches on play-action roll outs.

• Rachaad White had a little bit of playing time as the backups got most of the reps. Oddly enough, White was seen working with the second- and third-stringers at times. It could be another scenario where the Bucs want to get a bunch of different looks, such as earlier in training camp when Wolford had reps with Evans and Godwin. The same happened with the starters on the Bucs’ defensive line teaming up with backups at linebacker and defensive back units.