The Buccaneers doubled up on padded practices with their second-straight coming on Tuesday. There didn't seem to be a clear winner today, according to Head Coach Bruce Arians in his Zoom availability after practice. He said there was a great ebb-and-flow to it with each side of the ball trading off in 'winning periods.'
Check out how it all went down with takeaways below:
- Left guard Ali Marpet ended individual drills for the offensive linemen by drawing them all in a huddle and breaking it down with a, "O-LINE!" before going to join the rest of the team for offense vs. defense.
- Wide receiver Bryant Mitchell flat out stole an interception from cornerback Mazzi Wilkins over the middle. It was a dart from quarterback Ryan Griffin that should have landed in Wilkins' hands before Mitchell snatched it away.
- The defense seemed to be placing an extra effort on ripping the ball out in run plays. So many guys tried to punch it out in fact that from the sideline, wide receiver Mike Evans told defenders to calm down.
- We were then treated to about a 40-yard pass right over the middle from quarterback Tom Brady to Evans. Brady placed the ball right in front of Evans, who had two defenders on him. But at 6-foot-5, Evans is going to come down with that catch every time.
- Always bringing the energy, defensive lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches had a great line today in rush defense. "I wish you would have cut back -you would have had to see me!" he yelled at the running back.
- Passes to from Brady to tight end Rob Gronkowski in traffic continue to be one of my favorite things.
- With two defenders on him again, Evans nabbed another long pass from Brady, this time down the sideline. He continues to show over and over how good he is at those contested catches.
- Tight end Tanner Hudson nabbed a 30-yard pass from quarterback Blaine Gabbert. He made the catch in stride but then was tripped up by a defender making a sliding tackle.
- Evans was passing on the knowledge to rookie wide receiver Tyler Johnson, who is currently sidelined with an injury. After coming off the field, Evans joined Johnson to take him through the route he just ran.
- Running back Dare Ogunbowale had a couple great catches today - both underneath and in red zone.
- Wide receiver Justin Watson received quite a bit of praise after nabbing a red zone touchdown today.
- The defense had its turn though. To end the period, cornerback Jamel Dean broke up a pass in the end zone.
- We got some kicking action today. Both Matt Gay and Elliot Fry were perfect in their kicks, ending with what looked to be 50-yarders.
- The defense forced an incompletion from Brady to wide receiver Chris Godwin both in coverage and with 'pressure.' It was inside linebacker Devin White that would have had the sack on Brady should contact be allowed. But contact with the quarterback is very much not allowed on Bruce Arians' team.
- Gabbert hit rookie wide receiver John Hurst in stride and the offense went nuts.
- Outside linebacker Kahzin Daniels blew past his man and would have had a sack on Gabbert almost immediately.
- Safety Mike Edwards grabbed what looked like a sideline interception off Brady. The offense immediately said it was out of bounds, which Arians confirmed in his media availability following practice.
- OLB Shaq Barrett got a tip on a pass with his back turned to the quarterback. Had he spun around, he would have had a surefire interception off Gabbert.
- Cornerback Carlton Davis had a good diving pass breakup off Gabbert, he read the route and timed it up perfectly to get in front of the ball.
- Coach Arians wasn't super thrilled with the defense's lack of urgency when it came to chasing down a ball while the second-team was out there. So much so, he made the entire defense run an up and back to the far end zone in middle of the team period to make sure they're chasing the ball. Don't mess with Arians.
- Or the defense, in general. They handled themselves in a huddle following the period. Check the picture at the top to see who was in the middle of that.
- Running back Ronald Jones had a couple good runs today. Following practice, Arians said the offense ran the ball the best they had so far in camp today, in fact.
View some of the photos from Buccaneers Training Camp practice at the AdventHealth Training Center.
- He had two defenders all over him, but Hudson again snatched a ball from Gabbert right out of the air for the first down while the team was in a mock-third down situation.
- Watson had a great grab in the second-to-last period over the middle underneath.
- Brady fired off a sideline pass to Gronk that Gronk hauled in and then proceeded to bounce off safety Mike Edwards who was in coverage. It got both sides all riled up and earned Gronk a, "F-yeah, 87!" from Brady.