-The team worked a lot on the run game today with the defense staying solid in their run fits. The offense had some success but in the first period, Winston was forced to go to the air on third down to get the first.
-Left guard Ali Marpet hustled down the field during the first period of 11-on-11. The play was a short pass to Chris Godwin down the sideline and Marpet ran with him trying to feed him blocks all the way down.
-In seven-on-seven Winston attempted a long pass to Godwin down the left sideline but cornerback M.J. Stewart was right there to break up the pass.
-Second-year linebacker Jack Cichy who is returning from an ACL injury suffered last season seems back to his old self. He got a big hit in on receiver Spencer Schnell, who caught the ball on an underneath crossing route. Schnell went to turn upfield but Cichy was right there to wrap him up with a resounding thud.
-During the blitz period, the defense continues to get creative and with Carl Nassib, in particular.
-The connection between Winston and wide receiver Mike Evans continues to get stronger and Winston has been great about hitting Evans with the deep balls. It's a testament to Evans' abilities, too. He isn't necessarily open for many of these catches but he's big and uses his size to overpower defenders.
-Running back Ronald Jones had two big runs in a row during an 11-on-11 live tackling period. First, he broke loose down the left sideline for a big gain. The next play, he got the ball on a short pass and was able to fight through traffic in the middle to get the first down and get the offense just outside the red zone.
-That drive came during a situational period where the offense needed a touchdown starting around their own 30-yard line. It only took quarterback Jameis Winston three plays to do it and after those two successful runs by RoJo, Winston threw a beautiful fade to wide receiver Chris Godwin in the back left corner of the end zone. Godwin laid out to make the grab and still managed to stay in bounds.
-Defensive backs were still making plays on the ball, even if they didn't always result in interceptions.
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-During one of the last team periods, defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches chased down running back Bruce Anderson who was trying to escape to the outside and was able to get him down before the first-down mark, stopping the offense in the live-tackle period.
-Tight end Tanner Hudson had a good day with a couple great contested catches. The second-year player had a great grab in traffic over the middle from quarterback Blaine Gabbert and fought through three defenders for extra yards.
-Outside linebacker Carl Nassib continues his pass-rushing success. He came off the edge and burst through the C-gap on one play in 11-on-11. Gabbert had handed the ball off but Nassib came around and was right there to wrap up Bruce Anderson, easy.
That's all.
-Evans wasn't done for the night and in more goal-line work, was able to nail the touchdown on a lob from Winston.
-In the last period of practice, rookie linebacker Devin White played especially well against the run. He had a couple of key stops against the first and second teams and was even met with a 'DEVIN WHITE' chant from the crowd as he helped clog the middle on one particular play.
-There was a large emphasis on goal-line situations during practice and in one such period, running back Peyton Barber dove over the first wave of defenders from the one-and-a-half yard line and then ducked under the next to eek over the goal line and in for the touchdown.
THE BEST THING I SAW:
We talked about the confusion a two tight-end set on one side of the formation can cause the other day – well what about three? The Bucs offense fielded tight ends Cam Brate, O.J. Howard AND Antony Auclair in one goal-line drill where Brate was on the left and Howard and Auclair to the right. They split out in all different directions and Winston fired the touchdown over the middle to Auclair.
