Watch: Adrian Clayborn feeling good
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished their fifth consecutive day of training camp practice on Monday and, per league rules, must now afford the player's a day off on Day Six. Head Coach Greg Schiano said that players who need treatment will be at One Buccaneer Place on Tuesday, but anyone else on the team who visited headquarters for a workout would do so on a voluntary basis, of their own volition.
It is not a day off, however, for the Buccaneers' hard-working coaching staff.
"If they're healthy and they don't feel [the need to work out], it's not the worst thing for them to get away from here for a little bit," said Schiano. "Coaches it's a little different—we work."
Fortunately for the Bucs and their medical staff, the training room won't be overly crowded on Tuesday. Tampa Bay has an assortment of players with aches and pains after five days of camp, as surely does every team in the NFL, but the news from the injury front was positive on Monday. Safety Ahmad Black (ankle:, defensive end William Gholston (hamstring: and cornerback Danny Gorrer (calf: all returned to the practice field to start the week, and defensive end Markus White was removed from the active/physically unable to perform list.
Cornerback Darrelle Revis did not take part in any of Monday's three-hour session – he had been involved in individual drills and walk-through/teaching periods in previous practices – but that was according to plan, and Revis certainly didn't waste the day.
"He [practiced] four days in a row," said Schiano. "He wasn't off, he was inside doing strengthening. Part of the rehab is weight training and those sorts of things, balance things, all [according] to plan."
Schiano and his players discussed other topics on Monday, as well, as the team began a new week at Training Camp 2013:
Head Coach Greg Schiano
On working in the red zone on Monday:
"It was good; you can't get enough of that. Obviously, you get down in that area, it's a lot easier to win by sixes than by threes, so we can't work enough on it, and vice versa. Defensively, it's a lot easier when you're holding to threes than allowing sixes, so that got installed last night and we go out and operate on it today and now it will be part of the daily routine."
On cornerback Rashaan Melvin:
"He's still a rookie. Let's see him when he gets in a game against another color jersey, but so far all I can judge him on is what he's done here and I think he's shown some good stuff."
On safety Cody Grimm:
"Cody's healthy and he's in the best shape of his career right now, so that helps. And he needs to be, because it's an intense competition at the safety spot. Cody's a very smart football player, whether it's on special teams or on defense. I sit next to him a lot in the meetings and you can hear him saying the answers under his breath. He gets it and that's what allows him to really be a competitive player, because there are guys that are faster and bigger, and all those things, but he really is a good football player. So it's going to be hard, like I said. We're going to have to cut some good players at multiple positions, God willing everyone stays healthy."
On defensive tackle Derek Landri playing with the first team:
"Well [it was] part of a rotation, but, I mean, we went out and got Derek Landri because we believed he could help us. Derek's a good player, an experienced player, a vet; he just had the health issues in the spring. As he now knocks the rust off, he's done some good things. So, again, that competition, you know Gibby [defensive tackle Gary Gibson] will be back Wednesday, and I think [Akeem] Spence is playing well. There's a lot of good fighting going on in there."
On linebacker Jonathan Casillas and the competition at strongside linebacker:
"He's a run-and-hit guy, now. I mean, he plays fast and so does Dekoda [Watson]. So you've got two guys that are similar, very similar, and they're both very good special teams players. I think we've got two guys that are valuable. They're both going to have a hat on Sundays because they're going to play on special teams and play linebacker, so two good guys to have on your football team."
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DE Adrian Clayborn
On whether or not the defense is ahead of the offense at this point:
"I have no idea. I think it's going back and forth. [The offense] gets us some drills, we get them some drills, and we're just out here working."
On what has impressed him the most thus far:
"Just how everybody has really bought into the system. It's 10 times, 20 times better than last year and I only played three games. Just everybody working with the system and playing together, it's a lot better than last year."
On if he's feeling stronger right now than previously:
"I feel good man, I feel good. My knee is 100 [percent] finally and I'm just trying to play hard every play."
On the best advice Pass Rush Specialist Bryan Cox has given him:
"For me personally, just get back to my old self and don't try to be fancy. Just [play] hard-nosed and get after the quarterback."
On the expectations for him and fellow defensive end Da'Quan Bowers:
"You don't really have to talk about what's understood. We need to get after the quarterback, we need to show that we are the draft picks they drafted and get after the quarterback and provide for the defense."
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LB Mason Foster
On if he has improved since last season:
"Yeah, definitely. I feel like we've got great coaches in [Linebackers] Coach [Robb] Smith, [Assistant Defensive Coordinator Bob] Fraser, Cox, Coach Schiano. Everybody is helping me get better, in every little part of my game. I feel like the biggest thing for me is just keep taking steps forward, keep getting better each and every day. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse. That's how I look at it. I just try to get stronger, just try to make every part of my game a little bit better every day."
On the way in which he improved last season:
"I feel like I definitely have a better feel mentally. I became more of a student of the game with Coach Schiano and Coach Fraser, and definitely with J.B. [Strength and Conditioning Coach Jay Butler] getting stronger. Bigger, faster, stronger helps me a lot. Now I'm just trying to put it all together, continue to get better. I feel like me and Lavonte [David] have great chemistry, all the linebackers have great chemistry, so we are just working off of each other and trying to get better."
On the his relationship with linebacker Lavonte David:
"The sky is the limit for Lavonte. We try to push each other. I try to push him, he pushes me, we just compete at a high level and just continue to get better, be a smarter player, learn more, learn about the whole defense and just be better leaders. I think we are on our way."
On if the linebacker corps is getting less attention than the rest of the defense:
"Everybody is strong. We don't mind being overlooked. It's one defense. I'm happy that we've got great safeties, great secondary, great defensive line – it all ties in together. They make our job easier, we make their job easier. I don't care who gets the notoriety, it's about winning. We are here to win. We want to continue to get better and compete at practice."
On if the defense is "beating" the offense:
"I don't know, man. They've got a lot of great players [on offense]. Everybody is making plays so it's good to see everybody compete at that high level because it makes each other better. We're going to see when it gets further on in camp, but it's exciting to see how everybody is playing right now."
