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Mandatory mini-camp, which was held last week at One Buccaneer Place in Tampa, marked the last phase of the Bucs' offseason program. The camp was held on Tuesday and Wednesday before coming to an end on Thursday. For three weeks prior, the Bucs held Organized Team Activities (OTAs). And before that, there was a mini-camp held exclusively for rookies immediately following the draft.
That means that Head Coach Lovie Smith has had a little over a month to work with his new quarterback, Jameis Winston. Smith said that so far, Winston's been exactly what the Bucs had hoped for.
"I think in Jameis' case, for me… I didn't want a surprise," Smith said in a one-on-one with Buccaneers.com Senior Writer Scott Smith. "And we haven't gotten one. I thought he would be a certain way, and that's what he's been. All of the positive things you've heard about Jameis is what we've been able to see. He is very smart. He is a gym rat - football junkie. He does have personality. His glass is half full every day."
Some of the Bucs' veterans, including Gerald McCoy and Vincent Jackson, have said that Winston's been "quiet" and has been playing the role of a normal rookie. But Smith said that he can still see flashes of the passionate leader Winston's college teammates and coaches described him as.
"He has a lot of confidence in himself and he's got a way of rallying people where they believe in him and want to be around him," Smith said. "As a rookie coming in, that can be hard when you come in a veteran locker room but he's held every situation we've put him in well. But for him now, too, it's about that process and this next phase, what he does between now and training camp and then what he does in training camp, will be important."
The "next phase" as Smith put it, training camp, will begin in late July, although a definitive date has yet to be announced. That will be the next time that Winston steps on a field in a Buccaneers uniform.
The best photos from the Buccaneers' 2015 mini-camp practices.
