-Attention everyone: safety Justin Evans played in the slot today. That was a topic of conversation in the postgame press conference with Head Coach Dirk Koetter as he had members of the media raise their hands to see who noticed. The corner group has been hit a little bit with injuries. Brent Grimes was practicing today but was still held out of team run. Vernon Hargreaves suffered in a groin injury in Thursday's game. So it seems the coaches tried some different looks. The domino effect of Evans coming down and inside at nickel was that rookie safety Jordan Whitehead got his chance at reps with the first team at free safety. The Bucs had Whitehead in a lot of single high looks during team activities with strong safety Chris Conte playing up near the line.
-Wide receiver Bernard Reedy had a couple good catches today in practice proving that he should still be considered in the conversation for the fifth and sixth receiver spots. He had one long catch on an out route down the far sideline from quarterback Jameis Winston where he spun around the defender after he made the catch to gain a few more yards. Reedy also contributes as a returner on special teams which definitely helps his case.
-The team has been keeping center Ryan Jensen in at center with the third team when Winston takes rep with that group. While a lot of people talk about how the two quarterbacks have been splitting reps, it's worth noting that Jensen has to get acclimated to both quarterbacks as well. The center/quarterback timing needs to be there with both and for now it seems Jensen has double duty.
-DeSean Jackson had the play of the day with a long catch from Winston down the left sideline where Jackson looked behind him and leapt up to make the grab before running it the rest of the way into the end zone. Coach Koetter praised Jackson's leadership during training camp this year. He'll be a captain for next week's preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.
-The physical play of the rookie defensive backs hasn't let up outside of game action. Cornerback M.J. Stewart delivered a couple of good hits and cornerback Carlton Davis even got a receiver off balance enough to where he went to the ground in one-on-ones. Whitehead made the most of his reps with the first team, playing in space as he was often the lone high safety.
