Observations From Final Training Camp Practice
August 15th, 2012
Joe was out at the final training camp practice for 2012 this morning and jotted down some highlights, and not-so-highlights.
* Cody Grimm was seen working with the third team defense.
* A morning practice is not complete without Greg Schiano barking instructions with his bullhorn.
* Eric Wright the past week or so has really stood out on defense. Early in practice he breaks up a Josh Freeman pass intended for Vincent Jackson.
* Ronde Barber fakes a blitz up the middle but it wasn’t needed as the run was stuffed at the line.
* Jackson breaks open over the middle for a completion.
* Michael Smith is shifty, even in heavy traffic.
* Najee Goode grabs a pass at midfield and turns it into a pick-six.
* Josh Freeman rifles a pass to the left sideline for Vincent Jackson who taps his toes just inbounds for a catch.
* Michael Smith takes it to the house on a kickoff return, much to the delight of Bucs fans. The next play, Sammie Stroughter matches the score by running up the left sideline.
* Mike Williams grabs a pass over the middle with Leonard Johnson draped all over him.
* Dallas Clark extends high for a pass just out of the reach of Lavonte David.
* Eric Wright with some perfect defense on Vincent Jackson, preventing the Bucs wide receiver from coming down with a catch in the far left corner of the end zone.
* George Johnson gets his left mitt on a Josh Freeman pass using an inside stunt to the left, nearly picking off the pass.
* Robbery! Greg Ellingson clearly burns Myron Lewis for a touchdown on the left sideline but one of the scab refs claims he never got both feet in the end zone. The play happened right in front of Joe and Ellingson has both feet well inside the line with plenty of green to spare. There was no replay to be had.
* A field goal sails so long on the north end zone that it drills a car in the parking lot, triggering the vehicle’s alarm system.
* Second day in a row that during two-minute drills when Schiano pipes in crowd noise, the fans in the bleachers begin yelling at full throat. This time, the fans stood as one, stomping on the bleachers while chanting, “DEE-fense… DEE-fense… ” Joe’s pretty sure a training camp tradition is born.
* Eric Wright and Gerald McCoy would have easily sacked Josh Freeman if not for Freeman’s green no-hit jersey.
* Sammie Stroughter gets the best of Eric Wright over the middle for a completion.
* Mossis Madu with a good gain catching a pass from Josh Freeman in the left flat.
* The scab refs catch an offensive lineman putting Mason Foster into a sleeper hold.
* Eric Wright blitzes and would have beheaded Freeman. Michael Bennett was also in Freeman’s face.
* The defense has played as well as it has played in a few days.
* Eric Wright continues to shine, just missing a field goal block by laying out on a dive.
* Tiquan Underwood hauls in 39-yard pass down the right sideline from Josh Freeman. Joe is getting the sense that Underwood may be your Bucs No. 3 receiver.
* In a very public display of bonding with players about working out in the Tampa heat, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik donned black garb, jogging down Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. joined by director of player personnel Dennis Hickey.
August 15th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Thanks Joe really appreciate it , my question is is underwood a deep threat in the slot?
August 15th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Thanks for the updates joe but how is out all star offensive line looking?
August 15th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Deminion:
Thanks. Underwood seems to be able to stretch the field a little.
Orlando:
Bucs offensive line looks punishing.
August 15th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Wouldn’t it be cool to see the dominating Defense resurrected and see a dominating Offense during the same season. Super Bowl Baby!!! That’s right!!!
I’m high on Joe articles!!!
August 15th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
wow – who is that cheer leader?
August 15th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Great stuff, as usual Joe! Thanks!
August 15th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
How many final practices are there going to be? I’m getting confused.
(which, in my case, is easy to do)
August 15th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Two back to back kick off returns? I am hoping special teams were a bit gassed by that point to allow that.
August 15th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
wish i could be there to see them practice. thanx for the updates Joe. one question,,, how did Preston Parker look today? BUC IT IM OUT!!!!!!!!!!
August 15th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Blues:
Joe didn’t see Parker but generally, he looks about six-foot tall.
August 15th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
WOW!!!!! welled played Joe well played!!!!! lmao
August 15th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
*well played* sorry bout that
August 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Nothing like seeing a beautiful women dressed in skimpy clothing that is Pewter & Red and cheering my favorite team.
August 15th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Only you would describe someone jogging in black as “bonding” with people who aren’t jogging with him.
The level of unwarranted adoration is reaching absurdly weird territory.
August 15th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Blues says: “how did Parker look today?”
Joe: don’t know I was fixated on DomDom jogging down MLK in black bc he is such a rock star.
August 15th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Great stuff Joe! I hope we start picking up the blitz better.
August 15th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
@ thomas 2.2: Feel free to move on to greener pastures whenever the spirit moves you, sir.
August 15th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Tristan
Is spirit a cow? Cause, in that case I’m all for that move-ment!
August 15th, 2012 at 5:41 pm
I would be pleased to see Dom-Dom, all coaches and the Little General sprint 110 yards sixteen times dressed in black in the Florida heat. That would be bonding.
They probably wouldn’t be attending practice for several days afterward and might show up with crutches.
Its great that Eric Wright is starting to show up.
August 15th, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Seriously Miguel, how many more times are you going to mention the conditioning test? You are seriously the ONLY person in the world still hung up on it. Even if it is a crime against humanity to expect professional athletes to pass a difficult test to ensure they are in shape, the rest of the world has moved on. You just make yourself sound more and more stupid (which by the way is a very impressive accomplishment). Move on with your life, eat some more hemp, cure some more diseases, and find some more conspiracy theories, because no one gives a damn about this one.
August 15th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Funniest thing is, Thomas is the type of guy that if he ever did meet Dominik, he would shake his hand and tell him how great of a job he is doing.
August 15th, 2012 at 5:58 pm
oar
wouldn’t it be moove-ment then?
August 15th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
well-put hawaiian, on both counts
August 15th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
@Hawaiian, I’m the only one who has to freedom and audacity to point out that they lost 7 players including 3 starters to that horrendous and unnecessary torture test that was only there to prove how butch this under performing college coach is.
Other experts are referring to their “tired” legs. That’s why they were practicing slow for the first couple weeks. That’s why Michael Smith was caught from behind. Maybe, a bunch of players who could really ball will be cut because they showed too little too late in camp.
I’ll lay off my criticism when they admit they screwed up royally and they’ll eliminate the test. Next year, the Little General can communicate to the players that camp in the Florida heat can be tortuous and overbearing, please keep that in mind when training this off season.
I used to run marathons, wouldn’t it be great to make them run a marathon the day before every game? 26.2 miles in this heat. That would make us the greatest football team of all time.
August 15th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
First of all Miguel, this is freaking training camp! Players get hurt every year on every single team. Hell, there’s been people tearing ACL’s all over the freaking league genius! We have actually been very fortunate on the injury front so far (knock on wood). We lost Bowers BEFORE he took the conditioning test. Same applies to Donald Penn (who I know you are counting as one of your 7, even though he was hurt days before the conditioning test). Barron got hurt nearly 2 weeks after the conditioning test, and if this were the regular season he would be playing. Do you blame the conditioning test on Biggers and Benn’s collision as well? So please name me the 7 players we lost (and 3 starters) to this torturous conditioning test. That hemp is seriously messing with your little brain.
It’s also funny how not one player has even anonymously stated any problem with the test.
Here’s another news flash – you are supposed to have tired legs in training camp! That’s what it is for!!!!!! How f-ing stupid can you be? Every team in the NFL has tired legs. Do yo think the 2012 Bucs are the one and only team to have tired legs in camp? Give me a break!
So you are not going to stop until they admit they made a mistake? Great, so you are going to continue this nonsense the rest of your miserable little life? Let me put this in all caps so maybe you can understand it better: THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DO THAT, EVER! I swear you have the mentality of a 7 year old.
August 15th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
“@Hawaiian, I’m the only one who has to freedom and audacity to point out that they lost 7 players including 3 starters to that horrendous and unnecessary torture test that was only there to prove how butch this under performing college coach is.”
———–
Heh? So none of us have freedom now? Seriously Joe, can you just ban this guy for the simple fact he is making us all dumber? Of all the dummies on this site, this guy is king of the hill. Thomas is a brilliant mind compared to this clown.
August 15th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Great read….thank you Joe!
August 15th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
careful hawaiian…a bp of 160/100 is not good…lol
miguel pequeno, really. they need to “admit they screwed up royally and eliminate the test”? holy crap that is funny. between that, thomas’ “grading”, and a classic foot-in-mouth moment by another poster, this has been an epic week here at jbf.
i also love how you call schiano “little general” when you are probably 5’6″ and 98 lbs, especially since you are a marathoner. schiano probably has morning craps bigger than you, i know i do.