Here are some of Joe’s observations from the final practice of 2012 Bucs training camp open to fans.

*For the final practice open to the fans, Joe was shocked by the sparse crowd. Stands were barely a quarter full, if that. Pleasant day too. Overcast, nice breeze, almost felt like October. Guess the fans are jonesing for a game (even preseason) just as much as the players are.

* Dan Orlovsky’s favorite color must be green (no, he’s not Irish; check last name). The Bucs quarterbacks wear green jerseys this year to keep defenders off them. During 11-on-11 drills with crowd noise piped in, had Orlovsky not been wearing that green jersey, he would have been creamed by a blitzing Ahmad Black, who has had a very nice camp thus far.

* Joe swears he cannot recall a play made by safety Cody Grimm. The third-year safety, coming off a second season-ending injury in as many years, is now listed fifth on the depth chart. Given the previous speculation, and how limited he has played with the first team, it’s easy to see why Grimm is on the bubble.

* Tuesday was easily Eric Wright’s best practice. It almost seemed as if the Bucs offensive coaches were trying to test him with so many passes thrown his way. Most of the time, Wright passed the test. One play down the right sideline Wright blanketed Vincent Jackson about as well as a cornerback can defend a receiver, breaking up the Josh Freeman offering.

* First, Preston Parker split the middle on a kickoff return to take it to the house, then Michael Smith raced up the left sideline for another kickoff return score. Then it became quickly apparent to Joe that the kickoff team wasn’t putting forth much of a fight. The drill was more for the return team than the kickoff team.

* E.J. Wilson jumped offsides and from roughly 40 yards away, Joe could hear Greg Schiano railing about the penalty.

* In what was a pretty cool defensive ploy, the Bucs had three players lined up either on Demar Dotson or to his left, the outside corner. The initial message was clear: we are blitzing and you cannot handle three players, Mr. Dotson. The players lining up were Dekoda Watson, Ronde Barber and Adrian Clayborn. But at the snap, Clayborn stunted to the left almost like a trap block on Carl Nicks and Watson tried to shoot the gap between Nicks and Dotson. But Nicks and Dotson were able to hold off the three (Watson got caught in the wash) long enough for Freeman to get off a pass.