Observations From Bucs OTA Practice
May 29th, 2013
Here are some sights and sounds Joe witnessed and heard at this morning’s OTA practice at One Buc Palace:
*Mike Williams is singled out on the first play of practice for hustling down the field. On this particular drill, the entire first team offense had to race from the 20-yard line to the end zone to finish a play as a unit.
*Schiano is heard more today than last week. Shortly into practice, Schiano called a team huddle on the far end of the field for what Joe assumes was some tongue lashing. After the huddle broke up, Schiano walked away and could clearly be heard hollering, “Details, details!”
*Later during a punt drill, Schiano could be heard yelling, “Critical play here, critical play!”
*Bucs were doing what Joe refers to as “stations,” where the team is in small position groups and when a whistle blows after a few minutes, the players change stations but the same technique is drilled upon in the each station. In the station closest to Joe, defensive players focused solely on wrapping up on tackles.
*During defensive line drills, assistant defensive coordinator Bob Fraser could be heard asking the players, “Do me a favor and keep your head up!”
*Cornerback Leonard Johnson had a pick of an errant Josh Freeman throw. On the next play, Freeman made up for his previous error hitting Tiquan Underwood on a long bomb down the right sideline for six points. Freeman later showed some outstanding accuracy by throwing low passes to Vincent Jackson and Underwood, passes that were very catchable but difficult for a cornerback to pick, though Freeman did one-hop one badly to Jackson.
*Hoping no player is injured by hitting the ground, Schiano pleads, “HOLD EACH OTHER UP!”
*With Darrelle Revis still unable to participate, the first-team corners were Eric Wright and Johnthan Banks.
*Perhaps motivated to try to keep his roster spot despite a couple of embarrassing brushes with the law in the past three months, Cody Grimm may have had the best practice Joe of the 2013 offseason. He intercepted a tipped pass from Mike Glennon, had a breakup of a Dan Orlovsky offering and generally was all over the field making plays.
*Anthony Gaitor also had a nice tip of a Glennon pass.
*Wide receiver Kevin Ogletree had to come back to catch a poorly thrown pass that was behind Ogletree for a fantastic catch.
*In a defensive backs drill, the defensive backs practice batting down balls and scooping up loose balls.
*On a pass play, Aaron Morgan tried to bull rush Donald Penn, but it was a wrong move. Penn gave Morgan an open-hand punch to the shoulder, knocking Morgan backwards and nearly off his feet.
*Mike Glennon largely looked like a backup quarterback today, though he did show some good pocket footwork under pressure.
*Wide receiver hopeful David Douglas, who was with the Cardinals last season, made a few good catches and really seems to run sharp routes and has a quick burst after the catch.
*Keith Tandy had a near-pick of Josh Freeman. It was unclear whether it was a fourth-down play or not, so Joe can’t hang Freeman for what seemed to be an ill-advised throw.
*Mike Williams flashed his athleticism quite a bit. He made a great catch on a short ball behind him with Leonard Johnson in tight coverage. Williams also made a trademark back-of-the-endzone grab of a Freeman pass that drew a lot of celebration and Raheem Morris–era body bumps from teammates. Freeman was running to his right and let go of a pass only Williams could snag.
May 29th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Love these recaps! Thanks Joe!
May 29th, 2013 at 1:15 pm
Joe, how did Banks and Spence look?
May 29th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Bonai:
Joe didn’t see Banks but one play and he didn’t notice Spence at all. Then again, he wasn’t focused on Banks nor Spence.
Remember, there are players practicing at three, four or five places at once and some 80 guys on the roster. If Joe focuses on one or two players, Joe’s missing a helluva lot.
Additionally, to give you an idea of the layout, the team practices on the far end of the fields often. From where Joe is, it’s sort of like end zone seats and there are always players standing between reporters and where plays are conducted.
May 29th, 2013 at 1:38 pm
Awesome recap Joe, thank!
May 29th, 2013 at 1:39 pm
*thanks
Four words and I misspell one. *facepalm*
May 29th, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Great stuff, Joe! Thanks a ton!
May 29th, 2013 at 1:58 pm
A skinny DE in Morgan, whose game is built on speed, should know better than to try and bull rush a big 330 lb LT like Penn. That just ain’t gonna work.
May 29th, 2013 at 2:05 pm
Nice read. Thanks.
May 29th, 2013 at 2:09 pm
Thanks, Joe!
Time to cut Freeman after that one-hop 🙂
May 29th, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Appreciate the kind words guys.
May 29th, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Keith Tandy is going to provide some really good depth at Safety andCB
May 29th, 2013 at 2:34 pm
All good news, especially the bits and pieces on Freeman’s accuracy, him to finding and sustaining a high level of consistency in that particular aspect of his game sets our Bucs up for big things. The “divet diggers” were some of the worst bad throws to watch
May 29th, 2013 at 2:59 pm
Hard to read the article with that picture sitting next to it, but thanks for the update.
May 29th, 2013 at 3:07 pm
🙂
May 29th, 2013 at 3:15 pm
What is her name? Wow!
May 29th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Joe this is my Rachel Watson! Wow!
May 29th, 2013 at 4:07 pm
smh 🙁
May 29th, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Oh Rachel Watson! I didn’t recognize her without her shades! Lol
May 29th, 2013 at 4:30 pm
TY, Joe….Funny,I was at Ourlads earlier today contemplating the depth chart & wondering who in the world David Douglas was, & check in here, & find out!!
http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/TB
May 29th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
Joe
*On a pass play, Aaron Morgan tried to bull rush Donald Penn, but it was a wrong move. Penn gave Morgan an open-hand punch to the shoulder, knocking Morgan backwards and nearly off his feet.
This kind of sounds like contact at practice, take it off before they get in trouble lol
May 29th, 2013 at 9:32 pm
You are cold, man! 🙂
May 29th, 2013 at 10:25 pm
Hey Joe, I criticize this place a lot, but 1)nice picture to go with 2)beautiful, strangely rare reporting on the minutiae of practice. This is stuff I wish I knew (practice reports), & I’d like even more of it…
May 29th, 2013 at 10:48 pm
Christopher:
Whenever Joe is at an OTA or training camp practice, Joe does this.
You are welcome.
May 29th, 2013 at 11:06 pm
Somehow missed this article, this is gold right here.
Gracias Joe
May 30th, 2013 at 9:05 am
Just came to say great work on the reporting. Love the bullets as they are to the point and quick with describing the observed.