Today’s Practice Notes & Observations
June 3rd, 2014
Joe was sweating and buzzing around Bucs practice today and is in a sharing mood, as usual.
Here are plenty of sights, sounds and happenings from One Buc Palace. The Bucs’ mandatory, three-day minicamp starts next Tuesday.
*Father Dungy was in the house for the two-hour practice, and he was a very active observer along the sidelines. No, Joe didn’t see Dungy coaching anyone up, but he was talking to plenty of players and seemed to be working the practice officials during a red zone drill.
*The first-teamer offensive linemen throughout pass blocking drills were, left to right, Anthony Collins, Patrick Omameh, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Jamon Meredith, Demar Dotson. That appeared to be the first unit throughout the day, as well.
*Solomon Patton, Eric Page and Skye Dawson were the punt-returner crew. Patton’s got a lot of zip in his legs. Page is the surer ball catcher.
*Tim Wright was always with the first-team tight ends and he caught an impressive 25-yard TD during a red-zone drill, a fine catch of a McCown pass going out of bounds in the corner of the end zone. It was such a nice catch, Wright’s momentum took him well out of bounds and an excited Doug Martin ran in and provided the Raheem-era chest bump.
*A couple of early bad throws by McCown, two in a row behind receivers over the middle.
*Mike Glennon comes in next for his turn, and No. 8 is razor sharp, two very quick strikes to Patton, followed by a completion to Brandon Myers. All quick-release short stuff.
*So who was the most fired up Buccaneer after that Glennon display? McCown was screaming, “Good job, Mike.”
*Great leaping catch by Robert Herron from McCown.
*Another bad throw by McCown. Overthrow.
*Nice connection from McCown to Louis Murphy. Quite an athletic player Murphy is.
*Interesting two tight-end set with Luke Stocker and Brandon Myers. McCown pass complete short over middle to Stocker.
*Stocker follows with a drop of a pass in his gut.
*New Bucs cornerback Quinton Pointer had two picks on the day. Joe didn’t see who made the first bad throw (and it was a bad throw). Glennon threw the second pick to Pointer in the end zone from about 10 yards out.
*Lots of running plays flashed today, which aren’t too exciting considering there is no contact allowed. Plenty of pitches right and left to Doug Martin and friends.
*Great concentration by WR Lavelle Hawkins over the middle catching a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage.
*Charles Sims has plenty of explosion in those legs of his. Runs pretty low for a tall running back. Not Doug Martin low, but low.
*William Gholston got loud praise from coaches on two occasions. Once it came from former Bucs defensive end Steve White, who’s a coaching intern for the defensive line. On that play, Gholston absolutely smoked right tackle Emmett Cleary (camp meat). Coaches didn’t whistle the play as a sack and let it go on.
*Tremendous leaping catch by Murphy in the back of the end zone from McCown.
*Last guy off the practice field? Mark Barron putting in footwork training and more with an assistant coach.
June 3rd, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Thanks for the report.
June 3rd, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Joe, I’ve been watching this site for a long time. I’m from the 0-26 club. I’ve see it all with this franchise. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I don’t care if you love Johnny Football or don’t believe in Glennon. You give me my Buc’s fix when things are slow. Go Bucs!
June 3rd, 2014 at 4:45 pm
Is Barron the only player that is staying after practice? Seems that is the only player you keep mentioning
June 3rd, 2014 at 4:55 pm
Barron last one off the practice field twice. Nice, good to see him putting in that extra work
June 3rd, 2014 at 4:57 pm
Someone must have gotten on Barron early this offseason and told him the last couple of years just wasn’t good enough for a guy with his talent. Love it.
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:06 pm
I like the idea Martin using the edges when we’ve got the size outside to block in. Gotta get that D running and wear them out.
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:08 pm
I like the dedication Mark Barron is showing after practice. I’m pretty sure Barron has stayed after every session that Joe has reported on.
Joe, any news on Jenkins? Is he still recovering from the stress fracture or just being held out as a precaution?
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Thanks for the hard work joe. much appreciated.
how’s JM looking out there?
He’s wearing shorts with no pass rush allowed. Seriously, you can only see so much, and Joe gave you plenty of highlights above. –Joe
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:22 pm
Thegregwitul,
ASJ is in school at UW taking finals. Be here soon!
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:27 pm
Greg Auman @gregauman 3h
Bucs WR Mike Evans and VIncent Jackson both still limited by hamstrings. Seferian-Jenkins still absent due to classes at U. Washington.
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June 3rd, 2014 at 5:31 pm
Thanks Macabee, I appreciate the info.
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:44 pm
BEASTMODE IS GOING SHOW UP THIS YEAR..
This seems to be an every day thing…
“Last guy off the practice field? Mark Barron putting in footwork training and more with an assistant coach.”
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:49 pm
I am so amped about my Bucs!!!!!
June 3rd, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Thanks Joe from me here in Texas.
Appreciate the appreciation. Joe’s happy to serve. –Joe
June 3rd, 2014 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for the great update Joe!
Seemed like a mixed bag from your comments. A few mentions of JM off on his throws. How was he after that? More the same?
What’s your overall impression from what you are seeing? As compared to many of the past years and regimes?
Do we have reason to believe – or that dreaded word hope – to have a chance with the crew you are seeing?
June 3rd, 2014 at 6:25 pm
Much appreciation on the notes Joe!
June 3rd, 2014 at 6:31 pm
MG8 needs steroids ASAP!!
June 3rd, 2014 at 6:44 pm
Thank you for feeding the addiction!!!!!!! hope you realize how much this helps us Bucs fans that were forced to leave the state 😉
June 3rd, 2014 at 6:47 pm
“You’s help us”
June 3rd, 2014 at 7:05 pm
I’m liking everything I’m hearing from OTAs and what little we’ve been shown so far. Although I’m fully supportive of Tedford’s approach to the new Bucs offense, I often wonder if the secrecy surrounding it is going to be all that effective. When I want to keep a secret, I just don’t say anything. Why tell everybody it’s a secret and have every spy and mole on earth trying to crack the code?
I wouldn’t say anything and run basic drills on the one day the media is allowed in – keep the meat of the offense on the down low. But even then sooner or later you gotta play football, don’t you? What happens during TC when the fans are allowed in? They’re not sworn to secrecy. Then what plays do you run in 4 preseason games if not the ones you want the team to master in real games? What happens after the first game of the season and millions get to see it on TV? Isn’t the purpose of this to have some advantage when the real games are played?
I’m sure there is logic that I’m overlooking here. If they say it’s a secret, then it must be, but it sure seems to me like a case of who you’re going to believe – me or your lying eyes!
June 3rd, 2014 at 7:52 pm
thank you Joe, here is my prediction for the season joshn will get hurt Mike Glennon willl step in and lead us to the promise land.Buccaneers** second Super Bowl.tampaaaaa
June 3rd, 2014 at 10:07 pm
@macabee after I listened to his interview on the bucs app today, it seems like he is going to run an offense that just try’s to keep you guessing. A lot of matchup issues and multiple threats. He himself said he doesn’t know why it’s such a big secret- said we’re going to be doing the same thing every other team will be doing. I think media is making it a much bigger deal then it needs to be. I think buc fans are sooo used to having a vanilla offense that we cling to every detail we hear without stopping to think of the big picture- which has been laid out for us. It’s not going to be anything insane. Just competent at the NFL level.
June 3rd, 2014 at 10:31 pm
INDYbucsfan,
That sounds right to me. I agree the media is making a big deal of it. I think it’s going to be exciting football this time around. Looking forward to seeing it on the field!
June 3rd, 2014 at 10:33 pm
Joe(s), if your site was not available I’d waste a lot of time trying to find Buc info so I could get my daily Bucs fix. Thank you for all your hard work.
June 3rd, 2014 at 10:50 pm
I think the important thing here is that the offense and defense both are going to be different. We all wanted that. What you’re going to see from the defense is speed and athleticism. Lovey wants a lean, fast team that is constantly running for the football and trying to strip it.
From the offense, we have a pretty good look right now. We don’t know play by play, but they have specific pieces in place now to do certain things we couldn’t do before.
Joe said they were practicing running plays like the toss. Do you remember the Schaino runners doing anything over run up the middle or end around? They didn’t do anything else very often and I cant recall even one toss, which gets the ball into the rb’s hands in a different part of the field to begin with…already causing a certain amount of separation just by the play itself.
It sounds to me like they intend to-gasp- use the whole field! This I welcome wholeheartedly.
June 4th, 2014 at 12:05 am
Great info Joe. Tedford and Josh are obviously doing their level best to improve Glennon because two things he was deficient in last year–accuracy on throws and quickness of release–are both improved! I fully expected them to make him more marketable. However, they can never make him elusive and that is his Achilles heel that will be exposed once the Preseason starts. Glad that Murphy is also improving and showing his athleticism. He is strong enough to beat the press and is a dangerous deep threat. He has good hands too. Tedford will find plays to use him to stretch the field. They need to see if Sims can return kicks. He used to run too upright and Tedford appears to already be correcting that too, This already shows what great coaching can do.
June 4th, 2014 at 12:39 am
“Quite an athletic player Murphy is.”
Okay Yoda.
Nice notes, Joe.
June 4th, 2014 at 3:18 am
Awesome to get a glimpse of the action. Mucho gracias!
Tim Wright stood out last season. Will be eagerly looking for him this season. Same with Will Gholston. Lotsa new names to look for after reading this, too!
Not gonna read into the QB stuff too much. If I remember right, Freeman practiced very well and thus got onto the playing field. Practice and performance are 2 different things entirely. But love hearing what your observing Joe. Freaking Bucs rock!
June 4th, 2014 at 9:09 am
@Dewey Selmon………….I can tell by your name you are for real
June 4th, 2014 at 10:17 am
Sounds like the one constant in the return game is Eric Page. Everyone else has only rotated in and out of the duty. This is fine with me. I wanted Page to be signed originally and he was, and now is his time.
I’m expecting big things from him.
Also…
I am very curious about this Quinton Pointer kid. I realize both his picks were bad throws, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a hidden gem. I don’t know if he is, but he certainly bares watching.
Sounds like McCown had a bad day and Glennon had a good day.