Day 4 Training Camp Notes & Nuggets
July 29th, 2019
Joe and manbeast JoeBucsFan.com intern Zach Seifter were dialed in to the on-field happenings today at One Buc Palace. Here’s plenty to chew on:
*The pads were cracking in a slightly abbreviated session for the Bucs. Lightning moved the team inside the Glazer Shed and Bucco Bruce Arians said after practice that he could have gone to the outside fields midway through but didn’t feel like it.
*Donovan Smith is back in pads today after sitting out yesterday with what Arians referred to as an Achilles issue, Smith returned with limited reps.
*Two veterans taking the day off today. Right tackle Demar Dotson and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh were both sporting shorts and sneakers today inside the Glazer Shed. Arians said afterwards that it was just veteran maintenance.
*In front of a pumped crowd, the Bucs begin 1-on-1 battles between cornerbacks and receivers. Ryan Smith faces off against Bryant Mitchell. After the play, Smith appears shaken up, limping on the sideline. He shakes it off and quickly returns to action.
*The first 11-on-11 session gets underway and there is live tackling!
*Noah Spence lines up across Donovan Smith and gets no push. Smith completely stands him up. Jameis, with a clean pocket, fires a sharp pass to Justin Watson, but Carlton Davis closes in and breaks up the pass.
*Later in the session, Ronald Jones finds daylight and takes off on an outside pitch to the right side. After gaining 10 yards, RoJo is blasted by safety D’Cola Dixon! First big hit of the practice.
*Soon after, a serious trench battle between Vita Vea and Donovan Smith. Bowles has Vea line up at right defensive end, but Smith holds his own and stones Vea as Jameis completes his pass to receiver K.J. Brent for a solid gain.
*The players clear the field as the next episode of the kicking battle begins! Matt Gay is up today and he hits his first eight kicks, ranging from 23 to 48 yards. On his last kick, he lines up from 61 yards out. His kick has the leg, but it sails just wide right.
*11-on-11 play continues, and the Sage’s favorite offensive lineman, the Earl of Watford, faces off against Carl Nassib on the right edge. Nassib shows off his engine and power as he pushes Watford back and Nassib eventually breaks off him and makes a move towards the quarterback. Nassib couldn’t quite get there but Noah Spence brutalized Caleb Benenoch on the other side and definitely would’ve had the sack.
*Ryan Griffin in now and he quickly throws a pick-six! Rookie safety Mike Edwards jumps in front of Griffin’s pass over the middle and takes it back for the touchdown! Defensive teammates chase Edwards into the end zone and they all quickly plop onto the ground in a line and do a touchdown celebration. It looks as though they are emulating a roller coaster ride as they sway back in forth with their hands in the air while screaming.
*Now the offense is running a full drive against the defense. The first team is on the field and after getting a quick first down, Jameis is pressured by Devin White. White gets in Jameis’ face, forcing a quick throw. Jameis tries to find Barber on a screen pass to the left but it is intercepted by defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter! A win for the defense on that series.
*After a field goal drive by the second-team offense, the first team comes on again and Barber gains eight yards on a first-down carry. On 2nd-and-2 from their own 33-yard line, the offense runs another screen play. Jameis looks for Andre Ellington but Lavonte David comes swooping in with incredible speed to break up the pass.
*The offense keeps driving but is later forced to punt.
July 29th, 2019 at 9:14 pm
So either the defense has been resurrected from the grave of the last 10 years or our offense just forgot how to play football is what I’m getting out of all this.
July 29th, 2019 at 9:28 pm
BA said today the Offense had a bounce back day but reading this recap you don’t get that impression at all.
July 29th, 2019 at 9:45 pm
Jameis needs to stop using screens strickky an ecsape route and start using.them.more.by design runing the play quicker and catching the defense off guard rather than tossing the ball after.the defender has snuffed the play out reducing the.Y.A.C. They need much better timing on the screens..The few times.they ran it last season I noticed that every time.
July 29th, 2019 at 10:37 pm
Kevin Minter says this defense will be top 5 this year and I believe him. And that Warrior wit a few missing digits ain’t even out there yet.. Emphasis on yet!
July 29th, 2019 at 10:56 pm
I was there today and the defense owned the offense. Not sure if our D is that good or the offense is trying out new schemes?!
July 29th, 2019 at 11:25 pm
Is the first year OC, who was in charge of the NFL’s worst offense in over his head? The offense & Jameis seem horrible
July 30th, 2019 at 1:01 am
Top-5 Defense and Top-5 Offense along with mediocre Special Teams should pretty much guarantee us a playoff spot right? I mean as long as we’re Top 5-10 or so in scoring too
July 30th, 2019 at 1:41 am
Ironic to see the Bucs defense playing that much better than the offense. Yes, I know it is early but so far, its seems like we might have a top 10 defense. Just saying…..
July 30th, 2019 at 7:43 am
Too small of a sample size: first day of real tackling!
July 30th, 2019 at 7:47 am
We can do it!
7-9 my projection!
#GoBucs! #BucsLife
July 30th, 2019 at 8:30 am
I was there yesterday and I left there convinced the QB of the future is not on the roster. Don’t give me this new offense/aggressive defense excuse. Jameis is not crisp with this passes. He still overthrows receivers, still passes to the wrong team, still throws behind receivers. In short, he still looks like the rookie we saw in 2015.
I don’t want to hear the “Day 4 of training camp” excuse either. He’s been throwing to some of these guys for years. He’s been working out with these guys during the off season for quite some time. It’s not as if he’s been on vacation for the past six months.
July 30th, 2019 at 9:41 am
Sounds like the Offensive Line was a little better.
July 30th, 2019 at 11:09 am
On O, focusing on the positives… Smith stones Spence and Vea. I hope he plays up to that paycheck.
July 30th, 2019 at 11:29 am
Lazy ass Smith plays pretty good when he wants to. The trouble is there are to many plays where he doesn’t want to. Overpaid for mediocrity.
July 30th, 2019 at 12:40 pm
BucEm, You do realize that Winston isn’t calling the plays don’t you? Please say yes.