Practice Notes Aug. 20
August 20th, 2020
Bucs RB Ronald Jones gets ready for a drill Wednesday at One Buc Palace. He had a nice practice today.
So Joe was out at Bucs practice today and there is good news and bad news.
The good news was reporters were relocated to a different area of the fields and Joe had a sideline view on about the 15-yard line, so there was a lot more to see and less obstructed view.
The bad? Joe will get to it.
Some highlights:
To sum up the practice, for reasons not quite clear even though it was a morning practice, it felt like it was mid-afternoon out there. And unlike Tuesday when the defense flexed its muscle, the offense took over Thursday. O.J. Howard had a big day and remember what Joe wrote and said about park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring Tom Brady being more nimble than Joe thought?
* First play Joe saw from 11-on-11s was a fake handoff from Brady to Ronald Jones and Brady hit a wide, wide open Howard over the middle for a big gain.
* Finally a good run Joe witnessed from RoJo. Jones ran between Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet for a nice gain up the left side. Someone or some people on defense Joe is guessing blew an assignment, or one guy thought the other was supposed to have that assignment and vice-versa, because after the play, there was a whole lot of hollering on the defensive side of the ball with defensive coaches chirping in as well.
* Shady McCoy took a handoff and tried to run up the middle on the right side but there was no hole to be found. He quickly slammed the brakes and quickly bounced right to the outside for about a 10-yard gain. Joe is trying to think of the last Bucs running back who could pull that off. Earnest Graham maybe? LeGarrette Blount?
* On a similar play, Dare Ogunbowale slowed up waiting for a hole to appear and instead of being able to bounce outside, Andrew Adams flattened Ogunbowale as a crack of pads pierced the steamy morning air.
* RoJo with an eight-yard run between Ryan Jensen and Marpet.
* RoJo is getting a steady diet of handoffs. Either Bucco Bruce Arians wants RoJo to break a sweat or he is testing him. If that is the case, RoJo is passing the test this morning.
* Who is that big guy? Hey, it is Rob Gronkowski who hauls in a pass from his long-time teammate Brady. Whoever said Gronk has slimmed down from his previous life with the Belicheats, wow. Gronk must have been one huge SOB because he sure is a big target now.
* Big run around the right side for Shady.
* Brady looks downfield and apparently no one is home so he quickly dumps down to Howard in the right flat. Brady doesn’t screw around going through progressions, that’s for sure.
* Brady throws low to Howard over the middle and the big tight end goes low but cannot come up with the ball.
* Brady sure likes to throw over the middle, it seems. This time Justin Watson grabs a pass for a huge gain.
* Mike Evans is being Mike Evans. Hauls in a Brady pass in traffic over the middle, between four defenders, for about a 15-yard gain.
* Right after that catch Evans was really peeved. When he got back to the line of scrimmage he ripped his helmet off and yelled “Aaaawwww F@CK!!!” Then he got down on one knee. This happened right in front of Joe. At first, Joe thought Evans got injured. But no trainers came to his aid. If he wasn’t hurt, he sure looked like the broiling sun was getting the best of him. He gulped down water from a Bucs equipment staffer and then Joe saw Scotty Miller squirt cold water down the back of Evans’ neck as Evans had his head hanging down sucking air. Shortly after Evans kneeled for a few plays, he got up and returned to practice. Joe couldn’t eyeball anything odd or unusual with Evans physically other than he looked wiped out from the heat.
* After completing a pass (Joe didn’t see who caught it), it sounded like Brady hollered “f@cking penalty,” but Joe isn’t clear who yelled that.
* Remember the nimble feet line? Well, on the next play, Brady rolled right (but not too far), just long enough to suck in the defense and then Brady pulled the trap door, throwing deep to Howard down the left sideline. Just judging today’s practice, it appears Brady has his timing down with Howard.
* Howard is just gouging the Bucs defense today.
* Brady throws a little too high for Miller along the right sideline. Well, at first it looked too high. But the little guy from the little school of Bowling Green did his best Mike Evans impersonation and played tall, skying to haul in a 12-yard pass. It also seems Brady has taken a liking to the second-year MAC receiver.
Now the bad:
Joe had an appointment and bailed just before practice ended. Unfortunately, that’s when all the fun began, per Jenna Laine of ESPN and Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times:
* Players puking from the heat in the final period of practice.
* An on-field hassle between Ryan Jensen and Rakeem Nunez-Roches (“Nachos”), in which Arians forced the two guys to run laps, per Laine, because of their dogfight. And per Encina, Jason Pierre-Paul was yelling at his teammates from the sideline to knock it off and behave like men because they are in this together.
* Running back/return man T.J. Logan suffered an injury on a too-physical tackle in a non-tackling drill just after the Jensen-Nachos bout. Logan, after being consoled by Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, was carted off the field. Evans, per Encina, was hacked off and jawing at the defense for tackling to the ground — a no-no in a non-tackling drill, which led to Logan’s injury.
August 20th, 2020 at 3:54 pm
There’s a fine balance between being aggressive and being stupid.
August 20th, 2020 at 3:56 pm
“…as a crack of pads pierced the steamy morning air”. Damn good writing, sir(s). May even make up for the “park-skipping, house-invading” droning on 😉
No but really, thanks for doing these 🤘
August 20th, 2020 at 4:01 pm
Thanks Joe, been waiting for these eye witness reports. Keep them coming
August 20th, 2020 at 4:02 pm
Sounds like Evans being Evans. The great ones always are unique and can never figure them out…….Really enjoying hearing about OJ. Yep I’m one of his biggest haters and would be thrilled to be proven wrong. He can even throw a pie in my face if he likes.
I hope the Bucs let you get a good seat next time, Joe. And it sounds like the defense needs to step it up.
August 20th, 2020 at 4:09 pm
No doubt this is awesome work Joe exactly what I love to hear as well. So nice to not hear the int word over and over and over. Sounds like Brady is all that is advertised and that two of the biggest disappointments in the last several years, Rojo and Howard, are shining with our new Superbowl winning QB. Love it man.
August 20th, 2020 at 4:18 pm
Sounds like the heat has got every ones temperatures boiling.
August 20th, 2020 at 4:44 pm
It is phuking football not tennis
August 20th, 2020 at 4:50 pm
sounds like we’re getting close to opening day!!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!!!
August 20th, 2020 at 4:58 pm
Get real Joe. Just give the report without stupidity.
August 20th, 2020 at 5:09 pm
Just cut quinton bell now ! He wasn’t making the team and destroying TJ Logan by trying to impress coaches after he was going to otherwise miss the tackle…. send him packing.
August 20th, 2020 at 5:51 pm
Whats up with Ke’Shawn Vaughn? Heard absolute nothing on him since being released from covid list?
Wrote about him earlier today.–Joe
August 20th, 2020 at 6:09 pm
Just found the write up Joe, thanks for keeping us up-to-date!
August 20th, 2020 at 6:11 pm
“it sounded like Brady hollered “f@cking penalty,”
Wait until he gets to the regular season!!!!!!!!!! That is where ole stale biscuit’s sloppy coaching and lack of attention to detail will really be on display, much too disgust of all bucs fans and sheep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 20th, 2020 at 6:47 pm
Is Brate & Godwin even on the team?
Joe, are these 1s vs. 1s?
August 20th, 2020 at 6:47 pm
That Howard over the middle is gonna be sweet to see this year. These practices in no way are going to to determine the season except we know Jensen will stay being a dick.
August 20th, 2020 at 7:29 pm
El Buco if you are going to be a troll, at least be entertaining, you are stale and boring.
August 20th, 2020 at 7:41 pm
It speaks volumes when Joe compliments Howard & Rojo…..I’m quite sure there is Grady/Gronk influence there…..
If somehow OJ Howard becomes a force on offense…..wow!!!
August 20th, 2020 at 8:03 pm
Wrong El Buco Dicko!!!!!!!!!!! You only caught part of it!!!!!!!!!!
What Brady said was, “what is that f@cking pen@s head El Buco Dicko still doing on JoeBucsFan anyway”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 20th, 2020 at 8:12 pm
Rojo looking like a smaller L.Blount
August 20th, 2020 at 9:57 pm
Damn Joe I’m not gonna lie these notes got me fired up!
Already read about TJ Logan so that “the bad” in this article really didn’t seem too bad compared to the good.
That said, hearing now he was injured b/c the defense tackled in a no-hitting drill, well, that’s pretty fkn dumb of them. I love aggressive play, but you still gotta smart when it’s your own team.
Maybe the rookie will be able to step up if thrown into the fire.
August 21st, 2020 at 12:08 am
Looks like Brate is the odd man out. Godwin will get his. I’m not worried about that. Juice will have a payday kind of season.
August 21st, 2020 at 6:38 am
Can’t wait to see a lot of Gronk and OJ sets this year! How do you cover that when Evans and Godwin are also on the field?
August 21st, 2020 at 8:37 am
I think all-around McCoy is probably our best back. Maybe not as explosive as Rojo but he’s a more fluid/patient runner. I just dont think McCoy will last all that long.
August 21st, 2020 at 1:25 pm
I love these eye witness reports guys!
Great Job!
August 21st, 2020 at 5:13 pm
Often, but not exclusively.