Bucs Training Camp Notes (Practice No. 4)
July 30th, 2022
Former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians chats with a couple of assistants right before Saturday practice begins.
UPDATED 3:13 p.m. – So today was the day for the defense. The offense just wasn’t crisp. Not awful, just not sharp. Tom Brady had miscues. Blaine Gabbert was eh and Kyle Trask had an up-and-down morning –some good plays and some eyerake plays.
As always Joe needs to remind folks this was the final scheduled underwear football practice, at least for a few days. The pads are expected to come on Aug. 1 (Monday). The Bucs do not practice tomorrow.
And since it is underwear football, there is no hitting of any sort and absolutely no tackling.
* Professional workplace crisis for Joe to begin the day, and you never want to begin the day covering a practice like this. A bottle of water got spilled on Joe’s binoculars. They were not waterproof (notice the past tense?). Joe already ordered a new pair from Amazon and they should be delivered by the time Joe gets home today from One Buc Palace. Thank you Jeff Bezos.
* First play of 11-on-11s is Playoff Lenny up the middle. Through four training camp practices, this summer the first play of 11-on-11s is either a Playoff Lenny run or a bomb from Tom Brady. Please do not be this predictable when the season rolls around, Mr. Leftwich.
* The first pass play of 11-on-11s is a Brady hookup with a wide-@ss open Mike Evans over the middle. Joe never tires of seeing this.
* Ke’Shawn Vaughn got a fair amount of work today and early in practice, he had back-to-back catches, the first from Brady to the right sideline and the next to the left from Blaine Gabbert.
* This time Vaughn runs the ball. It sort of looked like a variation of John McKay’s old USC student body left only Vaughn reversed field and went right for a nice gain.
* Giovani Bernard joins the fun and has a huge run around the right corner.
* Bernard is wide-@ss open on the left side for Gabbert who doesn’t throw the most accurate pass. Bernard had to reach for the ball in an awkward way to catch the pass and stumbled.
* Bernard bolts up the middle. Yeah, a boring, humdrum play. But what stuck out for Joe was that Bernard took a Ric Flair chop to the face as he was crossing the line of scrimmage. It almost looked like a clothesline #Fail.
* Trask was up and down as Joe mentioned. This was his second-worst pass. He tried to hit Kaylon Geiger down the left seam and the ball was way underthrown. Nolan Turner raced in and nearly had a pick.
* This was kind of neat and showed Lavonte David’s leadership. J.J. Russell was playing left inside linebacker and David was playing right inside linebacker. David was lined up what looked to be over the three-hole, or in-between the left guard and left tackle on the second level. Russell shifted to his right and as he neared David, David sort of shoved Russell in the shoulder pads as if to say, “No, shift left!” and Russell, almost like a pinball, bounced to the left as quick as he shifted to the right.
* Jaelon Darden skies for a catch from Gabbert down the left seam. Nice work
* Gabbert tries to hit Scotty Miller in the left flat and Mike Edwards was on him like stink on sh!t. Edwards broke up the play.
* Brady tries to hit Russell Gage on a crossing pattern from the right but led him too much. This is the first time Joe saw the Brady-Gage connection be off-kilter in four practices.
* Next play Tyler Johnson drops a Brady pass down the right seam.
* Johnson quickly makes up for that by catching a short pass down the right seam from Brady for a large gain.
* Kyle Trask hits Kameron Brown deep down the middle and Brown houses it for about a 60-70 yard touchdown catch.
* Trask connects with Breshad Perriman in a crowd.
* Brady tries to go to Gage deep down the right side incomplete. Jamel Dean provided tight coverage.
* Brady went Nolan Ryan here. You could see how he physically put a lot of mustard on this pitch and the fastball finds Johnson’s hands on the right side.
* Gabbert throws low to the left side and Vyncint [not a typo] Smith goes even lower to dig the pass up.
* Here is the Gabbert Tease that has lured so many coaches into believing in Gabbert. The Jags’ former first-round draft pick fires down the right sideline and puts the ball right on Scotty Miller’s belt buckle. Pinpoint.
* Gabbert aims for Rachaad White over the middle and it’s a bad drop from the Arizona State rookie. That may be the first bad play Joe has seen from White. There was traffic nearby so perhaps White heard footsteps?
* First bad snap of the post-Ryan Jensen era sails over Brady’s head. And no, it was neither center Robert Hainsey nor Nick Leverett.
* Brady hits Smith with a belt-high pass along the right sideline.
* Beautiful play by Gage. Brady throws about 15 yards or so to the right sideline for Gage who toe-taps as he is falling out of bounds with the catch. Joe was seated on the opposite side of the field so couldn’t tell if the play was inbounds or not, but it still looked smooth and sweet.
*Brady is seen by Joe on the sidelines on one knee with an ice pack on his neck and multiple towels for cooling on his leg and over the ice. Brady also was toweling his face and looked completely gassed. Not a typical Brady look. (This comes from the other Joe who was able to zoom in on Brady). Did this foreshadow Brady’s red zone performance? Stay tuned.
* Joe is pretty sure he has written this before but it bears repeating: You would never guess that Brady and Gage had never participated together in an organized team practice prior to this week. They seem to be fully on the same page.
* Trask hits Brown down the left sideline but Trask’s next play was truly awful.
* Trask wanted to go to Brown on the left side, short, and Brown was double-covered. Trask forced the pass anyway and on top of the fact it was a terrible read, it was slightly underthrown as well and hit Nolan Turner. Pick-six.
* Trask redeemed himself on the next play. He ran a quarterback draw straight up the middle for a gain of some 20 yards. After the play was blown dead, he stumbled and fell forward and somersaulted for a final couple of yards.
*Joe’s not watching every kick, but Jose Borregales, the guy battling with Ryan Succop for a job, clanked the right upright from what appeared to be 40 yards. He nailed the next kick, which seemed to be from 45.
Red Zone drills
* Brady tries a pass over the middle toward the left side and old man Lavonte David picks him.
* Brady leads Bernard too far on the left side.
* Gabbert connects with Ko Kieft for a nice little gain on the right side. Kieft had several snaps this week with the second team and a handful with the first team. Kyle Rudolph, by the way, had a Vet Day today along with Donovan Smith.
* Trask and White hook up on a crossing pattern from the right.
* Brady and the immortal Cyril Grayson are successful on a pass to the right side for a first down.
* Brady throws a screen pass to the right for Cam Brate and there is a total convoy guiding Brate to the end zone.
July 30th, 2022 at 2:13 pm
Leftwich being predictable?
How unpredictable.
July 30th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
Student body left… I haven’t heard that one in years. The old USC student body left (which McKay brought to Tampa Bay) had a split end running free in the opposite direction… isolating a DB or better, freezing an additional safety.
July 30th, 2022 at 2:21 pm
Great notes as always, thanks.
Perhaps the “immortal” moniker should be applied to Brady? 😉
July 30th, 2022 at 2:26 pm
Joe I thought it odd Brady has not been made available to the pen, and mike club during this first week of camp. I hope you’re getting your questions ready for when he does. We all want to know his take on Hainsey maybe being his new center, and of course what kind of improvements he’s seen from Trask. Hopefully we’ll get his take on Monday about what he’s sees in this 2022 team. Keep up the good work.
July 30th, 2022 at 2:37 pm
Am told Brady is expected to speak next week. Maybe as early as Monday. .
July 30th, 2022 at 2:42 pm
Fantastic notes……just like being there….
No action noted for Cade Otten…
Sounds like Tyler Johnson is performing…
July 30th, 2022 at 2:45 pm
Another really good write-up. Thanks Joe.
July 30th, 2022 at 3:02 pm
Gage could have 100 receptions this year.
July 30th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Gage could have 100 receptions.
July 30th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
I’m in the market for binoculars Joe. What do you suggest?
July 30th, 2022 at 3:13 pm
Bushnell is a good brand. Not inexpensive but overall good quality.
Oh, and get waterproof binoculars. 🤦♂️
July 30th, 2022 at 3:14 pm
“Professional workplace crisis for Joe to begin the day” Thank goodness it was only your binoculars! I thought maybe The Sage got into your private stash of BroMosa and polished all of them off. Crisis averted!
July 30th, 2022 at 3:28 pm
Thanks Joe. Just trying to keep it under $100.
July 30th, 2022 at 3:33 pm
@FirstTimePoster I know you didn’t ask me, but Leopold is an excellent brand, very good quality.
July 30th, 2022 at 3:34 pm
Tim Says:
July 30th, 2022 at 3:33 pm
@FirstTimePoster I know you didn’t ask me, but Leopold is an excellent brand, very good quality.
Thanks Tim. I’ll look into it
July 30th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
First time poster, the only pair of binoculars you will find for under $100 will be in the kids department. Plan on spending $200 and more for a good pair. And get the 10×50 power if you want to be able to see Brady’s chin dimple.
July 30th, 2022 at 3:55 pm
Good info Joe. I like.
July 30th, 2022 at 4:23 pm
Joe bought a waterproof 10×50 for under $70.
$200??? You don’t need military-grade binoculars for football.
July 30th, 2022 at 4:38 pm
July 30th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
First time poster, the only pair of binoculars you will find for under $100 will be in the kids department. Plan on spending $200 and more for a good pair. And get the 10×50 power if you want to be able to see Brady’s chin dimple.
Actually, to see Brady from here, I’d need to hack the James Webb Telescope. I live in Muscle Shoals.
July 30th, 2022 at 4:41 pm
Thanks again for the practice notes. We would be lost without you. 🙂
July 30th, 2022 at 5:13 pm
Joe, you must include focus on the centers and how they are doing. Conversely, the pass rush.
July 30th, 2022 at 5:45 pm
Joe wrote: “Am told Brady is expected to speak next week. Maybe as early as Monday. .”
Why do I see David Spade running around in a Bucs Polo… “Ummmm it’s not a good day for Tom to talk today. Why don’t you be a dear and leave me the questions you’re going to ask and I’ll get back to you after he’s had his avocado almond shake. Buh bye!”
July 30th, 2022 at 5:51 pm
Brady is clearly having regrets coming back Joe. Brady could take the criticism unlike some other qbs
July 30th, 2022 at 6:49 pm
Get a pair of Leupold 10×50 Joe. You won’t believe the difference. I Goggled the price and there wasn’t many under $200. I guarantee you would cry at the difference. As always you get what you pay for.
July 30th, 2022 at 8:17 pm
It is impossible to do in underwear football. Guys can’t hit. There is just no way to gauge blocking when guys can’t hit. That’s like trying to determine if a receiver can get separation in walkthroughs.
Pads come on next week.
July 30th, 2022 at 10:21 pm
Hey Joe,
From another average Joe—you gotta get you a pair of Leopold binoculars from bass pro. Waterproof, good ones run around $200.
I have them for hunting and target shooting. Been rained on many times and they are still going strong.
July 30th, 2022 at 10:36 pm
Joe carnes:
Thanks for the advice. Was thinking hunting binoculars would be perfect for football because with hunting, you are looking for potential targets that may be 150-200 yards away. That’s exactly what Joe needs. Hopefully Joe’s new binoculars will get the job done.
July 30th, 2022 at 11:53 pm
Somehow I suspect the Joes do their hunting on the beach…….
July 31st, 2022 at 5:22 am
I prefer Bushnell 10 X 50 7X.
I get 7X because it’s steadier.
But I have less steady hands than some.
July 31st, 2022 at 5:23 am
7×50
July 31st, 2022 at 6:33 am
I love these, but I’m ready for a game!