Got a workout today.

Joe was pretty much parked at Field No. 1 where the Bucs offense faced the Dolphins defense. This turned out to be a huge dud because the vast majority of plays at this field were the Bucs running up the middle.

Again and again and again and again.

And not often did the Bucs get any sort of production slamming their heads into the Dolphins’ brick wall.

There were also feisty moments where a Buccaneers.com reporter Twittered that a Bucs shot-caller was trying to clear out a scrum.

* Since Tom Brady had the day off — and will continue to have days off for unknown specific reasons (maybe to mourn his bitcoin portfolio) — that means Blaine Gabbert is your Bucs No. 1 quarterback. And in the past week or so, Gabbert has really improved. So there is that.

* Gabbert throws for the immortal Cyril Grayson and the ball falls out of bounds. Not sure if this means anything but on the play, Robert Hainsey got bowled over but didn’t allow a rush to get past him.

* Rookie running back Rachaad White catches a pass on the right side. He won’t be catching passes for long today.

* Gabbert tries for Kaylon Geiger on the left side and the ball is tipped and nearly picked.

* Gabbert tries to hit rookie tight end Cade Otton on a short pass over the middle but cannot connect.

* Giovani Bernard tries to run up the middle and is swallowed up by the Dolphins’ defense. This will be the theme of the day.

* Running some easy routes on the side with Kyle Trask throwing, Chris Godwin catches a pass and does a dance around a pylon which elicits applause from the packed house.

* Kyle Trask throws a dump-off pass to nowhere and away from the ball a hassle begins to simmer. Seems to be more pushing and shoving and barking than anything.

* Yikes. Trask would have been sacked on the play and he smartly throws the ball away to the left side. But it should have been much higher as a Miami corner raced in and nearly had an embarrassing pick-six. The crowd gasped.

* Gabbert to White on the right side and Gabbert hits him right in the hands with a cock-high pass. Nice play.

* Gabbert connects with Tyler Johnson on the left side and the play is followed by a run up the middle from Kenjon Barner who is clobbered at the line.

Red zone

* Kyle Rudolph catches a short pass inside the five near the right corner and as he turned to head into the end zone, a Dolphins corner, in desperation, swung his right arm trying to stop Rudolph and it instead resulted in Rudolph getting whacked in the face with an open fist. Joe didn’t see a flag thrown by the zebras. Figures.

* Unintended (?) tip drill: Kyle Trask throws to the left side for Cade Otton and the pass is tipped and Otton still comes down with it. Excellent concentration by the rookie tight end. He gets better each practice it seems.

* Joe watched maybe two of Kyle Trask’s games with the Gators. Did he throw this many tipped passes in college? This Trask throws an incredible amount of tipped passes, whether tipped by a teammate or the defense. Joe is starting to wonder if he can finish a practice without throwing a tipped pass?

* Zone-read: Trask puts the ball right in White’s gut and takes a step or two with White before releasing the ball and White runs left for a score.

* Giovani Bernard pretends to be pinball and bounces his way up the middle into the end zone. Bernard is one of the few backs to periodically get some yardage up the middle but it’s a fight to do so.

* Bernard runs a crossing pattern from the right just over the line of scrimmage and gets the pass from Gabbert for a score as he went to the ground to catch the ball. After the play Bernard was doing some jawing with the Dolphins defenders. He would do that later too.

* Jaelon Darden dives on the left side of the end zone for a Gabbert pass and can’t come up with it.

* After the play, Luke Goedeke and Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley tangle with each other. Bucs tackle Brandon Walton escorts Goedeke away from the hassle.

* Kenjon Barner squirms up the middle for a touchdown.

* Immediately after the play, another hassle breaks out. This time Dolphins players race in from the sidelines to reinforce their brothers on the field. Though Joe didn’t see what sparked the ruckus or who was directly involved, apparently Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was in the middle of the scrum trying to restore order. Licht is a big man (remember, he played offensive line at Nebraska when real men played there). Joe is confident Licht can still hold his own.

Quote of the day goes to Rakeem Nunez-Roches. An altercation broke out on field during Bucs-Dolphins joint practice. Many ran onto the field. Among the players walking back to the sideline after was general manager, Jason Licht. Nacho yelled to Licht, “What the hell you doin?”

— Brianna Dix (@briannadixNFL) August 11, 2022

11-on-11

* Of the first 10 plays called in this period, 7 were runs up the middle. On the fourth run up the middle, Bernard finally broke through the line of scrimmage and when he got to the second level, he quickly turned left and ran up the left sideline for a nice gain, yapping at Dolphins defenders along the way.

* Vaughn tried to slam his way through the middle once and it was like running full-blast into the passenger side of an F-150 from Bill Currie Ford.

* On the play before Bernard scored, Trask absolutely rainbowed a pass to Jerreth Sterns along the left sideline.

* White runs what almost looks like a straight-line slant just to the right of Tristan Wirfs for some daylight. That’s not a bad place to run.

* Now, Leftwich is throwing up the middle. That is having much better success. Gabbert threw to Geiger and Darden on successive plays up the middle.

* Gabbert to Darden along the right sideline.

* And the final pass of the Bucs in practice today is Gabbert aiming for Grayson in the left corner. That fell incomplete.