Bucs Training Camp 2023 Day 12 Practice Notes
August 9th, 2023
Bucs QB Kyle Trask signs autographs for young fans Wednesday after practice.
Bucs quarterbacks didn’t throw any interceptions, but they made up for it by fumbling snaps. And there was a Joe Tryon-Shoyinka sighting. All this and more in today’s practice notes.
* Time for a rant. Joe is sure fans will understand if not sympathize with Joe. The Bucs simply cannot get the Leftwich out of them. Joe doesn’t know how many times the Bucs begin a team session after individual and special teams drills with a Rachaad White run up the middle. In the immortal words of Chucky, “KNOCK IT OFF!” Can’t you guys run some other play out of the hundreds available to begin the team sessions each and every GD damn day — something other than a Byron Leftwich Special running White up the middle? Joe has been assaulted with this play for three friggin’ years. ENOUGH ALREADY! UGH!
* Kyle Trask throws to White along the right sideline.
* Trask hits Deven Thompkins with a short pass along the left sideline.
* Sneak Vaughn starts then and then cuts right for a few yards.
* Baker Mayfield throws to White behind the line of scrimmage and White gets nothing.
* Mayfield rolls right and throws to the middle of the field, squeezing the ball between three defenders and connecting with Russell Gage.
* Chase Edmonds runs right for a decent gain.
* FUMBLE! The snap was fumbled between center Nick Leverett and Baker Mayfield. The ball was kicked around and finally recovered by linebacker K.J. Britt.
Goal line
* White up the middle loses yards.
* Trask throws to the back of the end zone and it appears someone was on a different page than Trask. There was no one in the immediate area where Trask threw the ball (throwing it away?). Cade Otton was the closest but not close enough to make a play. Joe guesses Trask threw it away because Logan Hall (he’s alive!) put a ferocious swim move on Leverett and blew past the backup Bucs center like he was standing still and had Trask in his crosshairs.
* Mayfield fakes a handoff, rolls right and connects with Kade Warner along the right sideline and the receiver son of Hall of Famer Kurt Warner scores.
* Mayfield throws over the middle for Kaylon Geiger in the back of the end zone for a score.
* Mayfield throws for Dominque Dafney to the right for a score despite Britt having solid coverage.
* Geiger has improved his hands somewhat from last year’s training camp where people had to call a locksmith for him to get in his car each day because he kept dropping the keys. This is not to say Geiger catches everything. He reminded folks that good passes are still a challenge when Mayfield hit Geiger in the hands at the goal line and Geiger dropped it.
11-on-11
* Trask throws to the left sideline for Mike Evans. The ball is behind Evans but he was still able to reach back high, haul the ball in while getting two feet inbounds. Joe hasn’t typed this for a while but Evans has some of the best footwork Joe’s seen from a receiver since maybe Cris Carter. (In his prime, Antonio Brown had spectacular footwork.)
* Trask to Trey Palmer down the left seam. Palmer was wide-ass open and Trask hit Palmer right in the hands in stride so Palmer never broke stride in order to get YAC. For a speedster like Palmer, putting the ball where he can utilize his speed after the catch is key. Really pretty pass.
* Warner catches another pass from Mayfield, this time down the left sideline.
* Mayfield has a pass over the middle batted down by Will Gholston.
* Gage catches a pass from Mayfield down the left sideline.
* Mayfield to Palmer along the left sideline. Palmer is active early on.
* John Wolford throws a bomb over the middle to Warner who got behind Josh Hayes and Ryan Neal and Warner is gone for a long touchdown.
Red zone
Chris Godwin runs left for a few yards. Because of Bucs media rules and guidelines, Joe cannot describe how this play shook out but hint: You have seen a very similar play with Godwin in a Sunday afternoon nationally televised game.
* White runs up the middle for a few yards.
* Trask rifles a ball to Gage over the middle. How much mustard did Trask put on the ball? Gage almost fell over.
* Vaughn runs right for a nice gain.
* FUMBLE! This time it is Trask who cannot corral a Leverett snap.
* Trask throws to Ko Kieft along the right sideline. J.J. Russell had tight coverage on Kieft but the Minnesota product was able to pull the ball in, bobble it a little and secure it for a catch. If you could combine Otton’s size and speed with Kieft’s hands, you’d have a tight end.
* Edmonds shuffles to his right as if he’s in motion waiting for the snap, instead waiting for a hole to open up on the right side of the line. When Edmonds saw a crack, he darted through it.
* Trask connects with Geiger over the middle despite being blanked by Keenan Isaac.
* Sean Tucker brings in a Trask pass over the middle for a good chunk of yards.
* Patrick Laird runs right for basically nothing.
* This is when a blitz will kill you. Dee Delaney blows past the left tackle from the edge on a blitz but Laird runs exactly where Delaney came from, just to the inside of Delaney. The Bucs’ reserve corner slams on the brakes and tries to cover his tracks to catch Laird but it was too late.
* White barrels through the “one hole,” a massive hole just to the left of the center. (At least, that’s what Joe’s old high school coach called that hole. Different coaches using different offenses use different numbers for that.)
* Vaughn has a big run to the right.
* Trask fields a high snap from shotgun, throws an even higher pass to White behind the line behind the right tackle. White immediately cuts inside and had the whistle not blown, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka would have rocked his world.
* Mayfield throws low to Geiger on the left side. Geiger goes low to secure the catch.
* David Wells catches a pass on the left side from Mayfield. On the next play, Wells is Mayfield’s target again as Mayfield runs left and launches a ball down the left sideline for a 30-yards (or more) touchdown.
* Laird runs to the left and there is no room at the inn.
* Taye Barber catches a pass from Mayfield along the right sideline.
Goal line
* Warner catches a touchdown from Trask over the middle.
* Trask waits and waits and waits and bounces on his feet and finally throws to Otton at the goal line who was crossing from the inside. Perfectly thrown ball as it hit Otton right in the hands.
* Hopefully, Mayfield learned his lesson yesterday throwing short to a 6-5 receiver (Mike Evans) only to have it picked in the end zone. Mayfield throws to Evans who was heading to the far right corner of the end zone over his shoulder and the ball drops into Evans’ hands like dropping oranges in a bucket.
* Trask tries to connect with Wells over the middle near the goal line. Wells went low and eventually hit the ground, incomplete. Wells slapped the turf in frustration. Russell was covering on the play.
* Mayfield rifles a pass to Dafney in the short left corner for six.
August 9th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Why is Nick Leverett taking so many center reps? The Bucs already have 2 quality centers and Leverrett is best at guard, Canales needs to get that corrected.
August 9th, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Great work, Joe. As usual.
Thanks
August 9th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
Looks like they had a pretty even day. Joe, since he’s starting Friday is Baker getting more snaps with the ones?
August 9th, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Trask also had a fumbled snap with Hainsey.
Sounds like a better practice from both QBs.
Wolford seems to have the majority of the big, fun plays. Too bad his live game experience shows he’s not viable as a starter.
The difference between Wolford and Mayfield in live games was…stark.
August 9th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
I guess Kurt Warner couldn’t keep his son out of football after all. He was open about not wanting his son to pursue a football life.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:02 pm
@Tbbucs3 Probably because he’ll likely have to be the backup to Hainsey once the season begins (if he doesn’t cut from all of these botched snaps).
August 9th, 2023 at 1:03 pm
Sounds like there’s a lot of back and forth between units. Picks for all yesterday. Nothing today, except a batted pass.
Can’t wait to see em play Friday Night!
August 9th, 2023 at 1:04 pm
Really? You don’t know? Why do you think a backup is getting a lot of reps? This really is pretty obvious, come on now.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
Not counting the snaps but seems even overall.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:10 pm
In JBF comments from other threads some posters have the impression that Trask can’t push the ball down field as well as Mayfield. Several times Joe has mentioned Kyle connecting on long bombs. From that it sounds to me like he can toss it long just fine.
Trask only gets a rare few batted back. Baker seems like he’s making a tennis serve several times a session.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
Wow, a really weird day! Cotton actually caught a ball! JTS actually made a play!
I haven’t heard much about Josh Hayes and Ryan Neal and now I understand why. They let Warner get behind them, OMG, Warner is no speedster. Now I wonder about Neal. He’s supposed to be good.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:27 pm
Joe, Leverrett is literally the 3rd string center. He will not play 1 second at center in the regular season.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:33 pm
Warner catching some TDs. How is his speed? I would have thought average but I’ve never seen him play. Is he small?
August 9th, 2023 at 1:45 pm
If Trask is better because he wants a starting position and Baker is better because he doe not want to be doing color for and Oklahoma vs Baylor game next season then it has been a good Camp.
Go Bucs.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:50 pm
Up the gut is the Boles trademark. The Bozo does it every time.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:51 pm
So you think Hainsey has the starting gig locked up if Jensen can’t go?
Bucs types don’t (which is why Leverett is getting so many snaps).
August 9th, 2023 at 1:55 pm
Apparently Jensen is not ready, nothing wrong with having two guys prepared to play the center position.
August 9th, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Great to hear that the passing game seems to have some traction. Im thinking the run game is going to be a work in progress. A zone scheme versus the speed at MLB in practice is tough sledding. Not excited about preseason football, but this may be one of the most important in recent memory. Getting that scoring average up to around 22-24 pts a game can win the division. LFG.
August 9th, 2023 at 2:41 pm
Joe says:
Time for a rant. Joe is sure fans will understand if not sympathize with Joe. The Bucs simply cannot get the Leftwich out of them. Joe doesn’t know how many times the Bucs begin a team session after individual and special teams drills with a Rachaad White run up the middle.
Rant away Brother. Get it out. I see it as a Rep of a QB to X exchange.
How you gonna feel if the first play is a roll out left with a sweep going the other way and Boom the Ball is on the ground ( in the voice of the Great John Madden)?
August 9th, 2023 at 3:00 pm
At least Joe won’t have to watch a plunge up the middle on the first play of a possession for nothing. Uh-gen.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:10 pm
That’s a great photo of Kyle on the left and Baker with his arm on the fence pole.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:13 pm
Looks like you’re elaborating more on some plays today Joe, instead of just the shorter bullet-point descriptions. I like it.
Sounds like Leverett missed his calling as a center … for good reason? MAYBE he’s not a center? Too many bungled snaps, by both Mayfield & Trask. Those can cost us games. IF Jensen is a no-go this year, we need a Plan B.
I have no issue with practicing runs up the middle Joe. If they constantly get blown up, MAYBE the inside of our OLine just isn’t physical enough? Or MAYBE the blocking scheme needs be adjusted? Not expecting huge holes, but we need to be able to move the pile enough to gain short yardage at times (1-2 yards?). We left quite a few points on the field last year because we really sucked at those 1-2 yard situations on 3rd & 4th down (for TDs or 1st downs). That’s unacceptable.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:22 pm
I have nothing whatsoever against Baker Mayfield but in this age of giants on the O and D lines his lack of stature is a big deal. That’s why I think the Panthers new QB is going to struggle. He looks like a high schooler out there.
But whoever performs best will end up being QB1. Don’t care if it’s Trask or Baker.
Just get the job done.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:24 pm
How in the hell can Jensen still not be ready? Makes no sense. Everybody said that playing in the Dallas playoff game did NOT set him back at all. Ok. So why is he not participating in 11 on 11 drills? Another Jensen mystery here.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Joe, great breakdown of plays from practice today. Just wondering how so few on this site can’t give ANY credit to Baker. Sounds like he had a better practice than Trask did. I understand that Trask is a Florida college product, but you gotta give Baker “some” credit. But I won’t hold my breath. Go Bucs.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:33 pm
One of the camp battles I am watching is for the Bucs #5,#6 and #7 wide receiver…
– Evans
– Godwin
– Gage
– Thompkins
Are probably a lock – barring injury.
Palmer will probably make the cut and become the WR5.
Then we have
– Moore
– Geiger
– Warner
– Jarrett
– Barber
– Miller
Fighting it out for our WR6 and WR7 spots.
And YES – the Bucs will probably keep 7 WRs this season – just like they did last season – due to one WR being the full time PR/KR (Thompkins)…
@ JOE
At this point – based on wht you have seen so far – who would you choose for the WR6 and WR7 spot?
Warner had another solid day… But I figured Moore and Jarrett might make the club as well. Tough choice…
August 9th, 2023 at 3:34 pm
Because Mayfield stands in the way of Trask possibly starting. And those same fans (and others) have zero faith in Mayfield based on his play the past two years.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:35 pm
That’s hard. Those positions will come down to who plays special teams. Joe doesn’t have any real intel on who is leading the race at that position with good special teams play.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:36 pm
Sure it does. His knee was destroyed last year.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:39 pm
“Trask rifles a ball to Gage over the middle. How much mustard did Trask put on the ball? Gage almost fell over.”
The dude is owed a lot of apologies from lots of guys here. You know who you are. Man up.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:41 pm
Sounds like Warner is scoring a bunch of touchdowns in practice — pretty impressive
Maybe he can make the team roster — that would be an amazing story
August 9th, 2023 at 3:58 pm
Joe says, “Time for a rant. Joe is sure fans will understand if not sympathize with Joe. The Bucs simply cannot get the Leftwich out of them.”
Joe I can’t agree with you more!!! Maybe just maybe, DC will call a run up the middle on first downs repeatedly during the pre season games! Then use play action on first downs when the season starts!! I hear he can be very tricky!!! That’s what I hear!
August 9th, 2023 at 4:09 pm
Unless I’m wrong, Baker threw 5 TDs today and Trask had 2. Not that I’m counting. Plus, I think both QBs had another TD dropped. Just so everyone understands, I was a Browns fan for 30 years and what I saw from Mayfield his first few years in the league before his injuries impressed the hell out of me. He played with a terrible defense and lost a lot of games he should have won. So, am I a little touchy about Baker constantly getting blasted on this site? Sounds like it, lol. BUT if Trask wins the job, I’ll back him up too. Go Bucs.
August 9th, 2023 at 4:23 pm
@ JOE
Thanks.
I agree. It will come down to who can contribute on special teams…
I’m going to guess Moore will win the WR6 spot because he knows this system and our OC pretty well – PLUS – he is a bigger WR more similar to Evans and Godwin. The rest of the WRs are the smaller quicker undersized variety.
Then it’s between Jarrett, Geiger and Warner for the final WR7 spot.
I’m going to guess Jarrett will earn the WR7 spot with Warner and Geiger landing on the practice squad.
August 9th, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Joe Corrections:
1 Hole = A Gap
(the “1 hole” is for different websites)
Mayfield throws SHORT = Mayfield throws LOW
(“Short” means he didn’t get it all the way to the target. ie. “The RB came up short of the 1st down.”)
August 9th, 2023 at 5:24 pm
Out of curiosity, how is Kade Warners chances of making the team?
August 9th, 2023 at 7:59 pm
Excellent practice notes, I’m much prefer reading this rather than watching a video of it and not understanding what was going on the details are masterful thank you.
August 9th, 2023 at 8:05 pm
Hey! Otton caught a pass! Dude better step it up or Wells is gonna jump him on the depth chart!
August 9th, 2023 at 8:09 pm
Thanks Joe!
August 9th, 2023 at 8:58 pm
“Masterful?” Joe appreciates the compliment, but let’s not get carried away. 🙂
August 9th, 2023 at 8:58 pm
If he doesn’t, probably a practice squad guy and maybe promoted.
August 9th, 2023 at 9:02 pm
🙂
Here’s how Joe’s old coach categorized the holes on offense:
Holes to the right of the center are even numbers. To the left of the center, odd numbers.
Right of center: 0
Right of guard: 2
Right of tackle: 3 and so on.
Left of center: 1
Left of guard: 2
Left of tackle: 3 and so on.
Joe knows each offensive system is different. For example, the old Oklahoma wishbone, to the left of left tackle was 0, left of guard 1, left of center 2, right of center 3, right of guard 4, right of tackle 5 … and so on.
August 9th, 2023 at 9:12 pm
“FUMBLE! The snap was fumbled between center Nick Leverett and Baker Mayfield. The ball was kicked around and finally recovered by linebacker K.J. Britt.”
Was Trask’s fumble a turnover?
August 10th, 2023 at 1:29 am
It is becoming obvious that they are not counting on Jensen being able to play.
Thus the snaps for Leverett. He will be the backup center and needs to get his stuff together! Hoping Jensen can get healthy but… Dang it!
Go Bucs!