The bad Dexter Jackson made a great catch of a terribly thrown ball in traffic Wednesday afternoon.

Some quick thoughts from Bucs training camp Wednesday afternoon:

* Raheem the Dream told the dean of Tampa Bay sports radio, “The Big Dog,” Steve Duemig that Santa was coming. Because of such a good practice earlier Wednesday, Raheem the Dream deemed that players didn’t have to wear pads.

* Antonio Bryant must have been a very good little boy as Santa allowed him to practice without a helmet.

* Defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson was quite angry with himself. He seemed to be all over Bryon Leftwich on one play but not only did Leftwich, who is not fleet of foot, somehow avoid Wilkerson, he got the ball away.

Wilkerson reacted by screaming in frustration.

* Leftwich later had a beautiful play action fake that not only surprised the defense, but the fans as well.

* Whenever Cadillac Williams touched the ball, it resulted in a near standing ovation from the crowd. At least Wednesday afternoon, Cadillac was the fan favorite.

* Horrible pass/great catch. Luke McCown for some reason decided to force a pass into triple coverage with the ball just a few inches off the ground. Somehow, the bad Dexter Jackson came away with the catch. Joe’s not sure which was more impressive, that Jackson got the ball, fighting through triple coverage or that the ball wasn’t intercepted.

* Not long thereafter, McCown overthrew a wide open Patrick Carter in the end zone and had an ill-thrown pass intercepted by Tanard Jackson.

* C.J. Byrd also had an interception against Josh Johnson, but the ball was deflected.

* Josh Freeman got limited snaps with the first team. So much for the fast track.

* Joe got a very brief moment with wide receiver Michael Clayton who was in street clothes because of a hamstring issue. When Joe asked Clayton if he liked Jeff Jagodzinski’s offense better than Chucky’s, Clayton said, “I love it.”

* The Bucs have a select few cheerleaders walk up and down the stands visiting with fans. It’s a great distraction while the players are stretching. If it’s possible, Joe believes that Jaime Hanna might actually be, um, bigger in person.

* Fans attending afternoon practice will be well-served to sit in the bleachers on the west side of the practice fields. For whatever reason the temperature must have been 15-20 degrees cooler there than the bleachers on the south end, despite all the bleachers being covered.

Sitting in the west bleachers, despite it being in the midst of a muggy, steamy late-afternoon sun, was actually comfortable. Not so with the south bleachers.

* Kids got free popsicles.