Rookies Shine, WR Injuries Pile Up

 

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The Bucs returned to their indoor practice facility at the AdventHealth Training Center Tuesday night, making for a third straight practice inside and on the turf. This one was scheduled, though. After inclement weather forced Tampa Bay indoors Sunday and Monday morning, the team’s third practice of the week was the annual night practice, held in front of Krewe members and preceded by an autograph signing.

Once practice got going at 7:00 p.m., the offense had a nice bounce-back day after the defense dominated back-to-back practices Sunday and Monday. Not only that, but a number of rookies stood out, a couple of wide receivers picked up injuries and a feisty finish to practice sent the team into its Wednesday off day.

Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams, Kat Beutel, Leah Vrabec and Nick Geddes were in attendance Tuesday night at One Buc Place. Here were the big observations and takeaways from a third day in a row inside the indoor practice facility.

Bucs Rookies Stand Out In A Big Way Under The Lights

With the indoor facility packed out for a night practice “under the lights,” some of the newest Bucs took it upon themselves to put on a show for the fans. It started with first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. during a 1-on-1 period shortly after practice began.

After saying Monday that he’s learning a lot from going up against right tackle Luke Goedeke and that Goedeke has been getting the better of him, Bain got one over on the veteran Tuesday night, beating him clean with a strong inside move.

Later in practice, Bain had a would-be sack on backup quarterback Jake Browning. But it was that 1-on-1 win against a $90 million man in Goedeke that caught the crowd’s attention from the jump, just about 20 minutes into practice.

So, if Bain was the standout rookie early in practice, it was second-round pick Josiah Trotter who stole the show in the latter stages. After a Monday practice that saw him tally three tackles for loss, he got another one Tuesday night in 11-on-11s. And he let the offense know about it. The play happened just after the first scuffle of camp broke out, and Trotter was clearly feeding off the chippiness. He went crazy, talking trash to the Bucs offensive line and drawing a response from right guard Cody Mauch.

Before the next play could happen, Trotter was escorted off the field by fellow inside linebacker Alex Anzalone, who was trying to cool him down. By that point, the rookie had his helmet off and was still screaming at the offense. It was a fiery few moments from the 21-year-old, as he kept the aggression going. Tempers continued to flare from both sides of the ball soon after, leading head coach Todd Bowles to pause practice and call the team in to talk them down.

Elsewhere in rookie world, a pair of first-year receivers were heavily in the mix. Third-round pick Ted Hurst stood out early, catching a pass about 15-20 yards down the field from Baker Mayfield. Later on, he made a phenomenal “touchdown” grab. Calijah Kancey would’ve had a sack on the play, but they played it out and Hurst high-pointed the ball over Zyon McCollum in the corner of the end zone.

It’s also worth mentioning that undrafted rookie Dean Patterson IV had quite the showing Tuesday night. He began practice with a 1-on-1 win against starting safety Tykee Smith, then proceeded to bring in two touchdowns from backup quarterback Jake Browning.

Just to add one last sprinkle of energy from the rookie class, there were a couple of unofficial plays that still felt like significant moments. Rookie tight end Bauer Sharp had a touchdown grab from Baker Mayfield, though it was negated by a holding penalty. Then, right at the end of practice, Ayden Garnes intercepted Jalon Daniels despite an early whistle on the play.

Bucs Are Left Thin At WR With A Couple More Injuries

The Bucs came into Tuesday night with fewer wide receivers available than normal, especially for training camp considering the 90-man roster. Jalen McMillan remained sidelined for the second day in a row, Chris Godwin Jr. joined him for what appeared to be a veteran day off – avoiding a third straight day on the turf – and Emeka Egbuka was limited to just the early individual periods.

The situation only got worse throughout the night, as Tez Johnson left practice with what Todd Bowles said they believe to be a groin injury. That’s bad enough on its own, especially given the start that the second-year receiver had gotten off to in camp. But what made it worse was that veteran David Sills V later left practice and returned to watch, though he was sporting an ice pack wrapped around his knee.

While it’s probably too early to tell the severity of Tez Johnson’s injury, the saving grace is that none of the other receiver injuries seem to be cause for any long-term concern. So, for now, it just opens up opportunities for other receivers during camp. Ted Hurst and Dean Patterson IV were among those who took advantage of increased reps Tuesday night, but there were plenty of others getting in on the action.

Kameron Johnson starred throughout the night with a 1-on-1 win against Jacob Parrish before later catching a touchdown from Baker Mayfield in the red zone period. Dennis Houston had a great night as well, coming through with a couple of chunk gains on intermediate passes from Mayfield, with one coming for 20 yards near the sideline and another over the middle of the field.

Other Observations And Takeaways From Day 6 Of Bucs Camp

Here are some quick-hitting observations and takeaways from Tuesday night’s practice at One Buc Place:

• Tampa Bay was without quite a few players Tuesday night, though it was precautionary for many of them given that it was a third straight practice on the turf. In addition to Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan, A’Shawn Robinson, Miles Killebrew, Benjamin Morrison, JJ Roberts, Vita Vea and Tristan Wirfs were all non-participants.

• After the Buccaneers run game faced tough sledding on the first day of pads, it bounced back Tuesday. Early on, there was some tough yardage being gained by Sean Tucker, Josh Williams and Kadarius Calloway. Later in 11-on-11s, Tucker made one cut and broke through the line of scrimmage for a long touchdown run.
• Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels was on fire during the 1-on-1 period. Throwing to the tight ends, the Kansas product was finding the tightest of windows to complete passes to Cade Otton, Payne Durham and Kenny Fletcher Jr. despite sticky coverage from the likes of Alex Anzalone, Josiah Trotter and SirVocea Dennis.
• Jacob Parrish was back to participating in full 11-on-11 drills Tuesday, working at outside cornerback.
• Cade Otton has put together a couple of nice days in a row, save for a brutal red zone drop Tuesday night.
• As good as Kameron Johnson was on offense, he did muff two punts during one of the special teams periods.
• The Bucs’ practice schedule from here on out becomes a bit different. Instead of going three days on, one day off like it has been, Tampa Bay will be off Saturday after only two days of practice Thursday and Friday. Then comes just one more practice Sunday before another day off Monday, as that’s when the team will make the trip up for joint practices with the Jets – scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Those practices will be followed by a day off Thursday and the preseason opener against New York next Friday night.