The final full practice before the Bucs head to Pittsburgh was more of an abbreviated walkthrough that went on indoors. Playing in just shorts with shoulder pads and helmets, the Bucs wrapped up their session up about an hour earlier than when they normally do.

Jameis Winston still made some throws in the limited amount of reps he was given. He wasn’t dealing with the usual pass rush that he’s seen over the past couple of practices, but the Bucs defense did have some tight coverage.

Since it’s week one of the preseason, Winston won’t be playing much on Friday, with the bulk going to Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin. He continued to work on his reads and quick progressions, and was on the same page early with Cam Brate.

In the first 11-on-11 he threw just three passes, going two for three with completions to Brate and Mike Evans.

The connection with Brate rolled over into 7-on-7’s where he again hit Brate with one of the first passes of the drill.

If there was anyone that had Winston’s number of Wednesday, though, it was Deone Bucannon, who had two pass breakups on the day against him. Winston also had an overthrow over the middle.

Moving on to his final drill of practice, Winston heated up in red zone drills. He first connected with O.J. Howard for a touchdown, and then redeemed himself on the overthrow earlier by linking up with Mike Evans down the middle for another touchdown.

The reps were limited, and there were more incompletions than what we’ve seen, but he was working on all the mechanics to prepare him for Friday’s game. In a short practice, you can only do so much, and he still came up to play despite it.

After practice, coach Arians confirmed that Winston and the other starters will see the field, but in a short amount of time.