The Bucs returned to practice on Sunday after a day off and were greeted by sunny skies with enough light cloud cover to keep the temperature in the 80s with a light breeze, which was a rare August treat. It was a very mild morning at the AdventHealth Training Center in that regards, but it was a wild morning for Tampa Bay’s offense with a ton of dropped passes.

Wide receiver Cyril Grayson had an absolutely awful day with multiple drops in both the individual period and in 11-on-11 periods. Grayson probably had more drops than catches on Sunday and might not stick around long.

Running back Ronald Jones II also had multiple drops, at least four by our count, in both indys and in team drills – one of which was on a wide open screen pass. LeSean McCoy added a dropped pass in 11-on-11, and Ke’Shawn Vaughn also had a drop, while Dare Ogunbowale was his sure-handed self during practice and is striving to lock up the third-down back role again this year. Ogunbowale performed well in that role last year, and has an early advantage over McCoy in that he’s spent two training camps and one full year in Bruce Arians’ offense.

Bucs offense has seen too many dropped passes today – from LeSean McCoy now and Ronald Jones with yet another drop. Several from RoJo today.

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 23, 2020

At one point, following a dropped interception from safety D’Cota Dixon, the play prompted outside linebacker Shaq Barrett to become visibly upset and yell from the sidelines, “That’s three straight drops between the offense and the defense!”

Tampa Bay’s running back coach Todd McNair said in his post-practice press conference that the drops from his backs in today’s practice were unacceptable and that they need to catch the ball. He also chimed in on how Jones has grown as a pass-catcher and where his primary struggles lie.

“[Jones’] thing always has been, I kind of identified it when I got here, is his hand placement,” McNair said. “You look at that ball they threw to him today, he whipped around and sometimes backs think they have time, you’re last in the progression, you get around and the ball’s hot on you and he had both palms up. You can’t catch the ball with both palms up.”

McNair continued.

“It always starts and ends, with him, with hand placement and also the readiness of expecting it. You’ve got to run your route with the thought that you’re the first read and that the ball’s coming when you look up.”

Some of the Bucs offensive weapons that didn’t have drops and had really strong days were wide receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Justin Watson, Scotty Miller and undrafted rookie free agent John Hurst, in addition to tight end O.J. Howard. Godwin and Howard made some hero plays to end the day for the Bucs on Sunday.

Early in the day Godwin found a hole in the defense on a deep over route during the Bucs’ 7-on-7 period and hauled in the pass from Brady for a long gain, and soon after, Howard came down with a great catch of his own. Brady looked Howard’s way and fired a pass to the fourth-year tight end where he was able to haul in the diving completion, holding on through contact as rookie linebacker Chappelle Russell was draped all over him.

Later on Howard was able to slip away from the coverage and find himself wide open down the left sideline where Brady put the pass right on the money for a deep touchdown completion.

Tampa Bay concluded practice with last-minute situation with the offense needing a touchdown to win the game near the red zone, down 27-21, and both quarterbacks Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert threw scoring strikes on their only throws in that scenario. Brady threw a 22-yard pass right on the money to Godwin, who made a great adjustment to the ball in the back of the end zone with cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting in tight coverage. Brady’s pass hit Godwin right between the numbers. It was a spectacular play, and definitely Godwin’s best day of practice in camp thus far.

.@CGtwelve_ had a DAY. Watch til the end 🤗 pic.twitter.com/FTnZqhWZlS

— Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV) August 23, 2020

On the very next play, Gabbert connected on a touchdown pass to Watson and then finished off the period by throwing a laser to a leaping Howard, who used his 6-foot-5 frame to go up and get the touchdown catch in the back of the middle of the end zone for yet another score.

Aside from the end-of-practice red zone scenario, the Bucs defense actually won the day in the red zone period earlier in practice. Tampa Bay’s secondary and linebackers smothered the tight ends, backs and receivers as the defensive end front got to both Brady and Gabbert and frustrated the offense. Linebackers Lavonte David and Devin White stood out, in addition to the starting cornerbacks.

Undrafted free agent rookie Parnell Motley continues to make plays in practice, and swatted away a pass from Brady to Evans in the end zone. Motley appears to have the inside track for Tampa Bay’s fifth cornerback spot right now.

Bucs WR John Hurst – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While Miller has been impressive as a depth threat in camp, Watson has showed tremendous improvement from a year ago. He’s in peak physical condition and has made a living in camp catching passes across the middle. His 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame makes him a big target that is easy to spot.

I think the plan is to have Miller as the third receiver in some personnel groupings and to have Watson as the third receiver in other different personnel groupings. Both have shown enough at the end of last year and this August to warrant playing time on the field this year. Tampa Bay’s top four receiver spots are set, but the battle for the fifth receiver position on the depth chart appears to be wide open.

Hurst, who is a product of Georgia State, may be quietly moving up the ranks as his speed and yards after the catch have opened some eyes. Hurst took a nice pass down the sidelines and raced past defenders, which drew some praise from safety Andrew Adams.

#Bucs rookie WR John Hurst is quietly having a solid camp and makes a nice play down the sideline, prompting S Andrew Adams to say, “Way to go, White Lightning!”

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 23, 2020

With Grayson struggling to catch the ball, and Jaydon Mickens and Bryant Mitchell not making many plays on Sunday, Hurst took advantage of Tyler Johnson and Josh Pearson being out of action to have a solid showing. Johnson was dressed in full pads, but didn’t take part in any individual work or team periods after fielding some punts along with Miller, Mickens and Grayson at the start of practice. Pearson was not seen at practice, and his chances of making the team are slim. The same could be said of Johnson, the team’s fifth-round pick.

Safety Mike Edwards was the only other player who sat out practice. Edwards has an eye infection, and joined inactive safety Justin Evans on the sideline. Dixon received more playing time as a result, but his most notable play was dropping the easy interception that was previously mentioned on a Gabbert pass that sailed. While the defensive backs played well, there weren’t any interceptions during Sunday’s practice – and it was probably the first practice where there hasn’t been any picks.

Bucs safeties Justin Evans and Mike Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Edwards’ absence also meant more playing time for free safety Antoine Winfield, Jr., who played closer to the line of scrimmage and had a really nice run fit that drew praise from the coaches and players in an 11-on-11 period early in practice. The Bucs spent the early portion of practice working on their power running game with multiple tight ends, and also throwing out of those formations, too. Tampa Bay’s defense was running a mix of base and nickel defense in that period.

Tampa Bay’s kickers got a chance to atone from some shaky outings last week. It was notable that Elliott Fry got the start today after having a better showing in practice last week. Both Fry and Matt Gay went 4-of-5 on Sunday and Arians said that neither one grabbed an advantage as a result. For Gay, a 4-of-5 day is much better than his 2-of-5 outing on Friday.

When someone visits @PewterReport for the first time. pic.twitter.com/erMeJKqSGU

— Taylor Jenkins (@TJenkinsTampa) August 23, 2020

– Taylor Jenkins contributed to this report