With two tropical storms out in the Gulf of Mexico it was the windiest day at the AdventHealth Training Center during Tampa Bay’s padded practice on Monday morning. Temperatures were in the low 90s by the end of practice, but the constant breeze brought some much needed relief from the heat.

Bucs quarterback Tom Brady continued to be razor sharp on Monday, although he did throw a rare interception during practice to a rookie who has been the premier playmaker in the secondary so far in training camp – undrafted free agent cornerback Parnell Motley.

#Bucs rookie CB Parnell Motley continues to impress – stride for stride with Scotty Miller and picks off QB Tom Brady’s deep ball. #BoomerSooner

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 24, 2020

Motley had two interceptions, including one of Brady, last Monday when the Bucs first donned full pads. A week later, he had another pair of picks, also intercepting backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert in the end zone at the end of practice.

“Keep making the plays every single day,” Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said of Motley. “He’s going to get himself a job.”

The game isn’t too big for Motley, who was on PewterReport.com’s Hot List from the first week of Bucs training camp. Veteran cornerbacks Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean have been steady, but none of them have come close to making the amount of plays on the ball that Motley has in the first seven padded practices.

Outside of his interception, which was more of a great play on the ball by the 6-foot, 190-pound press cornerback from Oklahoma than it was a bad throw, Brady was the model of accuracy on Monday as the Bucs worked heavily on their screen game. Brady and Gabbert were throwing screen passes to the tight ends and wide receivers – not just the running backs.

#Bucs QB Tom Brady has been like the instructor in a master class on how to play quarterback in today’s 11-on-11’s. Every throw on time and on the money. So impressive.

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 24, 2020

The Bucs offensive line spent the first part of practice working on fundamental, with tackles working with coach Joe Gilbert and the guards and centers with coach Harold Goodwin. The two groups alternated using the chutes in various drills including some basic fundamentals like firing out and stay low to later working board drills. Back when I was younger board drills took place with a literal two-by-six piece of lumber that lineman straddled to work on their footwork and angles. Today boards have been replaced with foam simulations, but the training and drills remain the same. Both coaches worked their guys hard, but with different styles. Gilbert is your prototypical line coach. Lots of yelling, fired up and gravelly-voiced. Goodwin on the other hand is more quiet and reserved but can get frustrated when the lineman mess up. Both styles seemed to work well with both groups today. Later in practice they met up with the defensive line but on a field away from the media and tougher to see what took place.

Running back Ronald Jones II had a much better day in practice than he did on Sunday when he dropped four passes, including two in 11-on-11 team drills. Jones showed improved concentration when hauling in the passes and set up his blockers well on the screen passes.

#Bucs RB Ronald Jones catching everything today after some bad drops yesterday. He’s having a great practice.

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 24, 2020

Tampa Bay’s wide receivers struggled to catch the ball early in practice with Mike Evans, Justin Watson and undrafted rookie John Hurst each dropping a pair of passes before the team drills began. Evans, Watson and Hurst have been the more reliably consistent receivers in camp, and turned things around once the 11-on-11’s began.

At one point during practice Evans became visibly upset and let that anger be heard as he removed his helmet let out an animated yell from the sideline of the field that the offense was currently working on, one away from the media in attendance, but the day wasn’t over for the Bucs’ Pro Bowl receiver.

Evans and Watson would later pick it up and rebound as practice moved on, though, as they both were some of the top targets for Brady in seven-on-seven’s and 11-on-11’s. Evans had another good battle with Carlton Davis, which saw Evans get the upper hand on one play down the field on the sideline, and on another, he just beat Davis to the inside. Watson worked with Brady and backup Blaine Gabbert where he could be seen making receptions all across the field. He connected with Gabbert in particular on a nice downfield play.

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

Rookie wide receiver Josh Pearson returned to practice after Sunday’s absence, but Tyler Johnson, the Bucs’ fifth-round pick, is hurt once again and sat out. The chances of him making the 53-man appear to be dwindling, as Hurst’s chances are on the upswing.

Jones wasn’t the only Buccaneers offensive weapon that struggled catching the ball on Sunday. Wide receiver Cyril Grayson had the most drops with half a dozen, but practiced much better on Monday and was more reliable catching the ball.

Bucs safety Mike Edwards returned to practice on Monday, but the safety that was making the splash plays was Antoine Winfield, Jr., Tampa Bay’s second-round pick. Winfield showed his ball-hawking skills as he picked off Gabbert.

PICK! Antoine Winfield Jr. intercepts the pass from Blaine Gabbert. Thrown right to him. #Bucs

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 24, 2020

Tampa Bay’s tight end group had a fantastic day catching the ball, whether it was Rob Gronkowski catching screen passes, O.J. Howard making long touchdown catches downfield or Cameron Brate moving the chains with catches underneath. Brate was able to haul in an impressive one-handed catch during one of Tampa Bay’s 11-on-11 periods, but the catch of the day belonged to Antony Auclair, a primarily blocking tight end, who extended to make a lunging, one-handed catch with linebacker Devin White draped all over him. White was beside himself after Auclair’s great reception.

#Bucs TE group is the best in the league – period. All 6 on the roster can play and are NFL-caliber tight ends. Gronk and OJ are the stars, and Cam is a proven playmaker – but Auclair, Hudson and McElroy are all improved from a year ago.

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 24, 2020

Bucs TE Antony Auclair – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

One of three other standout players from Monday’s practice were left tackle Donovan Smith, who continues to impress with the best training camp of his six-year NFL career. Smith worked incredibly hard in the offseason and reported to training camp in fantastic shape – the best shape he’s ever been in.

Smith looks locked in and focused and ready to have a great year. His play was flawless on Monday outside of surrendering a sack of Brady to Pro Bowl outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett. But given that Barrett is an elite pass rusher and led the league with 19.5 sacks last year, that play was forgivable as Smith won most of his match-ups against Barrett Monday morning.

The other impressive players came from the defensive side of the ball. Reserve inside linebacker Kevin Minter made several nice stops in the run game and was solid in coverage. Minter, who Arians called a “core special teamer,” laid a wallop on smallish rookie running back Raymond Calais, knocking the seventh-round pick to the ground in a run up the middle.

Outside linebacker Anthony Nelson was stout along the defensive line stopping the run. He showed off his power and length by driving back offensive tackle Josh Wells on one play where he stopped Dare Ogunbowale in the backfield, and was involved in a number of plays that ended in a loss or negative gain. Shaq Barrett had a strong day as well recording two sacks on the quarterback in this practice.

The final standout on defense was rookie defensive tackle Khalil Davis, the Bucs’ sixth-round pick. The Nebraska product flashed several times during the 11-on-11 sessions with a nice pass rush on one play, followed by an impressive run stuff on another. Rakeem Nunez-Roches has been garnering a lot of attention on the reserve defense, but Davis turned heads on Monday.

Despite the strong winds at the team’s headquarters, both kickers Elliott Fry and Matt Gay were a perfect 5-of-5 on Monday. It’s been several days since both Tampa Bay kickers were perfect, and it was good to see as the Bucs’ kicking game is far from settled one week into the padded practices.

Both kickers Eliott Fry snd Matt Gay were perfect on the day going 5-for-5.

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 24, 2020