With the new NFL season rapidly approaching, the Bucs are still searching for clarity and consistency from their safety position, something Tampa Bay has made a conscious effort to improve with the selection of Mike Edwards in the third round last year and Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second round this year.

While Edwards opened the 2019 season as one of the Bucs’ starting safeties, the job was quickly relinquished to Andrew Adams. Now just days away from Week 1, it appears as though the Bucs’ coaching staff still has questions surrounding Edwards’ game heading into 2020, despite his significant upside.

“I think he can be really solid,” head coach Bruce Arians said about Edwards on Wednesday. “To me, Mike’s a ball hawk, he gets his hands on probably more balls than anybody back there, he’s got good range. His bugaboo has been tackling and using his arms. He missed a couple of tackles in the scrimmage so for him, he came out of college as a block tackler and that’s something we had to break. He’s got to do a better job of tackling, but the sky’s the limit as far as his ability and he will get interceptions, but he can’t miss tackles.”

As far as his ball-hawking tendencies, Bucs’ safeties coach Nick Rapone mirrored Arians’ sentiments when it came to Edwards and his abilities in coverage.

“That’s a very good point,” Rapone said. “In zone coverages and in man coverages, that’s what he does best. Mike’s actually a better down player than high player because he sees the ball in a closed area. But Mike has good zone skills, so you’re right and [Arians] is right in your assessment.”

But the note about Edwards’ tackling is interesting given his physicality was one of the primary factors in Tampa Bay selecting the young safety, considering he was one of Kentucky’s leading tacklers in addition to grabbing 10 career interceptions.

Rapone touched on that facet of Edwards’ game on Wednesday as well, pointing to what could be a cause for the disconnect when Edwards reached the NFL level.

“One of the reasons we drafted him, I may be off by a tackle or two, but I think he had 413 tackles in college,” Rapone said. “And I don’t care where you play, if you have 413, that’s quite a bit. But this league is a bit different, everybody’s pretty good on offense and Mike did have some hiccups last year in his tackling.”

Rapone continued, stating his dismay for the lack of preseason games this year for these exact reasons. Not only are preseason games critical for late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents that are fighting for a roster spot, but the exhibition games also allow players to get prepared and work on fundamentals while the coaching staff is able to analyze improvements before the regular season gets rolling.

“So we’ve addressed it,” Rapone said. “I, for one, am upset that we didn’t have three preseason games because then we’re able to see Mike get in there and do some tackling. But all of these young men, when you start out as a rookie, all have some dents in their armor. A pro addresses the dents in his armor and attempts to get better, or else, this league is so competitive. Mike had some hiccups, he knows it, we know it, we’ve attempted to address it and we’ll see how it goes. Unfortunately we don’t have any sparring to do so we’ll have to wait until the season starts.”

With his issues tackling being addressed in Wednesday’s press conferences, Edwards ability to get around the ball and make plays continued to be a trend throughout the day. After his head coach and position coach praised his play-making ability, fellow safety Jordan Whitehead talked about what he’s seen from Edwards so far in training camp.

“Mike gets his hands on the ball,” Whitehead said. “I think with Mike, he makes a lot of plays. There’s a lot plays out there for Mike to make and he makes them. He gets his hands on the ball, he plays the middle of the field sometimes, he’s asked to come in the box a little bit. Mike makes his plays and one thing that he’s just got to keep doing is keep progressing, working on one thing every day, just focus on that and keep getting better at that.”

As a young player himself, Whitehead is familiar with the leap that players must make when coming from the college level to the pros, as well as that jump during their second year in the league. Edwards will look to make that jump a good one in 2020.

“Mike’s grown a lot,” Whitehead added. “Coming in last year as a rookie it’s just picking up that playbook and learning to be a pro, but Mike’s doing good, he’s doing real good. He’s smart, he knows the plays, he’s doing a good job getting his hands on the ball, he’s fitting in the run game, so Mike’s doing his job and he’s grown a lot from last year.”