The only starter that Bruce Arians had participating in Saturday night’s preseason game for the Bucs was right guard Alex Cappa. Part of the reasoning was to knock some rust off for Cappa, who is returning from a broken ankle. The Bucs also needed Cappa’s participation due to the amount of injuries the group has suffered.

What we learned on Sunday, though, is that the starting right guard position isn’t guaranteed for Cappa. In fact, the battle for the position is closer than many expected between the fourth-year lineman and Aaron Stinnie. While it’s Cappa’s job to lose, the competition is still ongoing.

“It’s closer than you might think,” Arians said. “Stinnie played really well in the playoffs, and Cap, he needs to play because he missed all that time. It’s a nice thing to have. It’s a good situation, it’s great competition. There’s a little bit of a battle, but it’s Cap’s job to lose.”

The Bucs have another week of training camp and one more preseason game to go before they head into the regular season. Saturday against the Texans will be one more opportunity for Stinnie to stake his claim for a starting role. Based on Arians’ previous comments, it looks like Stinnie has closed the gap.

While the Bucs got manhandled in an ugly loss to the Titans, Arians did come away pleased with the backups on the offensive line.

“I think the top three guys – Stinnie, Josh Wells and Nick (Leverett) all showed what they could do,” Arians said. “Brad Seaton played better. He played right and left. I’d like to get (John) Molchon back out there, he was doing really well before he got injured. We know what Earl (Watford) is, so everybody else, they’re still fighting. Those guys showed me last night that we have good, solid depth there.”

Tampa Bay kicks off the 2021 campaign at home against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, September 9.