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Coming off Saturday night’s 29-7 preseason-opening win over the Titans at Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs returned to practice at the AdventHealth Training Center Monday morning. The team wasn’t in full pads, which was to be expected just two days removed from a game and the day before a travel day.

Speaking of which, this was Tampa Bay’s lone training camp practice of the week at home, as the team heads up to Pittsburgh for the rest of the week with a practice Wednesday and a joint practice with the Steelers on Thursday. Then, of course, there’s Saturday night’s preseason game between the two sides at Acrisure Stadium (it’ll always be Heinz Field to me).

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Matt Matera and Bailey Adams were in attendance for Monday’s practice. Here are their observations and takeaways:

Bucs Who Were Not Practicing

There were bound to be some additions to the injured group of Bucs after the exhibition opener on Saturday night, and that proved to be the case Monday morning as cornerbacks Bryce Hall and Roman Parodie, wide receiver Dennis Houston and running back Owen Wright were all out of action. Running back Rachaad White was also sidelined, as expected.

That group joined cornerback Benjamin Morrison and wide receivers Trey Palmer and Kameron Johnson, who remained sidelined Monday as well. Vita Vea and Antoine Winfield Jr. had Monday off as well.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

After practice, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said White’s groin injury has him day-to-day and that Wright was a little sore after getting 18 carries Saturday night, so they held him out. As for the cornerbacks, Bowles said he’s hoping there’s nothing long-term, citing all the running required of the position as the cause of some of that attrition there.

Three Bucs Return To Practice Ahead Of Preseason Week 2

There was some good news on the injury front for the Bucs Monday morning, too. The team had three offensive players return to the field after missing extended training camp time, with tight end Cade Otton, wide receiver Tez Johnson and running back Josh Williams all back.

Of course, having Otton back is a welcome sight considering he’s TE1 for the Bucs and has missed much of camp with a hamstring injury. But the returns of Johnson and Williams may be even more key as far as the preseason goes.

Johnson, a seventh-round pick out of Oregon, feels like a lock to make Tampa Bay’s 53-man roster, but he needed to get back on the field and get some camp and preseason action under his belt. He looked to be moving well in his return to the practice field, getting some work on reverses/end-arounds in addition to getting reps as a punt returner. If he keeps trending in the right direction and holds up well in the coming days, he could make his preseason debut Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

Bucs WR Tez Johnson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Another potential rookie debut this coming Saturday could be that of Williams, an undrafted running back out of LSU. The team is high on what it saw from the former Tiger throughout the summer, but he has unfortunately missed a lot of training camp thus far. He’s another guy who looked to be moving well, and his return came at the perfect time considering Rachaad White’s injury and the heavy load Owen Wright and Sean Tucker had to carry in the preseason opener.

Williams may not have the clearest path to the active roster if the Bucs don’t carry four running backs, but he’s a good candidate for the practice squad nonetheless. The Bucs have to be happy to see him back at practice and ramping up for a preseason debut.

Baker Mayfield, Top Receivers Look Ready To Go

Monday’s practice felt a little more like a regular season practice than the first 12 days of training camp did, especially with no pads and no fans in attendance. With that being said, quarterback Baker Mayfield and top receivers Mike Evans and rookie Emeka Egbuka looked like they were in regular season form during 11-on-11s.

Evans continued to be Mayfield’s go-to guy, with the two connecting deep down the field three times, with one going down the sideline for about 35 yards as Evans got open behind the defense. Evans finished the day with five or six catches during the 11-on-11 period, proving to be one of the stars of the day alongside Mayfield.

Not to mention, seeing Mayfield hit Evans on those intermediate-to-deep balls down the field was a welcome sight considering the emphasis new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard is putting on the vertical aspect of the offense.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and OC Josh Grizzard – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Mayfield didn’t hit on every deep ball, though as he did overshoot Egbuka on one play after the rookie got behind two defenders and was wide open deep over the middle of the field. It was still a great route and impressive separation from Egbuka, who was Mayfield’s second-favorite target on the day. He had a couple of intermediate and short catches, as well as a reception on a quick screen before beating Jacob Parrish on a slant for a touchdown in the team’s red zone period.

In that same red zone period, Mayfield was able to fire a dart to Devin Culp for another touchdown, getting the ball out quickly after the snap to find his tight end near the back of the end zone.

Overall, it was a great day for Mayfield and he, Evans and Egbuka are among those who look plenty ready for that Week 1 opener at Atlanta.

Observations & Highlights From Day 13 Of Bucs Training Camp

Here are some quick-hitting observations from Tampa Bay’s 13th training camp practice of 2025:

• The starting group got plenty of reps during Monday’s practice, and while head coach Todd Bowles went full coach speak and said they prepare every week as if the starters are going to play, it’s looking like more of Tampa Bay’s regulars will suit up Saturday night in Pittsburgh, which is unsurprising considering the preseason finale is against Buffalo, who is also a team on the regular season schedule.
• In fact, Bowles did say some starters would play Saturday and some wouldn’t. How much they play will depend particularly on how Thursday’s joint practice with the Steelers goes.
• Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who signed with the Bucs just last week, got his first taste of 11-on-11 action Monday morning. Things were kept simple when he was behind center, as he hit on a couple of screen passes and found Sterling Shepard on a short route.

Bucs QB Teddy Bridgewater – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Emeka Egbuka, Garrett Greene, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson were among those catching punts early in practice, and Greene, Egbuka and Rashad Wisdom all took some reps deep on kickoff return.
• Logan Hall had a great rush during 11-on-11s, resulting in a would-be sack of Kyle Trask.
• Warren Peeples Jr., Calijah Kancey, Antonio Grier Jr., Nick Jackson, Kindle Vildor, Tyrek Funderburk, Jamel Dean and Zyon McCollum all got their hands on the ball for pass breakups during 11-on-11s.
• Garrett Greene continued to get involved in the screen game on Monday, plus practice ended with him getting open and catching a deep ball down the middle of the field from Connor Bazelak.
• Josh Williams looked good in his return to the field, catching some passes in the screen game. One in particular came down in the red zone, as he caught a short pass from Trask and made some good cuts to work his way toward the end zone.