When thinking about how the absence of OTAs and mini-camp will impact the Bucs 2020 season, most tend to be concerned about the lack of reps between Tom Brady and his new receivers, or the young secondary’s inability to begin gelling as a unit.

While all that is certainly undesirable, head coach Bruce Arians’ may be most concerned about the team’s special teams units given the lack of opportunity they’ve had to look at their roster in practice. Even with training camp starting on June 21st, teams can’t make up all of the lost reps from spring camps when the offseason does finally get underway.

“Really there’s nothing you can do virtually to make up for on field repetitions,” Arians said during Thursday’s media conference call. “Walk throughs and practices are really how our guys learn today. There’s only so much attention span on a computer, that’s one thing I learned in the last 15 years of teaching, the attention span isn’t the same as it used to be. Walking through and practicing is the best way to teach, so there are some valuable minutes and reps missed.

“I don’t know how we’ll make them up, hopefully we get some extra time in practice and camp, a few extra days would help. As far as the preseason, we’ll wait and see. I doubt very seriously that Tom’s going to need more reps, I do hate that we lost those practices, that’s the kind of thing where we get more out of those practices than we do in the games, but that is what it is and everyone’s doing the same thing. We’ll wait and see how many reps they get.”

Everyone knows where players are going to play on offense and defense, but special teams practice is about figuring out A) who can play on teams and B) where to play guys on teams. Without the ability to be on the field at all, that’s a massive concern for all 32 teams around the league. There simply isn’t the ability to assess what players are best suited for what roles, or even if they are well-suited to be out there at all on special teams.

The good news for the Bucs is that 20 of their 22 special teams snap leaders in 2019 are back with the team, at least on the 90-man roster. The bad news is that Tampa Bay’s special teams were among the league’s worst last season per Pro Football Focus, and inserting new talent onto the field could really help revamp some of their units. Arians even hinted that the team could still look at outside help in free agency to make an impact on teams.

“Probably more so special teams guys, inside linebacker, outside linebacker, a defensive lineman or a safety who can play special teams,” Arians said. “A running back who can play special teams, maybe. It’s more guys that you can plug in and play because they’re smart and they’re gonna help us on special teams right away.

“I think veteran players who can be role players that also can help special teams that understand how pros practice all the time. Jason and I made a concerted effort…so that we can find maybe whoever’s available under the cap and find some veteran guys who know how to practice, who know how to play the game instead of bringing in undrafted free agent rookies.”

Still, there are bright spots on the Bucs’ special teams, especially with the return of free agents Ryan Smith and Kevin Minter, both of whom are crucial to the team’s coverage units. T.J. Logan really started to come on as a punt returner last season as well, while Bradley Pinion and Matt Gay formed a terrific kicking unit until the latter struggled through the final month when he missed five of his final eight field goal attempts on the season.

“Definitely (our special teams need work), on our return game mostly,” Arians said. “T.J. Logan was making great progress until he broke his thumb last year as a returner, I thought he did a great job. That’s one of the areas I’m really concerned with missing practice because of the few reps you’re gonna get and having to open up with a team as good as the Saints are on special teams because that can decide the outcome of the game.

“I thought Bradley was an outstanding punter and great kickoff guy. Last year he set a record for touchbacks, our coverage units got better and better. As injuries occur it affects your special teams more than anything, but I think our return game can get better. Obviously Matt, up until November, was doing an outstanding job and kind of hit the rookie wall as a kicker going into December, so we’ll have strong competition in camp for that and see how we can get better.”

Training camp won’t start for another 45 days however, and there won’t be a chance to run any sort of special teams practice before then. Special teams may not be as important as offense or defense, but they are a lot harder to virtually construct, and the Bucs have arguably more work to do there than in any other on-field aspect of the team. When training camp starts, don’t be surprised if teams are more of the focus than usual.

“From what I understand right now, players will not report until training camp,” Arians said. “Our dates right now are July 21st, we may have a quarterback school earlier than that. I would seriously doubt if any fans will be at training camp this year due to the virus and the health of the fans and the players. We’ve already cancelled our inter-squad practices with the Titans and the Jaguars. Just looking to get started, hopefully we get some extra days but that’s still I think in the works, the league’s trying to do everything it can to make sure the safety and the health of the players and the fans is taken care of.”