Here are some of the best Bucs quotes following their team’s training camp practice on Thursday, August 12 at the AdventHealth Training Center.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians opening Statement:

“Ready for the ballgame. I like where we’re at. Injury-wise we’re in good shape. So, excited to see them play and see where we’re at as far as that goes when the lights go on, especially the young guys. We’re going to get a lot of reps and we’ll see how it goes.”

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians on what he wants to see from rookie QB Kyle Trask in the game:

“Basically get in and out of the huddle. He processes information extremely well, so just get them in and out of the huddle, get them lined up and let’s roll. Avoid pre-snap penalties and all the stuff that you don’t want to see. We haven’t seen it out here so we shouldn’t see it in the ballgame.”

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians on what position groups will be most affected by what happens on special teams:

“Pretty much each and every one. If you’re the fourth tight end and you’re a hell of a special teams player, that’s a great way to make the team. If you’re the fourth running back, the sixth receiver, every position – if you show value on special teams, that’s huge. It’s not just linebackers, it’s every single position. And then once you get to 53 you’ve got to get down to 47 [on game days]. So if you have a valuable role on special teams, you’re a core player, you’re dressing on Sunday. You might not be the best receiver or the best DB, but if you’re a core special-teamer, you’ll dress and they won’t.”

Bucs quarterback Tom Brady on what he gets out of preseason games:

“It’s real game speed and there are little unpredictable looks that you don’t necessarily have in practice. It’s been seven months or so since we’ve gone up against a team – not that everybody is game-planning, but everybody has different techniques and styles that everyone is working on. Things that they’ve done in the offseason maybe that they’re trying to implement. You do it against your own team for a while and then you go up against another team. You kind of have the stuff you have been doing and see how it works against a new opponent. It’s a good opportunity for us and really a good opportunity for a lot of guys to play. Last year, you kind of have the same group that plays most of the whole season.  Now you have a new group of guys in here – a lot of guys are going to get different opportunities and you’ve got to see what they can make of it.”

Bucs quarterback Tom Brady on his comfortability level with the team:

“We were talking about end-of-game situations today. A year ago, three weeks into camp I was still trying to figure out formations. What does ‘Tampa right’ mean, you know? I don’t even know what that means. Now, it just kind of rattles off your tongue. You get used to similar ideas and concepts, but they’re all named differently. It would kind of be like English and Spanish. You have to literally learn a different language and then really kind of learn what you’re doing. Then, you have to learn if your players can do it and then you have to study how the defense is doing things. So, there are a lot of different challenges that you face. I think for me this year, mentally, it’s been much better and much easier to kind of assimilate my way into camp. Physically, I feel great – the  best I’ve felt really in a long time. I feel like I’m in a good place and I’m just going to keep working really hard. We’ve got about three and a half weeks or so before the first game [and] we started three and a half weeks ago, so we’re about midway through camp. Going to really keep working at pressing that communication, but we’re definitely making improvements. We’re going to have to keep making improvements to be where we want to be by the opener against Dallas.”

Bucs quarterback Tom Brady on rookie QB Kyle Trask:

“Kyle’s doing a great job. From the day that he got here he’s a very hard-worker. Clyde [Christensen] works extremely hard with him to get him ready to go. Kyle’s out here early, stays late, works with the younger guys. All the things that you’re really looking for in a young player. It’s just got to be a huge priority in your life. If you want to be doing this job for a long time you’ve got to make it a huge priority. You really don’t know what you don’t know at this point. You’re one year in or two years in or three years in or five years in, and as somebody who’s 22 years in, what I knew at five years in is very different than what I knew at Year 10 and very different than how I feel now. Every year you’re going to improve. You’ve got to be able to retain a lot of information and you’ve got to be able to improve the weaknesses in your game as well as maintain the strengths in your game. But it’s just constant development and it’s really up to each individual, not only Kyle but I’d say a lot of young players – that’s what you see. You’ve got to put the work in, you’ve got to listen, you’ve got to be humble enough to learn. You can’t think you know everything. Football is too difficult of a game and it’s not an individual sport. It’s a coordination between a lot of different people. You look on offense – 11 guys on offense that all need to be on the same page at the same time or things aren’t successful. So, it may be okay if I know it, but if my left guard doesn’t know what we’re doing, we have a problem. So, it’s just constant communication, constant preparation. Every day you have this opportunity to get better and that’s really what good football teams do. The team we are now, I certainly hope we are a lot better in the month of September. The team we’re going to be in October, I hope we’re better than we were in September. It’s only going to come through a lot of effort, putting the pedal to the metal and really working hard to be on the same page. Just understand that you can never be complacent because it’s very competitive. There’s a lot of great football teams out there that are all trying to get the same thing that we want too.”

Bucs quarterback Kyle Trask on what he is learning from QB Tom Brady:

“Obviously, Tom is one of the greats for a reason. You can definitely tell in his preparation, really honed in on every detail of the game, really loves the game. It’s definitely just nuggets you can take away to try to implement into your lifestyle on and off the field.”

Bucs quarterback Kyle Trask on strides he has made through the first three weeks of camp:

“Definitely just certain technicalities, footwork. I didn’t do a whole lot of dropbacks from under center in college. It was more just dropping and setting up from the gun. So that was something to try to get used to. But I think I’ve done a great job with it so far and I’m just trying to get better. That’s something [I do] every day.”

Bucs quarterback Kyle Trask on getting reps with the team’s front-line players:

“It’s definitely good. I try to take advantage of those reps, especially to really soak in the speed of the game play at this level. I’m really thankful to get any reps I can, but I’m trying to capitalize on especially those.”

Bucs tight end Codey McElroy on the biggest improvements he has made in his game since entering the league:

“I would say just learning the game, understanding the X’s and O’s, understanding defensive assignments and what guys are supposed to be doing, where guys are supposed to be. Coming into football a little bit late – that was something that I kind of struggled picking up, but I started to learn that. Some of the guys have been great teaching me that and what to look for and I think that is really where I’ve come the farthest.”

Bucs tight end Codey McElroy on how important blocking is in his game:

So blocking is huge and I know that’s something I need to get better at. The pass catching was a little more natural coming into football – the blocking and the technique is very important. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, if you don’t have leverage and good technique, you don’t have a chance. That’s something I’ve really been honing in on now that I understand defensive fronts and who I’m supposed to be trying to block and how I’m supposed to block. Now I’m able to focus on technique and hopefully continue to get better in that part of the game.”