Here are some of the best Bucs quotes following their team’s training camp practice on Tuesday, August 17 at the AdventHealth Training Center.

Bucs Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich on how much the offense has progressed since last year at this time:

“It’s not even close to be honest with you – I like where we’re at really. Obviously, we still have things to correct but we’re all on the same page now. Now, we’re on the next level of coaching. [We] stressed to the guys that we can’t be coaching the same things in this camp, and we’re not. We’re moving to the next phase of coaching and the next level we can get to our plays, so I feel good really about everything – guys have been putting in a lot of good work. We get to practice against a really good opponent every day, there’s always good work and I think it’s getting us better every day.”

Bucs Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich on if there was more of a commitment to the run game at the end of last season:

“Not more of a commitment, I think we did a better job of running because if you can’t run, there’s a lot of stuff that’s going to go – you want to be balanced. And when you’re not running at an efficient level – it’s all about efficiency really, it’s not really about how many times you run it, it’s about the efficiency when you run it. As we got more efficient in the run game, you saw more action, you saw more different types of things that wouldn’t work unless you are efficient in the run game. So that’s what you saw really, we got better at executing what we were trying to execute.”

Bucs Offensive Coordinator Byron on what he learned from coaching QB Tom Brady:

“Just how he sees the game. From Day 1, I just want to see it how he sees it. We all know how good Tom is, but I tell you, you can’t call plays to guys until you know him – you’ve got to know them. It took us some time for me to know him, to figure him out, to know what he would wants to do on paper and know what he is going to do on the grass.

It’s two different things. We needed that time on task – me and him. It just trying to get as many reps as we can. I think we’re there. I think we’ve got a good idea on how he is going to react, so now we’re trying to get to the next stage and the next step of this offense. We’re still going to attack, we’re still going to throw the ball down the field and we’re still going to do what we do. At the same time, we want to make sure we’re efficient while we’re still in attack mode.”

Bucs Offensive Coordinator Byron on the importance of leadership from the veterans to rookies:

“You can see the leadership more because the guys know what they’re doing now. Most guys have been around me for three years now. Tom [Brady] is going into his second year. Everybody knows what they’re doing now. [There isn’t] anybody out here besides Jaelon (Darden) and all the young guys that really doesn’t have a real grasp of what we’re trying to do. So, for the most part, they have an idea of what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to get accomplish, so now they can help and assist in that happening. Every good football team is player driven to be honest with you and I think you see that more, especially with guys having awareness and understanding of what they’re trying to do.”

Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski on practicing with the Titans:

“It’s going to be a good one. It’s going to be a lot of energy. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be mental too. I feel like they’re going to come out here and they’re going to bring it. All joint practices are like that every time I’ve had them in my career. You have to be ready. We just had two good days – a good day today out here – so we have to bring it again tomorrow and amp up the energy a little bit because the Titans are coming into town.”

Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski on how he has assimilated into the offense:

“It’s night and day, kind of, from where I was at last year in training camp to where I am now. Just with how much we’re evolving with the playbook, knowing the plays, knowing where to be and everything like that. It just feels a lot better this year. It’s a tremendous improvement I feel like for myself.”

Bucs tight end O.J. Howard on OLB Joe Tryon:

“I had a chance to go up against him obviously in camp. [He’s] explosive, very athletic. We saw what he can do in the game. He’s going to be very hard to stop off the edge. I think he’s going to make a lot of noise.”

Bucs tight end O.J. Howard on playing with TE Rob Gronkowski:

“Rob is the man because every day you get the same character with him being the loving, funny personality. But he’s going to come out and work hard and a lot of people kind of get that misconception of him, but he works hard every day. When you see a guy who already has so much notoriety and some many accolades and still come out here every day to do it, it shows you how to be a pro. That’s something I take from him. A guy who is definitely a Hall of Famer. He still comes out here and does the little things right. It makes it so much sweeter to see it that way.”