The Bucs returned to the AdventHealth Training Center Thursday morning for Day 2 of training camp. With partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 80s with a slight breeze, Tampa Bay began preparations for a 2024 season in which it’s looking to capture a fifth consecutive playoff berth and a fourth straight NFC South title.

The Bucs, like every team, are still in shorts and helmets to begin training camp as the pads don’t come on until next week.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Matt Matera, Bailey Adams and Adam Slivon were in attendance for Thursday’s practice. Here are their observations.

Bucs Who Were Not Practicing

Rookie quarterback Zack Annexstad and second-year tight end Tanner Taula remain on the Active/Non-Football Injury list, while veteran outside linebacker Randy Gregory still has not reported to One Buc Place. But they weren’t the only ones not practicing on Thursday morning, as veteran running back Chase Edmonds watched from the sideline without his helmet. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after practice that Edmonds is nursing an injury, but didn’t elaborate.

Bucs RB Chase Edmonds is without a helmet at today’s practice. He’s watching along. pic.twitter.com/XnNTxWnJSB

— PewterReport 🏴‍☠️ (@PewterReport) July 25, 2024

Yaya Diaby And Zyon McCollum Put On A Show For Bucs Defense

Bucs OLB Yaya Diaby – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The pads may not be on yet, but second-year outside linebacker Yaya Diaby was operating Thursday as if they were. He was getting to the quarterback with regularity throughout the team’s 11-on-11 period, twice beating Luke Goedeke with vicious inside moves and later working his way into the backfield again with speed and power. Diaby, who led the team with 7.5 sacks as a rookie in 2023 despite not making his first start until mid-November, looks primed for a big second season.

Head coach Todd Bowles is always quick to point out that they don’t put a lot of stock in what players do without pads, but he is pleased with how dialed in Diaby is in terms of his knowledge of the defense as well as his effort. As for the 25-year-old’s potential in 2024?

“It’s unlimited,” Bowles said after Thursday’s practice. “The biggest thing for Yaya, he understands the defense now. It’s still hard to gauge when we’re not in pads. I mean, it’s hard for the offense to really get hands on you without the pads, but his effort and his concentration right now has been great.”

Another young defender stole the show along with Diaby on Thursday morning, and that was third-year cornerback Zyon McCollum. After a particularly frustrating play during Wednesday’s practice that saw him play tight coverage on Mike Evans only for Baker Mayfield to complete the pass with perfect ball placement, McCollum exacted some revenge on Thursday.

Bucs CB Zyon McCollum – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

On back-to-back plays during the team’s red zone period, McCollum broke up passes intended for Evans in the end zone. The first was a combination of sticky coverage and an impressive display of his reach and athleticism to knock the ball away, while the second saw him benefit from an underthrown ball. He still played tight coverage on the second one, putting himself in position to make the play.

For a Galveston product like McCollum to match up daily with a Galveston legend like Evans — and go toe-to-toe with him? That’s the stuff of dreams.

“I’ve been dreaming of matching up with him since I was a little kid,” McCollum said after practice. “I was in high school when he was in the league, and I look up to him. He’s a hometown hero, basically, so of course it means a little bit more making a play against him, especially [with] the caliber of player he is. But that’s training camp. I’m gonna win some, he’ll win some. It’s gonna be a great matchup all fall.”

Jalen McMillan Is Making Waves Early For Bucs Offense

It wasn’t just the Bucs defense that had some young playmakers stacking highlight after highlight on Thursday, as the offense saw rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan stand out in a big way. It’s clear that he’s on the same page with quarterback Baker Mayfield already, as the two linked up several times throughout the course of practice between 11-on-11s, 7-on-7s, red zone period and the two-minute period. His best catch of the day came during a goal line period, as he showed exceptional body control to come down with a touchdown in the corner of the end zone despite tight coverage from Christian Izien.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

McMillan drew high praise from Mike Evans after Wednesday’s practice, with the veteran receiver and future Hall of Famer calling the rookie “polished.” Chris Godwin had similar praise for the Washington product after Thursday’s practice.

“He has a really good feel for the game. You can tell that already,” Godwin said. “Just the way he moves, he’s coming in playing with confidence. And he’s doing a really good job taking in the advice from the vets, from me, from Mike, from Shep (Sterling Shepard), guys who have played a lot of ball. He’s really taking in that advice and really applying it. Definitely we still have a long way to go, and that’s what I was telling him that today.

“But I really appreciate his enthusiasm for the game. He makes a big play and he’s celebrating, and we’re trying to get more of that. We’re trying to like, it’s not just business as usual. Like, we score a touchdown, let’s celebrate — this shit’s fun. I think he’s off to a really good start. But again, it’s day two. We’ve got to put the pads on, then progress to preseason games and then on to the regular season. But, [he’s] off to a good start and I think he’s a great addition to our group.”

Perhaps the most interesting part about Godwin’s praise for McMillan was that it came after McMillan spoke to the local media and began his press conference by crediting his fast start in camp to what he’s learning from the Bucs’ veteran receivers, as well as receivers coach Bryan McClendon.

“I’m just taking in everything that Chris and Mike are teaching me. And everything B-Mac is teaching me,” McMillan said. “So, just being level-headed and staying confident in my abilities.”

Bucs Offense Finishes Strong In Last-Minute Offense

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay’s offense was pestered for much of practice by a strong pass rush from the defense. But in the final few minutes of practice, the offensive line clamped down on the pressure upfront and quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask led the offense to a total of three touchdowns on four drives.

Mayfield executed the two-minute drive to perfection. Needing a touchdown for the win, Mayfield took the offense past midfield and found Jalen McMillan for a touchdown on the final play of the drive, beating defensive back Christian Izien, who had a bit of a rough practice.

Trask also drove the Bucs offense down into the red zone, but a last-second pass was deflected by inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis to get a win for the defense. But out of four last-minute tries by the offense, that would be the only drive stymied by Todd Bowles’ unit.

The final series was the Bucs operating near the 10-yard line trailing by eight points with nine seconds left. Mayfield found a wide open Trey Palmer in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Zyon McCollum was the nearest defender and it looked like a coverage bust as either McCollum blew the coverage or was expected help that wasn’t there from another Bucs defender. On the game-tying two-point conversion play, Mayfield was pressured from the pocket, eluded outside linebacker Anthony Nelson to his right and then reversed field and scrambled to his left for the conversion, outracing a Bucs defender to the pylon.

Trask ended practice on a high note. In the same scenario, trailing by eight points with nine seconds left, he found Sterling Shepard open in the end zone for the touchdown. Shepard, who beat rookie safety Rashad Wisdom, scored right in front of his family and he ran over and received a kiss on his helmet from his little girl. Then on the two-point conversion, Trask threw a short dart to rookie running back Bucky Irving for the game-tying score to the final play of practice.

Pewter Report has learned that Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. addressed the defense after the unit failed in crunch time and wasn’t happy about the performance, demanding better from the defense next practice.

Observations And Highlights From Day 2 Of Bucs Camp

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Here are some quick-hitting observations from Tampa Bay’s second training camp practice:

• Head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles said after practice that during the team’s “call-it” periods, he is responsible for down and distance and essentially refereeing, so on Thursday, co-defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers called the Bucs defense. Bowles praised Rodgers and Larry Foote, the team’s other co-defensive coordinator, for the work they do in calling the defense.

• As far as refereeing, Bowles joked that depending on which side of the ball he favors, he gets cussed out from the other side.

• Jalen McMillan’s strong practice came on the same day that Trey Palmer — his competition for the WR3 spot — had two early drops in the individual drills. Palmer did later come back and bring in a touchdown in the two-minute period.

• Cornerback Josh Hayes made a good play during the team’s goal line period, nearly coming up with an interception.

• As part of Yaya Diaby’s impressive day, he and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka essentially sandwiched third-string quarterback John Wolford on a rush during 11-on-11s.