The first day of August also brought the first Bucs training camp practice with the pads on. While still very hot out, there was more of a breeze on Monday than there had been the previous week, which helped with the extra equipment.

Players Return To Practice

After some veteran players received a practice off on Saturday and a full day off on Sunday, veterans Donovan Smith, Julio Jones, Akiem Hicks and Kyle Rudolph all returned to practice on Monday. After missing Saturday’s practice, second-year linebacker Grant Stuard returned to action as well. Chris Godwin was once again out there with his teammates, but not participating.

Big Day For Several On Bucs’ Bubble

When the pads come on, it’s a good time to stand out – especially if you’re on the roster bubble. Quite a few players on the Bucs’ bubble showed up with big days on Monday. Ross Cockrell showed off good ball skills during 11-on-11s, intercepting a Blaine Gabbert pass that was tipped by rookie receiver Deven Thompkins. He later forced a fumble after Russell Gage came up with a catch near the sideline. Then, as practice winded down, he nearly came up with an interception of Tom Brady, just failing to haul it in.

Someone who did intercept Brady was undrafted safety Nolan Turner. The rookie out of Clemson continued to impress on Monday, tallying a pass breakup on Kyle Trask in addition to his interception of Brady. Turner has now strung back-to-back good days together after a strong showing during Saturday’s practice.

On the offensive side of the bubble, the wide receiver battle picked up some steam on Monday. Scotty Miller had one of the best days of any Tampa Bay player. His first big play of the day came during 11-on-11s as he caught a deep ball from Brady between two defenders. It was reminiscent of his clutch touchdown catches against both Las Vegas and Green Bay during the 2020 season. During two-minute drills later in practice, Brady found Miller twice, with the fourth-year receiver coming up with nice sideline catches on both passes.

Tyler Johnson also did well for himself, putting together an all-around solid day. Last week, Mike Evans singled Johnson out as a player who is in “tip-top shape.” On Monday, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles echoed that sentiment.

“I just know he’s in very good shape and he’s doing all the right things,” Bowles said about Johnson.

With several guys jockeying for position in the race for the WR5 and WR6 jobs, this battle will be one to keep an eye on as padded practices roll on.

Even Back-And-Forth Between Offense And Defense

Bucs practices under Bowles have featured a lot of best-on-best. And through five days of camp and one day with the pads on, everything has looked pretty even. Bowles said as much after Monday’s practice.

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

“The mental approach was there. I thought we got a little tired in the middle, as expected with the pads on in this heat,” Bowles said. “But iron sharpens iron, and I think it was a lot of good give and take.”

There were big plays on both sides of the ball. In addition to Miller and Johnson having big days, Mike Evans came through with a few downfield catches of his own. He welcomed Don Gardner, fresh off the PUP list, back to practice by beating him on a deep pass from Brady. Trask connected with Jerreth Sterns for a nice gain over the middle at one point, while Gabbert and Kaylon Geiger later linked up for a big gain of their own.

The defense won their fair share of plays, too. Vita Vea was disruptive up the middle, giving rookie Luke Goedeke an especially hard time on a rep late in practice. Vea overpowered the second-round pick, knocking him into Gabbert’s legs. The secondary had a good day, with Cockrell and Turner stepping up in particular. Jamel Dean also had a pass breakup on a Gabbert pass intended for Sterns.

During 1-on-1 drills at the beginning of practice, the back and forth play set the precedent. In receivers versus defensive backs, it was the DBs that took the early advantage. Sean Murphy-Bunting had very solid coverage on Geiger while Antoine Winfield Jr. knocked the ball away before Cyril Grayson Jr. could make a back shoulder catch. Dee Delaney then followed that up with a diving pass breakup on a pass intended for Thompkins.

The receivers fought back, though, as Miller, Jones and Johnson all made impressive receptions down the field against their opponents.

Tough Day For Most Of Bucs Rookies

Usually there’s going to be a couple of hiccups when the rookies get more familiar with playing in the NFL. We saw some of that today. Thompkins dropped the pass that led to Cockrell’s interception and tight end J.J. Howland dropped a touchdown pass shortly after making a couple of mental mistakes during individual drills.

On the line, Luke Goedeke was dominated by Vita Vea towards the end of practice. Logan Hall wasn’t bad, but didn’t really stand out with any impact plays. The same went for Rachaad White, who had a limited amount of reps as a receiver and was seen getting coached up by Brady at one point. The only rookie that had a day was Turner and his interception.

Reshuffling On The Offensive Line

After finishing last week with the second team offensive line, Aaron Stinnie was back with the ones on Monday. He filled in at left guard, with Brandon Walton relegated to right guard with the twos. Robert Hainsey got his work in as the first-team center while Nick Leverett got reps at center with both the twos and threes.

Bucs G Aaron Stinnie and NT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There were some really positive moments for the young centers on the day. Hainsey had some strong reps against Vea and Akiem Hicks, but as expected was bullied by the massive defensive lineman on a few others. He displayed good ability to disengage when needed to climb to the next level and opened some good holes for Fournette to run through.

Leverett looked comfortable making all of the line calls and was showed quick feet and strong hands to hold blocks. The battle between him and Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Deadrin Senat was one of the most intense of the day with them each besting each other on a few reps.

After practice, Bucs quarterback Tom Brady spoke about the trust gained last year by Hainsey, who is expected to replace the injured Ryan Jensen at center for the foreseeable future.

“[Hainsey’s] got to step into the job and do a great job,” Brady said. “He’s worked hard last year, really gained the trust of a lot of people. He’s got to go earn it. Like all of us, it’s not what you did [and] how hard you worked in the offseason. It’s about how good of a football player are you. That’s to be determined for all of us.”

Battle For Punt Return Duties Whittled Down To Five – For Now

After there were as many as 10 players catching punts last week, the Bucs were down to five on Monday. Jaelon Darden, Deven Thompkins, Scotty Miller, Kenjon Barner and Giovani Bernard fielded punts from a machine during the early portion of practice. Also of note was the fact that neither Russell Gage nor Julio Jones, WR3 and WR4, participated in special teams drills. That makes it clear that the WR5 and WR6 (and possibly WR7) jobs will largely come down to who can contribute on special teams.