After a not-so-good performance against the Jaguars in the team’s joint practice session on Wednesday, the Bucs took the field for a rematch in Jacksonville on Thursday. After wearing full pads for the first practice, both teams wore helmets, shells and shorts for the second joint practice. Tampa Bay fared better on Thursday and seemed more focused and less lethargic than the team was upon arriving in Jacksonville.

Thursday’s joint practice took place between 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. with temperatures in the mid-80s under mostly cloudy skies and breezy conditions. Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Matt Matera, Adam Slivon and photographer Jeff Jones were in attendance this morning. Here were their observations.

Bucs Who Were Not Practicing

A few more injured Bucs were added to the injury list after Wednesday’s joint practice with the Jaguars. Tight end Payne Durham suffered a slight knee injury on Wednesday and is listed as day-to-day. Undrafted free agent cornerback Tyrek Funderburk injured his foot in the first practice and was seen in a walking boot. Wide receiver Raleigh Webb was also out, in addition to reserve left tackle Justin Skule, defensive tackles Calijah Kancey and Mike Greene and wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Rakim Jarrett. Also still out were safety Jordan Whitehead, running back Chase Edmonds and outside linebacker Yaya Diaby.

Outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka continued his practice of doing everything except 11-on-11 drills, and the same was true for inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis. It seems like neither will play in Saturday night’s preseason game.

Jaguars Secondary Picks Off Bucs Quarterbacks

After Wednesday’s joint practice session between Jacksonville and Tampa Bay didn’t produce any interceptions, the Jaguars defense became quite opportunistic on Thursday.

Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield was picked off when his pass to running back Sean Tucker was pilfered by Jaguars safety Andre Cisco, who jumped the route and took it back for a pick-six. It was the second interception Mayfield has thrown this week, as Bucs cornerback Keenan Isaac picked him off on Monday.

Tampa Bay backup quarterback Kyle Trask threw a pair of interceptions on Thursday. Trask’s first pick came when he overthrew tight end Ko Kieft. Jaguars cornerback Erick Hallett II came up with the errant throw. Trask’s second pick came when his pass was batted at the line of scrimmage and deflected into the air. Hallett was opportunistic once again and came down with his second interception on the day, taking it back for a touchdown.

Bucs Secondary Continued To Struggle Covering The Deep Ball

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and co-DC Kacy Rodgers – Photo by: USA Today

As a whole, Tampa Bay’s secondary played better during 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 sessions against Jacksonville during Thursday’s practice than it did on Wednesday. The Bucs back seven defenders forced more checkdowns and even had a couple of would-be coverage sacks. But two Jaguars’ weapons continued to give the secondary fits.

Rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. continued to torment the Bucs defensive backs, getting loose for another deep touchdown on Thursday after catching four touchdowns on Wednesday, including two deep ball scores and two in the red zone. On Thursday he ran a sluggo seam route for a touchdown, burning slot cornerback Tykee Smith with the fake slant and then turning upfield and racing past free safety Kaevon Merriweather, who got beat deep on Wednesday.

“He’s a great receiver, that’s why he’s a first-round pick,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “We know he’s got a lot of speed, he’s got a lot of talent – we’re going to face [that] every week, those types of guys. We’ve just got to play the deep ball.”

Thomas’ touchdown was a bit of revenge against Smith, who had great coverage in the red zone on a previous play and forced an incompletion in the end zone.

The other Jaguars receiving threat who got open deep against the Bucs was tight end Evan Engram. He first beat free safety Antoine Winfield Jr. downfield on a play-action pass of longer than 30 yards. Then Engram got open against Lavonte David, outracing the Bucs linebacker down the field against a Tampa 2 coverage for a deep touchdown in between the safeties.

Lawrence and Engram also connected for a touchdown in red zone 7-on-7 drills against the Bucs secondary.

While Jacksonville’s secondary was opportunistic on Thursday, recording three interceptions, Tampa Bay’s defense didn’t record a single pick after recording 22 interceptions through the first 13 training camp practices.

Bucs Run Defense Was Excellent Yet Again

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson and Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

While the Bucs’ pass defense was suspect in Jacksonville, Tampa Bay’s run defense remained stout. The Bucs defense held the Bengals to just 36 yards rushing on 13 carries last Saturday night, and Tampa Bay’s run defense continued to dominate against the Jaguars.

“Yesterday, when they were aligned right, they did a good job,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “There were some plays where they were aligned wrong and gave up the edge too easily, just because of alignment. For the most part, they’re where they’re supposed to be.”

Generally speaking, Bowles has been impressed with his unit’s run defense overall during training camp.

“So far. It’s been more passing than running,” Bowles added. “We haven’t seen the runs that we know we’re going to see and the different personnel groupings in those runs. So far, they’ve been good at what we’ve been seeing.”

Baker Mayfield Addresses Dropped Balls In Jacksonville

The Bucs have seen their receivers drop more passes than they’ve wanted to see in Jacksonville. Second-year wideout Trey Palmer has been the biggest culprit, followed by rookie Jalen McMillan. Palmer dropped at least three passes on Wednesday while McMillan had a pair of drops.

On Thursday, McMillan cleaned up his drops and didn’t have any, but had fewer targets thrown his way. Palmer’s drops continued on Thursday, though, with a pair of passes that hit the ground. Undrafted rookie Kameron Johnson also had a dropped pass in 11-on-11s.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RT Luke Goedeke – Photo by: USA Today

After practice, Bucs starting quarterback Baker Mayfield was asked about how he, as a team captain, deals with discussing drops with his receivers and helping to hold them accountable.

“This is one of the things I learned early on,” Mayfield said. ‘The worst thing you can tell a guy is to catch the damn ball. It’s not like he’s trying to drop it. When it comes down to it, you look at, ‘Okay, did he take his eyes off of it? Did he have his hands in the right position?’ You look at the fundamentals of back to the basics of catching the football and where they went wrong on that. Everybody knows they’re trying to catch the ball.

“Most of the time, it’s a lack of complete focus through the catch. You’ve got to pluck it and tuck it. Those are just the little things you’ve got to do, especially when you’re playing against these guys that are going to come in. There are going to be collisions, they’re going to be swiping for the balls. For me, it’s, ‘Hey, make sure you look it in all through the catch until you tuck it.’ That’s it.”

Observations And Highlights From Day 15 Of Bucs Camp

• Bucs wide receiver Kameron Johnson overcame an early drop to haul in a few passes on Thursday, including a spectacular touchdown in the corner of the end zone.

Bucs WR Kameron Johnson – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

After practice, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield praised his rookie receiver.

“Kam Johnson is a stud,” Mayfield said. “I didn’t even know where Barton College was until like a few weeks ago. Whatever they fed him, it worked. He’s a polished receiver. He doesn’t say much, he locks in, and just does everything the right way. For us, it’s a kid that listens. [When] you bring in the physical aspect of it, he’s extremely smooth in his routes, he’s explosive – I think he can do a lot of things for us. He’s another good guy in our room that’s going to push everybody else to continue to raise that standard in the receiver room.”

• While the Tampa Bay offense had its ups and downs in Jacksonville, the Bucs offensive line really excelled in pass protection against the Jaguars defensive front.

“Really solid,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said about the O-line. “I’d say, obviously, they’ve got a couple of book ends on the edge there, but I thought it was really solid for us. Obviously, it’s tough when you [don’t have] pads on, but yesterday, I thought it was really good. I thought they passed off some stunts and games really well on the inside. They’re just continuing to improve [with] the more reps they get.”

• The Bucs new kickoff coverage unit features all defensive players – as expected – except for Ko Kieft. The Bucs tight end was a staple of kick and punt coverage units last year and is one of the better special teams tacklers in Tampa Bay. The Bucs’ second-string kick coverage unit also features a pair of offensive players in big wide receivers Cody Thompson and Ryan Miller.