The Headline From Camp Today: Bucs Dominate Fight-Filled Practice

Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans might have a bad practice on occasion, but he doesn’t have bad practices back-to-back. After struggling a bit on Wednesday, Evans put on a show for two hours on Thursday, catching everything thrown his way. With Titans first-round pick Caleb Farley attempting to cover him one-on-one, Evans dominated the match-up over and over again.

That was the story for the Bucs offense throughout practice. For the second straight day the session opened with WR/DB one-on-ones, and for the second straight day Tampa Bay’s receivers put on a clinic. Several flags were thrown on Titans defenders, their only hope of slowing down the Bucs ridiculous receiving corps.

Evans kicked things off with a bang, making a leaping contested catch over the head of Titans cornerback Kristian Fulton. Brown got in on the act moments later, somehow hauling in a deep shot around Farley’s outstretched arm. Then it was Chris Godwin’s turn, running by Janoris Jenkins and making a nasty one-handed grab for a touchdown.

Throughout the rest of the session, Godwin, Brown and Evans dominated, while Tyler Johnson also made a couple elite plays. He made a defender nearly fall down on a double move for a touchdown, then reeled in an incredible contested catch in the back corner of the end zone. The officials ruled him out of bounds, but he didn’t look out to me.

But in the midst of the Bucs domination of practice between the whistles, fights began to break out all over practice. First, Brown and Titans cornerback Chris Jackson got into it after Brown caught his third or fourth ball in one-on-ones. There were extremely mixed reports about what happened. Brown left practice for a few minutes, but returned in time for the next 11-on-11 session.

Then, during a special teams period, Bucs cornerback Herb Miller and Titans receiver Fred Brown ended up on the ground with Brown on top. He would not be pulled off, which forced the two teams to come together at midfield. Shortly after, Bucs linebacker K.J. Britt and a Titans player got in a shoving match that both teams again combined to break up.

The best scrum of the day came on the Bucs defensive field. A pair of Titans players were engaged with a Bucs defensive back after the whistle, and Devin White wasn’t having it. He ran over and suplexed a Titans offensive player, starting a huge scrum. Every Bucs defender left the sideline on a full sprint for the other side of the field to break up the altercation.

At almost the same time on the Bucs offensive field, running back Leonard Fournette and Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons got into it. Simmons wouldn’t let go of Fournette after the whistle, and Bucs center Ryan Jensen took exception. He ran over and went at it with Simmons before both teams pulled their guys away. Jensen was still heated after returning to his sideline.

But when the fighting stopped, the Bucs were clearly the better team. The offense eliminated drops, mistakes and turnovers, the defense picked up several interceptions on the day and the Bucs star players were unstoppable. It was the kind of performance they are capable of – when they don’t beat themselves.

Bucs Players Out Of Practice

Bucs Ss Antoine Winfield, Jr. and Jordan Whitehead – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Safety Jordan Whitehead, OLB Cam Gill, running back Troymaine Pope, receiver Travis Jonsen and tight end Tanner Hudson were all out of practice today. Center John Molchon missed his first full practice after leaving Wednesday’s session with an injury.

Practice Notes

• Evans dominance extended into the 11-on-11 sessions. He ran by Farley at least twice for long touchdowns, part of a day in which he caught everything thrown his way. Long, short, contested. It didn’t matter. It was vintage Evans, and it was beautiful to see.

• Rookie receiver Jaelon Darden has continued to receive praise from coaches for his route-running, creating separation at all levels of the field. But finishing is becoming an issue. After tw0-three drops yesterday, Darden cut down on those today. But he failed to finish two tough, semi-contested catches in the red zone period of one-on-ones. He gained enough separation both times, with coaches screaming “great route, Jaelon!” But on both targets Darden didn’t finish with the ball. He’s gotta do that more often if he wants to play over Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller.

• Speaking of Johnson, he’s having an incredible week of practice. He looks like the Tyler Johnson we saw dominate at Minnesota, making a ton of acrobatic, tough catches despite contact. He isn’t the biggest or most athletic receiver, but his ball skills are exceptional. If Johnson can continue to play like this, it’s going to be hard for the Bucs to keep him off the field. After showing up to camp out of shape, Johnson has made a tremendous turnaround to be a roster lock and a lock for playing time on Sundays.

• Nice day for cornerback Nate Brooks, who has gotten better every day after a brutal start to camp. He made an elite play as a gunner, splitting the Titans double vice and forcing a hold. The Bucs coaches were ecstatic. On defense, Brooks made a great play to find the ball and intercept an underthrown fade route by Titans backup QB Logan Woodside. Good, solid day for a guy trying to make it as the fifth or sixth corner.

• Evans wasn’t the only player who bounced back on Thursday. After a miserable session on Wednesday, Rob Gronkowski was a beast again, torching the Titans secondary for a deep touchdown from Tom Brady. Later in practice, Brady had no one open in the red zone, but his protection was elite. After pumping to buy time, Brady saw Gronkowski break off his route and lofted one for the back of the end zone. Gronkowski reeled it in effortlessly with one hand for the score.

• Practice ended with each team getting six plays to score from the 5-yard line, alternating offenses after each play. The Bucs won the session handily, going 4-6 in the red zone. The Titans struggled, finishing just 2-6 while throwing three interceptions. It should be noted the Titans were without RB Derrick Henry, WR Julio Jones, WR A.J. Brown, C Ben Jones and OG Nate Davis.

Ryan Tannehill was intercepted by Lavonte David on his first pass, but then completed touchdowns to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Chester Rogers. On the first touchdown, Mike Edwards barely missed a pass breakup, and on the second one, David somehow missed knocking the ball out of the air despite reading it perfectly. Then Brooks and Dee Delaney intercepted the next two throws, before Titans third string quarterback Matt Barkley threw incomplete on the Titans final attempt.

Bucs WR Antonio Brown and QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Brady and the Bucs offense went 3-for-3, with touchdowns to Godwin, Gronkowski and maybe Jaydon Mickens (hard to see from our vantage point). Blaine Gabbert took over, throwing to Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who was stopped short of the end zone. Gabbert was sacked on the next play when he couldn’t find anyone for several seconds. But the Bucs’ backup broke through on the next rep, finding Johnson for an easy touchdown on a blown coverage.

• Safety Mike Edwards was the one who got the Bucs’ first interception of the day. It came during seven-on-sevens early in practice where he picked off a pass from Tannehill as he was looking to go over the middle to the tight end. Both the first and second strings did a great job in this session as they limited Tennessee to small underneath throws, never getting beaten deep.

The pass rush wasn’t there too much for the Bucs on Thursday, but the pass coverage and run-stopping ability was turned all the way up. Carlton Davis III was sturdy with his coverage in the red zone, breaking up two straight passes while covering Fred Brown on one play and Chester Rogers on another. White also had an important stop in the red zone post-fight, getting a shove on running back Mekhi Sargent after he caught the ball and sending him flying.

It was a great practice for defensive linemen Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Pat O’Connor and Khalil Davis. They were all getting to the ball carrier successfully and often. Nunez-Roches yelled in celebration after masking a couple of plays, which was expected. On the pass rushing front, Jason Pierre-Paul did an excellent job to split a double team and get to the quarterback by starting on the outside but making a move inside the tackle. Tennessee threw a pass anyway, but it would’ve been a sack for him.