For the first time this training camp, the Bucs went indoors for practice. With an off day looming, the Bucs were in helmets, shoulder spiders and shorts while indoors, focusing on speed more than physicality.

Many Bucs Get A Vet Day

Tom Brady celebrated his 45th birthday on Wednesday by getting the day off. He wasn’t seen at practice at all on the day. There were many other veterans who did not practice today, with Mike Evans, Lavonte David, Julio Jones and Cam Brate among them. Giovani Bernard was out for a second consecutive day, as was JoJo Ozougwu. Breshad Perriman didn’t practice either, but did get some work on the jugs machine. We’ll monitor whether they return to practice on Friday or if an injury is lingering for any of them.

Missed Opportunity For Trask

Bucs QB Kyle Trask – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With Brady absent, that meant more reps for Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask and Ryan Griffin. While Gabbert was solid throughout the day, Trask faltered in this session. The biggest issue was passing drills from the 10-yard line. Trask was intercepted in the end zone on two plays in a row, with one from safety Troy Warner and the other from cornerback Jamel Dean. The real issue wasn’t necessarily the interceptions themselves, but what he was looking at on the play.

The interception to Warner happens. It was over the middle and he jumped in front of it. But the pick by Dean was one of those where you didn’t even know where he was going with it. Sometimes, things just don’t go your way, and that looked to be the case for the second-year quarterback.

As practice continued on, Trask missed passes down the field. He only had two picks on the day, but it really could have been four or five. One of his passes went over the middle and off of the hands of linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi. There was another ball that was underthrown that should’ve been taken away by rookie cornerback Zyon McCollum.

Trask’s throws not having enough air under the ball seemed to be a common trend on Wednesday. Vyncint Smith had to wrestle the ball away from a defender to try and make a catch. There was another opportunity where Smith had a step on the defender, but the pass was knocked down instead of getting caught for a touchdown.

The Good From Trask

It was a bad day for Trask overall, but there were still positives to take from the practice. For starters, Trask has really built up good chemistry with undrafted free agent receiver Deven Thompkins. They connected a couple of times throughout practice, with one coming down the righthand side and the other being a deep ball over to the left side for a huge gain.

Trask also found Cade Otton for another long play on the right side. He connected with Jerreth Sterns as well. It feels as if Trask has more power on the ball throwing on the sidelines, particularly to his right side. In other practices, he’s been able to push the ball over the middle, but it wasn’t the case this time around.

Though it looked like he struggled, Todd Bowles is happy with his overall growth in the offense.

“He’s getting more comfortable in the offense,” Bowles said. “I have to see the film to make sure he’s doing everything he’s supposed to be doing, but he’s confident where he’s throwing. He’s understanding things. We’re putting him in the right situations where he can get some experience, and that’s all we can ask for right now.”

Blitz Happy

Bowles talked about the team bringing the speed today, and we sure saw that from the Bucs defense. They’re always going to blitz, but they really hit home. Logan Ryan, Dee Delaney and Grant Stuard all had sacks coming off of blitzes. The edge rushers did their part as well, with Shaq Barrett and Cam Gill each recording a sack. Gill beat rookie tight end Ko Kieft on the play, also forcing a blatant holding penalty.

Bucs ILB Devin White and OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The defense did more than just rush the passer to showcase their speed. In early running sessions, the Bucs offense tried a couple of end arounds to the outside. However, each time, they were snuffed out by the quick speed of outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and inside linebacker Devin White.

Bucs’ Two-Minute Drill

We got a lot fun situational football in the form of late-game scenarios, with the Bucs offense and defense squaring off. The first situation began with the offense on its own 35 with 1:48 to go and down six points. Almost immediately, Gabbert fired off a pass down the sideline to Cyril Grayson Jr. for about 30 yards. It felt like a replay of Grayson’s touchdown against the Jets, but just on a different part of the field. The next play, though, was the aforementioned Ryan sack.

After a couple of completions put the offense at the 10, the defense turned it up and shut the drive down. Carlton Davis III locked down Scotty Miller in the end zone, forcing an overthrow. The defense held tough and didn’t allow a touchdown.

Next up, it was Trask’s turn for the same scenario. On the second play, he connected on a 40-yard pass to Smith that immediately put the Bucs in business. Maybe it wasn’t to be on the day, because the offense didn’t score again. The drive fizzled out after a multiple pass breakups by the secondary and a catch by Smith in the end zone that he just couldn’t stay in bounds for.

That wasn’t the last of these drills. Gabbert and the ones were back on, this time at their own 10. In this situation, they were down 2 points and were given a full two minutes. Jaelon Darden made the first catch, then Miller got out of bounds at the 30 to move the ball.

Darden then beat Davis over the middle to get the ball past midfield. It was the second time Darden had beaten Davis on the day. Tyler Johnson had another very solid outing, and his catch on this drive along with another from Miller put the Bucs in field goal range. There was no kick on the play, though. They just moved to the next unit.

A rough day for Trask didn’t end well either. After a completion to Kaylon Geiger Sr. for a first down, the Bucs couldn’t move the ball past midfield. There was one throw with no one around, a sack by Stuard and then Thompkins couldn’t make a fourth-down catch to continue the drive.

Highlight Moment Of Practice

During 7-on-7s, Griffin had a pass that looked like it was sailing over the head of Jerreth Sterns and into the arms of Nolan Turner. But in a miraculous effort, Sterns leaped up as high as he possibly could and somehow came up with the ball after a collision.

On another play with Griffin at quarterback from the 10, Geiger made a diving catch in the end zone for a touchdown. The highlights were on display inside the facility.

Bucs Kickers Staying Accurate

Another practice, another perfect outing from a Bucs kicker. After Ryan Succop went 7-for-7 on Tuesday, Jose Borregales went 6-for-6 on Wednesday. His longest kick came from about 55 yards out.

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

McCollum Had His Best Day

Zyon McCollum had one of his best practices as a Buc so far. His coverage was more solid than it has been and he was making multiple plays.

McCollum made three pass breakups on the day, and one of them really should have been an interception. That’s been the issue for Tampa Bay’s secondary, but he’ll improve on that moving forward. McCollum made a diving play to knock down one of the passes, showing elite-level speed to make sure he got there at the right moment.

The Bucs have Thursday off before resuming practice again on Friday.