The Headline From Camp Today: Practice Got Chippy On Saturday

The Bucs might be a little tired of hitting each other in the middle of the hot summer, as the intensity picked up a notch to start the weekend. We saw our first training camp scuffle early on in practice during special teams drills, thanks to outside linebackers Ladarius Hamilton and Elijah Ponder throwing punches at each other. The fight did not last long, though, as defensive tackle Benning Potoa’e quickly broke things up and practice resumed.

That chippy play remained for the rest of practice, as players were unleashing hard hits on one another, bringing more physicality than what we’ve seen so far in training camp. It was natural to occur during goal line sessions as the starters from both sides of the ball battled at the one-yard line. The first play saw the defensive line stuff Leonard Fournette in the backfield and hit him so hard that his helmet came off. With Fournette stuck in a pile up, a couple of players on the offensive and defensive line started pushing and shoving each other to the echo of the whistle.

The next play was just as fascinating in its’ own way. As Ronald Jones received the handoff, he attempted to jump in the air and hurdle over the line to the reach the goal line. But when Jones leapt, his legs were hit and he did a front flip into the end zone. Jones got up right after and celebrated as the crowd went wild with applause.

Goal line drills always bring their own attitude to practice, but Saturday was on another level. Rakeem Nunez-Roches had a hit on Travis Jonsen, yelling in celebration after. In the same session, Pat O’Connor was jumping up and down, hyped up after making a tackle in the backfield. Safety Javon Hagan clobber Tyler Johnson on the run after the receiver caught a pass. Later in practice, cornerback Ross Cockrell knocked wide receiver Jaleon Darden to the ground on an incomplete pass. Even Giovani Bernard got in the mix, as he tried to barrel over a defender after avoiding a Devin White tackle attempt in the open field.

“Parts of practice went a little bit out of hand,” Bruce Arians said after practice. “But I’d rather say ‘woah’ than ‘sic em.'”

Bucs Players Out Of Practice

Outside linebackers Cam Gill and Quinton Bell were both absent, along with wide receiver Cyril Grayson and center Robert Hainsey. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was out as well for a maintenance day.

Donovan Smith missed practice again for the second straight day and Bruce Arians clarified after practice that he has been out due to personal reasons. Josh Wells got the reps at starting left tackle with the first team and has done a nice job with the top unit.

Bucs Practice Notes

• Practice started off with some one-on-one drills between the wide receivers. There was great competition between Mike Evans and Carlton Davis lining up on the right side of the field. Evans ran a go route and got about a half-a-step ahead before Tom Brady threw the ball perfectly on target. Brady then found Antonio Brown deep over the middle after he separated from Antonio Hamilton, followed by a great pass to Scotty Miller down the field.

• The defense had their moments in that drill against some of the Bucs’ top receivers. Nate Brooks broke up a pass intended for Chris Godwin. In the battle of the Millers, Herb Miller had tight coverage on Scotty Miller, knocking the ball away.

• In the 11-on-11 drills up next, Anthony Nelson and Joe Tryon kicked things off with a great pass rush on Blaine Gabbert. The offense bounced back on the next play with a good run to the outside by Fournette as the offensive line opened up a gaping hole. Both sides went back-and-forth, as Nunez-Roches and O’Connor made signature plays. Then Brady connected on a pass to Rob Gronkowski, who turned upfield for a big gain after the catch.

Bucs TE O.J. Howard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “breakout” day for O.J. Howard, but he definitely stood out and saw more attempts his way than he had been getting in training camp. He started out with a solid catch down the field on a pass from Brady, but dropped the next ball with a linebacker on him in coverage.

There was another incomplete pass on a Gabbert throw as the ball was behind Howard, but it did go off his hands. After that, Howard was locked in. He had two receptions near the goal line and made a very nice diving catch with Lavonte David on him. Howard followed up with a couple more receptions as practice went on, looking ready to go for the season.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

• Other notable plays during red zone drills was a great touchdown from Tom Brady to Mike Evans in the corner of the end zone on a play action pass. Antoine Winfield was in coverage on the play.

Tanner Hudson also made a great catch by tipping the ball to himself after a pass from Gabbert and walking into the end zone. Hudson had a solid practice, making multiple catches from Gabbert and Ryan Griffin.

• Brady and Gabbert got most of the reps on Saturday, but it was slim pickings for Griffin and Kyle Trask. In fact, Trask hardly got any reps at all during team drills.

• Ryan Succop had a bounce back day going 6-for-7 on his field goal attempts. The one miss was from the block by Dean. The field goal attempts weren’t very long, as they varied between 25 and 37 yards.

• The goal line drills held one of the feature moments of the day. The first two plays set the tone with Fournette losing of the helmet and the Joes flip into the air. The Bucs’ offense scored on the following play on a play action pass from Brady to a wide open to Gronkowski. After Ke’Shawn Vaughn ran one in for a touchdown, Gabbert was sacked, threw an incomplete pass and had a touchdown pass to finish off the day.

The Bucs will have Sunday off before resuming practice on Monday.