The Bucs continued their third week of the team’s 2023 training camp at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa on Tuesday under brutally hot conditions. Temperatures were in the low 90s under oppressively sunny skies with a heat index over 100 degrees by the end of practice at 11:00 a.m.

The Bucs wore shells on Tuesday after full pads on Monday.

Bucs Not Practicing Today

DT Calijah Kancey

Kancey, the team’s first-round pick, will be out for about four weeks with a right calf strain. He attended practice with a leg scooter and was wearing a boot on his injured foot and leg to immobilize it. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed what Pewter Report reported on Monday night – that Kancey would miss the preseason, but there’s a chance he could return for the season opener at Minnesota on September 10.

OLB Charles Snowden

Snowden continues to miss practice with a groin injury. He’s day-to-day.

DT Greg Gaines

Gaines missed his third consecutive practice with a minor undisclosed injury. Todd Bowles said there is nothing to be concerned about.

Bucs Defense Dominates With 5 INTs

It was a good day to be John Wolford, the Bucs’ third-string quarterback. He was the only QB that didn’t turn the ball over on Tuesday. Kyle Trask, who came into Tuesday’s practice with just two picks through training camp and is listed on the team’s official depth chart as a co-starter, threw three interceptions. Baker Mayfield, who will start Friday against the Steelers in Tampa Bay’s preseason opener, threw two INTs.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and CB Zyon McCollum – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Inside linebacker Devin White kicked things off for the defense by picking off a deflected Mayfield pass intended for receiver Rakim Jarrett. The pass was tipped by safety Ryan Neal and White hauled it in around the middle of the field. The INT occurred during 7-on-7 passing drills and the pass was late across the middle and ill-advised by Mayfield.

Mayfield’s other interception came in the red zone when he underthrew Mike Evans on a fade pass from near the 20-yard line. Evans had a step on cornerback Zyon McCollum, but the second-year DB tracked the ball perfectly and came away with his second pick of camp.

Trask’s interceptions came near the end of practice. Rookie cornerback Keenan Isaac made his second INT of camp on a similar play. Trask underthrew Chris Godwin in the same back left corner of the end zone and Isaac was in great position to come away with the pass.

With just a few minutes left in practice, Trask’s good day would spiral at the end. He either made a wrong read or there was a miscommunication with a receiver or tight end as Trask threw an out to the left sideline right to cornerback Jamel Dean. There wasn’t really a white jersey in the area and Dean made Trask pay, taking it down the sidelines and outracing the quarterback to the end zone for a pick-six.

The defense ended the practice in style with safety Nolan Turner leaping in front of wide receiver David Moore in the middle of the end zone and picking off Trask on the final red zone. The INT was Turner’s second of training camp.

“It was good for them creating the turnovers,” Bowles said. “Obviously getting some – hadn’t gotten many in a couple of days, but they’re coming together as a group, talking more. Some situations were last play situations where they had to throw it, so you had to put it in the air at some point. I thought they did a good job of getting their hands on the ball.”

The Bucs interception tally through 11 practices is as follows:

SirVocea Dennis – Kyle Trask – 7/27
Nolan Turner – Baker Mayfield – 7/27
Zyon McCollum – John Wolford – 7/28
SirVocea Dennis – Baker Mayfield – 7/30
Antoine Winfield Jr – Baker Mayfield – 7/31
YaYa Diaby – Baker Mayfield – 7/31
Keenan Isaac – Baker Mayfield – 8/1
Jamel Dean – Baker Mayfield – 8/5
Carlton Davis III – John Wolford – 8/5
Derrek Pitts Jr. – Baker Mayfield – 8/7
Kedrick Whitehead Jr. – Kyle Trask – 8/7
Devin White – Baker Mayfield – 8/8
Zyon McCollum – Baker Mayfield – 8/8
Keean Isaac – Kyle Trask – 8/8
Jamel Dean – Kyle Trask – 8/8
Nolan Turner – Kyle Trask – 8/8

Mayfield has thrown nine interceptions, while Trask has thrown five, and Wolford has thrown two in limited reps. There is a five-way tie for the interception lead in camp between Dennis, McCollum, Dean, Isaac and Turner.

“He was after me, but I knew I was going to score,” Dean said of Trask trying to track down the Bucs’ fastest player on his way to the end zone. “We’ve been putting on an emphasis for turnovers. Now we’ve got to do it in practice. We’ve always been saying it, but we actually haven’t made it an emphasis in practice. This year we’re making it an emphasis and we’re starting to see it actually manifest in picks. They came in bunches.”

Bucs Running Game Revs Up

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay’s run defense won the day on Monday, but Tuesday was a different story as the offensive line and tight ends reared up and had the best day of practice running the ball in camp. While the Bucs passing game was littered with five interceptions, the running game revved up. The O-line had a couple of big surges against the D-line, and the backs ripped off plenty of four- and five-yard gains in addition to a couple of bigger runs.

Rachaad White had perhaps his best practice, ripping off a big cutback run down the right sidelines for over 20 yards with safety Ryan Neal finally pushing him out of bounds due to taking the right angle. White also showed good power muscling in a few red zone touchdown runs, including an 18-yard dash up the middle for a score.

Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Chase Edmonds continued to shine as runners, especially on zone runs off tackle or on cutbacks. Rookie Sean Tucker had a couple of nice dashes too, but his best play came on a catch on a beautifully thrown touch pass from Kyle Trask. Under pressure from Cam Gill, Trask was able to get the ball off just in time to drop into the outstretched arms of Tucker over nickel cornerback Dee Delaney, hitting the running back in stride for a big gain down the left sidelines.

Bucs Practice Observations

• On Monday offensive tackles Luke Goedeke and Tristan Wirfs took turns shoving inside linebacker Devin White during practice. On Tuesday it was backup center Nick Leverett’s turn to get into a scuffle with backup inside linebacker K.J. Britt after a play. The hot temperatures bring out the hot temperatures in the dog days of practice and the heat over the last three practices in Tampa Bay has brutal and oppressive under the unforgiving sunny skies.

• Bucs nose tackle Vita Vea has been absolutely dominant in camp this year. In fact, the sixth-year D-lineman has had the best camp of his Bucs career. Vea is good for two or three knockdowns per practice. The victim is usually center Robert Hainsey, but rookie right guard Cody Mauch hit the ground on Tuesday on a Vea stampede.

• Rookie nickel cornerbacks Chris Izien and Josh Hayes continue to make strides, and each has seen time with the starters, rotating with veteran Dee Delaney, who is the current starter in the slot due to his experience. Hayes and Izien both did a great job of setting the edge and blowing up perimeter runs on Tuesday. The rookies showed toughness in preventing the zone runs from reaching the outside and forcing the action back into the middle where defensive help was waiting.

• Outside linebackers YaYa Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka both had standout practices. Diaby continues to get most of his reps with the second-string on the left side behind Tryon-Shoyinka and blasted right tackle Brandon Walton on a bull rush. The powerful Diaby jolted Walton back so hard that he knocked him to the ground and also toppled right guard Nick Leverett, who was sliding over to help, on the same play. It was an incredible display of strength by the rookie.

• Tryon-Shoyinka has perhaps been a little too finesse in the first two years of his Tampa Bay career. But JTS brought the power and physicality on Tuesday as a pass rusher and in run defense. Tryon-Shoyinka might be feeling some heat from the rookie outside linebacker and is stepping up as a result.

• Bucs center Ryan Jensen practiced on Tuesday, and while he was once again held out of 11-on-11 team periods, he did engage in 1-on-1 pass rush-pass protection reps for the first time in camp. The Bucs have been very cautious with Jensen’s return to action from his devastating knee injury. He fared well in two reps against backup nose tackle Deadrin Senat and put reserve defensive tackle Pat O’Connor on the ground with a perfectly executed push-pull move.

• While Kyle Trask threw three interceptions at the end of practice, he was having a better practice than Baker Mayfield was before those late turnovers. Trask zipped a red zone touchdown pass to Mike Evans over rookie cornerback Keenan Isaac. A few plays later, Trask rifled a short pass in for another score over Isaac, this time to Deven Thompkins, who spiked the ball afterwards.

• Trask was also involved in the play of the day, which was touchdown bomb to a wide-open Evans off play-action. The pass covered more than 50 yards and Isaac was again the victim. The rookie was looking for safety help over the top, but there was no help to be found as Evans hauled in his easiest touchdown of camp.