A week after traveling to Cincinnati to play the Bengals, the Bucs stayed in-state and traveled to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars. After competing against them in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, Tampa Bay took the field on Saturday night in each team’s second preseason game. 

It was a contest that Jacksonville heavily controlled the time of possession in (38:15-21:45), which was a big factor in them getting the better of Tampa Bay in this Florida matchup, 20-7. Despite the loss, it was not all disappointing. Here are this week’s most impressive players.

OLB Jose Ramirez

The Bucs have been waiting for one of their young outside linebackers to break out in a game, and on Saturday night, three of them stepped up and had productive nights. Of them all, Jose Ramirez was by far the most impressive, though.

Ramirez consistently applied pressure on Mac Jones in the first half. His first sack of the night came on his second play in the game as he blew right by backup left guard Tyler Shatley. Ramirez followed that up with a cheap sack on Jones after he tripped over his own offensive linemen.

That was not it for him, however.

To end the third quarter, he came around the right side to bring down C.J. Beathard for his third sack of the night. It resulted in a loss of 17 yards, pushing Jacksonville back to their own 4-yard line and giving him a well-deserved hat trick. He was in position throughout the night and gave the Jaguars’ offensive line plenty of problems.

Bucs Run Game – Starring RBs Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A week after the Bucs had a promising first game on the ground, there were more positive signs from the run game, although they did not have as many carries this time around. Rookie running back Bucky Irving strung together some quality runs early in the game, and while Irving only had six carries on the night, each was an efficient run with enough promise to assert that he will be a factor in the backfield this season. He finished the night with 26 cards, averaging 4.3 yards per pop.

Sean Tucker came in for him, and right off the bat, he broke one. Tucker’s first carry of the night looked to be going nowhere – until he cut it back from the right to the left, gaining 21 yards solely off his vision. It was encouraging to see his vision and agility on display to change direction, and he finished the night with four carries for 32 yards.

The offense did not have the ball for long, but they still mustered 16 carries for 76 rushing yards, finishing with a 4.8 yards-per-carry average.

WR Cody Thompson

Bucs WR Cody Thompson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Cody Thompson put the Bucs’ only points on the board up when he hauled in a 6-yard pass from Kyle Trask for a touchdown. It was a quiet night for the passing game, but Thompson also ran an end around for 12 yards and drew a key 22-yard defensive pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter. He showed up big on Tampa Bay’s final drive, too, and finished his night with 66 yards and a score on five catches.

Thompson has shined in training camp, making plenty of plays and establishing a rapport with Trask. He remains in the race for one of the last wide receiver spots or making the practice squad, with tonight only helping his cause.

OLB Markees Watts

Markees Watts joined the sack party in the third quarter, bringing down C.J. Beathard with a quality rep on 3rd & 14. Watts pushed back reserve left tackle Javon Foster, with so much power he made Foster do the splits as he fell to the ground.

The Jaguars held control of the ball throughout the game, but this stop allowed the offense to get back onto the field. Watts finished with three total tackles and looked solid throughout.

OLB Chris Braswell

Bucs OLB Chris Braswell – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Chris Braswell was the third outside linebacker with an impressive night. While he didn’t record a sack on the night, he set the edge well in stopping the run and preventing any running back from bouncing out on the right side. On Ramirez’s first sack, Braswell was right there and would have been positioned to make the play.

After a week in which he put together two impressive joint practices in Jacksonville, head coach Todd Bowles called him one of the more pleasant surprises and the team is banking on his pass rush ability. Saturday night showed that he is more than just a pass rusher and can impact games in more than one way.

DT Lwal Uguak

Lwal Uguak stood out among the team’s reserve defensive linemen, notching two quarterback hits, with one seeing him lay out C.J. Beathard in the third quarter for a sack. Uguak, an undrafted rookie out of TCU, put himself on the map with his performance. He may not make the 53-man roster, but this could position him to earn a spot on the 16-man practice squad.

CB Andrew Hayes

Andrew Hayes had a rough go of it in his NFL debut – to say the least.

But after that disappointing performance, he made an impressive play on Saturday night to give the Bucs a chance in the fourth quarter. Mac Jones found Seth Williams on a short pass to the right, but Hayes came down to jar the ball out of his right hand and force a fumble that defensive back Rashad Wisdom recovered. Each of the undrafted rookie defensive backs did not have the best of nights beforehand, but this turned it for them.