The Buccaneers kicked off the 2019 training camp improvising, moving their first practice indoors due to some stormy weather earlier in the afternoon. A good crowd was on hand to get their first look at the new Bucs Arians-led  Buccaneer football team.

The day kicked with a press conferences featuring the team’s first-string running back thus far, Peyton Barber, and tight end Cam Brate. You can read more about Barber’s press conference here, while Brate’s availability almost exclusively revolved around thea now-repaired labrum tear in his hip that he battled through all of last season. Brate claimed that the injury impacted aspects of his everyday life like standing up, sitting down and climbing up stairs to the obvious rigors that are involved playing the game of football.

“You want to kind of manage the injury, but you also need to get the reps,” Brate said. “For me, what was really frustrating, too – I feel like I wasn’t prepared the way I would’ve liked to have been to have played, on top of that. Working through that wasn’t always easy, but I’m thankful for coach last year – he kind of helped me out a lot with that.”

Once practice rolled around there was a promising sign as safety Justin Evans was spotted in sneakers, a non-participant while on the PUP list, but noticeably present without a walking boot.

And while the team won’t be in pads until Sunday, it didn’t take long for the big plays to start rolling.

Early in 11-on-11 drills Isaiah Johnson started training camp off quick with the team’s first interception of the year, leaping up over the intended receiver and ripping away an interception off of Jameis Winston.

It wasn’t Winston’s sharpest day as the fifth-year quarterback also threw a 50-50 ball up to Mike Evans that was intercepted by Jordan Whitehead, a slant pass off the hands of Breshad Perriman that was intercepted by former USF defensive back Mazzi Wilkins and had a route jumped by Lavonte David, but that interception was dropped. The interceptions shouldn’t be a severe case of anxiety for fans though, as it’s just the first day of training camp and he had his fair share of positive plays as well.

Jameis shortly followed the interception to Johnson with a deep touchdown pass to O.J. Howard over the middle, hit a wide open Evans for six later during red zone drills and found the end zone another time on a screen pass to Andre Ellington.

Arians spoke about what he saw from Winston following practice, essentially saying that his quarterback had some ups and downs but that defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is throwing a lot at him early.

From the kicking battle, Cairo Santos got the first shot to prove himself, taking a series of kicks from ever-increasing distances while rookie Matt Gay will get his shot tomorrow. Santos was perfect on the day until he missed his final kick from 55 yards out.

On news from the offensive line, there was a noticeable amount of shift along the left side, specifically at left tackle. While Donovan Smith began at the position, Caleb Benenoch, newly acquired Earl Watford and Mike Liedtke all rotated in. When asked about the reasoning for the rotations, Arians said that Smith had dealt with some cramps on the day and he also wanted guys to all get reps at different positions across the line and on both sides of the line.

Winston Watch – Up-And-Down Start To Camp

Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston is in a critical contract year and is learning a
new offense for the first time since arriving in Tampa Bay in 2015.
PewterReport.com will chronicle each one of Winston’s practices during camp
in the Winston Watch.

Winston started off in 7-on-7 a little shaky with an overthrown pass intended for
Bobo Wilson that was picked off by safety Isaiah Johnson. Safety Kentrell Brice
dropped a would-be interception a few plays later, but wide receiver Scotty Miller
ran the wrong route, so that near INT wasn’t on Winston. Carlton Davis broke up a
pass intended for Breshad Perriman to end a forgettable 7-on-7 session for Winston.
Winston was much sharper in the first 11-on-11 period, hitting Mike Evans with a
slant pass before hitting tight end O.J. Howard on a skinny post for a touchdown.
Howard beat free safety Jordan Whitehead for the score, but Whitehead got revenge
a few plays later when he stepped in front of Evans in the end zone and picked off
Winston.

Wide receiver Chris Godwin and tight end Cameron Brate didn’t help Winston out
with a couple of drops, but Bryant Mitchell came through with a nice catch and then
Evans caught a touchdown on a deep slant in the red zone, beating cornerback
Vernon Hargreaves III. Winston began to heat up, hitting Godwin on a slant from the
right, beating nickel cornerback M.J. Stewart.

Winston ended the red zone 11-on-11 with a nice pass to Brate where he threaded
the needle through two defenders, and then made a nice screen pass touchdown to
Andre Ellington.

In the second 7-on-7 period, Winston hit Watson on a Cover 2-beater down the
sideline, and then connected with tight end Antony Auclair that was almost picked
off by rookie middle linebacker Devin White. Winston also came perilously close to
another pick by rookie cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, but hit Peyton Barber on a
couple of dump off passes within the period.

In the final 11-on-11 session, Winston fired off a quick screen pass to Godwin that
was blocked flawlessly by the offensive line for a first down. But on his next throw,
Winston’s pass went off the hands of Evans and into the arms of rookie cornerback
Mazzi Wilkins, a new addition from nearby USF. That pick wasn’t Winston’s fault,
and he did hit Perriman on a great throw across his body to the middle of the field
while rolling out to his right.

Winston’s day ended with a couple of throws to Godwin, the first of which was
broken up by Stewart, and the second was incomplete. Evans caught Winston’s final
mid-range throw on a comeback route.

White Watch – Bucs Blitz Rookie Early And Often

Bucs rookie middle linebacker Devin White is entering his first NFL training camp with the Bucs this season. With some high expectations for the number five overall pick in the draft, White has already been put as the play caller of a brand new defense. PewterReport.com will chronicle each of White’s practices during training camp in the White Watch.

White had his first ever training camp practice on Friday with many excited fans in the crowd watching him. While there were still no pads on day one, White was still able to provide a glimpse of the potential that he has, leaving everyone with high anticipation for what he can continue to do once the pads come on.

LB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PewterReport.com

Overall it was a solid day for the Bucs starting middle linebacker. He didn’t make mistakes in pass coverage or the run, and made a couple of plays when the opportunity presented itself. He’s still going through the process of breaking down plays, so it was a good game of cat and mouse against Peyton Barber  with getting to the hole to stop him.

There’s only so much that a defensive player can do when practicing without shoulder pads, but he was still able to make the most of it. We saw a ton of that trailblazing speed that catapulted him into a top five pick, and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles blitzed him constantly. Such as here.

Right before the blitzing began, White got to show another side of his game – leadership. He was tasked with calling the plays for the defense in the huddle during a drill where they had to identify the formation of the offense. It was merely a communicative session, but you could see him constantly making calls, giving signals, and reacting to the run based on the design.

The opening period of seven on seven had White keeping in stride with coverage on the tight end. He did not go up against O.J. Howard, which would of been a nice matchup of speed, but he had tight coverage on the likes of Tanner Hudson and Antony Auclair. On one play, White fully read Jameis Winston’s pass and got tip of the ball, but Auclair was still able to recover off of the ricochet.

The next session of was where business picked up. All of the blitzing got him to cause plenty of disruption in the backfield during 11 on 11’s and he White ended up with one full sack on the day with another that could have been argued as a half a sack.

He blitzed a majority of the time to the right side of the line, but recorded his full sack blitzing on the opposite side. It was a promising start for him with a long way to go

Bruce Arians reiterated that the Bucs will continue to utilize him with his best attribute.

“He’s not coming off the field,” Arians said. “He’s an excellent blitzer and he can cover, so he’s not coming off the field.”