The Bucs took the practice field at the AdventHealth Training Center on Thursday for the second day of training camp. Temperatures were in the upper 80s under clear and sunny skies. Every player not on the PUP list (physically unable to perform) participated except for wide receiver Chris Godwin.

The biggest new of the day was the potential loss of Bucs starting center Ryan Jensen. It looked like Jensen was rolled up on by rookie defensive tackle Logan Hall when he was shoved into him by guard Aaron Stinnie on a blocking rep. Jensen was carted off the field and the early prognosis doesn’t appear to be a good one. Though general manager Jason Licht said it will be a few days until the extent of the injury is known.

“Right now, we feel terrible for Jensen,” Licht said. “I don’t have any update on that [and] we won’t for some time. We have tests – some tests you have to wait a couple of days before you can get them. You have to wait for swelling and things like that to go down, so I don’t have an update on that other than that it was a knee injury and we’re hoping for the best, but we’ll have updates on that later.”

The Bucs are expected to roll with backup center Robert Hainsey as the starter and not sign veteran J.C. Tretter, who was cut by the Browns. Nick Leverett will now be Tampa Bay’s backup center.

New Bucs WR Jones Puts On A Show

Donning the number 85 jersey, Julio Jones is notably bigger than most of what the Bucs have in the receiver room. The first look of the Tom Brady-to-Jones connection came during red zone receiving drill. Jones looked smooth in and out of his breaks and caught everything thrown his way. He high-pointed one pass in the back of the end zone to the ovation of fans. Who were already infatuated with the seven-time Pro Bowler.

Moving into 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills Jones continued to impress. Jones would finish the day with four receptions on four targets. Two of which went for touchdowns. On one of them Jones laid out for the ball on a pass from Brady. The other came on a contested catch on a pass from Blaine Gabbert with rookie Kyler McMichael in tight coverage.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was pleased with Jones’ production today but remarks he still has some work to do until he can absorb the full playbook.

“Well, he can still run,” Bowles said. “He’s a big target and he’s still quick. His first day was pretty good. It’s just a matter of getting him caught up on the scheme.”

After Early Mistake Brady Turns It Up

Bucs WR Russell Gage – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Brady’s first pass play of the day didn’t turn out the way he would’ve liked it. On a deep ball to Mike Evans, Antoine Winfield, Jr. put himself in the perfect position to make a play on the ball. And that’s exactly what he did coming down with a diving interception. Edge rusher Joe Tryon- Shoyinka was bringing the heat on the play that rushed the throw.

After that hiccup, Brady went on to have a strong day. He completed 14- 24 passes and a touchdown. Most of his incompletions came on drops or pass breakups, but were generally put in catchable areas. He did have one overthrow and one play that would’ve been called for pass interference had there been refs out there.

His favorite target of the day was receiver Russell Gage, who reeled in five of his passes. One of which was a diving grab, which turned out to be a brilliant contested catch versus Carlton Davis III.

Defense Steps Up On Thursday

Bowles must like what he’s seen in the early days of camp from his defense. Making plays has been an emphasis and on Thursday the defense continued to do just that. For the second straight day, Bucs came down with two interceptions.

The aforementioned Winfield pick was the first one. A beautiful sideline pick by outside linebacker Cam Gill versus Gabbert was the second.

The pressure was coming from the linebacking corp with would-be-sacks from Tryon-Shoyinka and linebacker Lavonte David on Thursday. And the defensive backs kept their hands active in the passing game with breakups by cornerback Jamel Dean, safeties Keanu Neal and Logan Ryan, and cornerback Zyon McCollum.

Special Teams Competition Ramping Up

It was Jose Borregales’ time to shine today as things in the kicking competition ramp up. Wednesday saw incumbent kicker Ryan Succop go 6-6 on his kicks. Although none his kicks came from beyond 36 yards. However, Borregales showed off his range on Thursday, nailing 7-8 of his attempts. The longest came from 51 yards. If he can continue to show consistency, especially from long range, he may have this competition wrapped up sooner than later.

As expected, the Bucs had the same nine players as yesterday taking reps at punt returner. Licht said they have been encouraged by what they’ve seen from Darden this offseason but will give everyone a chance to compete for the position. That includes someone we haven’t seen back there yet in Giovani Bernard.

“That’s going to be ongoing right now,” Licht said. “We think Jaelon Darden has shown a lot of improvement from last year. We have some young guys that are going to compete for that. We have Gio, who has done a nice job for us in the past. So there is going to be a lot of work there to see who is going to be the best one for us.”

– Adam Slovin contributed to this report