Every time we asked Buccaneers players what they were most looking forward to with the joint practices against the Titans, almost all of them, especially the defensive guys, were just excited about being physical with a player that wasn’t wearing a Bucs jersey.

They sure were physical on Wednesday.

It was good to see rookie cornerback Carlton Davis back on the practice field after sitting out the day before. Defensive tackle Vita Vea, cornerback Vernon Hargreaves and linebacker Kendell Beckwith were still sidelined, but that was to be expected.

In the one-on-one drills, the Bucs’ defense and the Titans’ offense went back and forth making their plays (it wasn’t nearly as one-sided as when the Bucs’ offense went one-on-one with the Titans’ defense). However, when they went into their 11-on-11 portion we did note something.

After a good game last week in Miami, rookie safety Jordan Whitehead seems to be gaining the trust of the coaching staff. On Wednesday, they rotated him in with the starters, and we even saw them give Whitehead some single-high responsibility.

The biggest takeaway of the day, to us, was the attitude the Bucs had — and the trash talk that came with it. After just going up against your own guys for three weeks, players like linebacker Kwon Alexander, defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul and others were making plays and making sure the Titans players knew about it. They were yelling and hollering all day.

To us, this was a welcomed sight. You never want things to go too far, but they didn’t on Wednesday, and instead they just showed an edge that was non-existent last season.

Pride in what you do is good.

It wasn’t all tension and animosity, though. After practice, Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was seen going through some pass rush techniques with Titans’ outside linebacker Brian Orakpo.

McCoy is always teaching.

After practice, Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter was asked about Pierre-Paul. Coach chose JPP to be the man to give the final words to the team before they disbursed after practice, and Pierre-Paul gave a very fiery talk to the team. Koetter had high praise for Pierre-Paul’s work ethic as a veteran.

We’ll be back at it tomorrow for another joint practice in Nashville.