In the final day of training camp, the Bucs defense was without a handful of their key players, but that didn’t stop the ones in pads from making plays.

In addition to the names above, the Bucs’ defense was also without Beau Allen and Mitch Unrein. This loss of defensive tackle availability has forced the team to use defensive end Will Gholston on the inside next to Gerald McCoy on the first team. That may not be ideal for the Bucs, but it is ideal for Gholston, whose value is as high as its ever been due to the injuries around him.

Speaking of fill-in starters, with Justin Evans out, rookie safety Jordan Whitehead was running with the first team. Whitehead was wearing a black non-contact jersey all week, so we’ll see if he’s good to go come game time on Friday night.

If he is, he’ll likely start next to Chris Conte.

It was a hot one out there on Wednesday, but defensive line coach Brentson Buckner didn’t take it easy on his guys just because of the heat.

After one drill where the defensive linemen had to push a pad 10 yards up and 10 yards back, all while down in a stance, he had his players breathing heavy and dumping water on their heads. Coach Buck was pushing them to the limit.

As the final days of the preseason near, it’s time for some of the fringe roster guys to put up or shut up. For rookie linebacker Jack Cichy, he helped his case with the play seen above.

When the team moved into their indoor practice facility, the defensive starters gave us the play of the day: a pick-6 by linebacker Lavonte David. Quarterback Jameis Winston thought he could get the ball away from David in zone coverage, but David reminded Winston why he’s the highest-rated Buccaneer in Madden.

We’ll see how the Bucs depleted defense takes this momentum into their third preseason game on Friday.