The Bucs coaching staff called an audible on Wednesday morning, choosing to practice indoors out of the heat, as opposed to the steamy practice fields. The staff also gave several players the day off with quarterback Tom Brady, wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, tight end Rob Gronkowski, linebacker Lavonte David, and defensive end Will Gholston watching from the sidelines. The Bucs were in shells for their Wednesday morning workout and there was no live tackling.

QB Tom Brady and TE Rob Gronkowski – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Without the star power on the field, it gave some of the backups an opportunity to showcase their skills and impress the coaching staff. Some did just that while a few missed their chances.

Practice began with a 30-minute individual period where each positional group spent time with their units working on fundamental drills. We were positioned in the west end zone and had views of the defense as they worked on drills. The defensive line ran a number of drills with standup bags, some that included weaving in and out and using their hands to shed. One big note – defensive tackle Vita Vea was missing the club that had been covering his injured hand. The hand was still wrapped but the cumbersome club was removed. Vea told the media he hurt the hand while working out prior to camp, but didn’t disclose the exact nature of the injury. He did say having the club on was bothersome and prevented him from really using his hand in practice.

Defensive line drills this morning pic.twitter.com/tTkYrz8ouc

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 26, 2020

The outside linebackers also ran a number of drills including one to get better with their footwork. After completing the gauntlet the coach rolled a football in their direction that they had to attempt to pick up on the bounce.

The cornerbacks worked in the middle of the field and appeared to be getting a lot of coaching with DB coach Kevin Ross who spent a good part of the period explaining and demonstrating technique. Later they worked on mirroring simulated receivers coming off the ball.

Footwork and fumble drill for outside linebackers pic.twitter.com/lcvrqVi4hX

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) August 26, 2020

The team moved into an 11-on-11 period deep in the far end zone with Blaine Gabbert getting the first shot. Things started shaky as the first two passes were dropped, including one by Justin Watson on a poorly thrown pass. Next, running back Ronald Jones was unable to hang onto a ball that might have been stripped. There were a few more drops on the morning with veteran LeSean McCoy dropping a pass out of the backfield on a crossing route It was the proverbial “running before catching the ball” as McCoy saw six points in his future had he held onto the pass. McCoy didn’t need the coaches to yell at him as he was yelling at himself following the drop.

Defensively, the Bucs safeties pairings on Wednesday were Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards working together, followed by Antoine Winfield working in tandem with Andrew Adams, and then D’Cota Dixon and Javon Hagan. The safety play was solid on Wednesday although there weren’t a ton of opportunities to make plays on the ball with many throws coming underneath or to backs out of the backfield.

Bucs WR John Hurst – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs lost another receiver on Wednesday as free agent John Hurst who has been having a good camp was hurt on a pass play and later carted off the field. Hurst was running a corner route and on his break pulled up. He never appeared to go down to the turf but was having trouble putting any weight on his left foot. Hurst managed to hobble off the field and trainers sat him a table and removed his cleats and then taped up his ankle and foot before the cart came out to take him back to the Bucs main facility.

The 11-on-11’s took a break and the daily anticipated kicking competition took place with Elliott Fry and Matt Gay each getting five kicks from varying distances and different hashes. Both kickers were perfect on the day and special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong spoke about the completion following practice.

“I think it’s close, I think it’s real close,” Armstrong said about the Bucs’ kicking competition. “I think with Matt, the thing I learned is that he’s got to learn how to be consistent and that’s what we’re looking for and that’s hard to do but that’s what wins. He’s got to learn to be consistent when I come away from last year, you can’t make the 60-yarder and miss the 45. You’ve got to learn to be consistent [because] they all count. They count for three but that’s three, it’s three that we need and we want. So coming away, that’s what I think I’ve learned from that.

“The competition is really tight, both have good legs and I tell you, Fry is giving him a run for his money. They’re competing back and forth and it’s a good competition.”

RB LeSean McCoy –
Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Following the field goal period the offense and defense met for a seven-on-seven period. Tight end Anthony Auclair, Ronald Jones and Cameron Brate all had a good period with Brate really standing out. We really have no idea how the tight end competition will pan out, but it is clearly the deepest position on the team and also appears it could be a focus in the 2020 offense. Reserve Tanner Hudson also had a very strong day and showed off his reliable hands.

The team finished the shorter than normal practice with an 11-on-11 red zone period. Gabbert and Griffin were both sharp at times pushing the ball into the end zone and spreading the ball out to all options. Jaydon Mickens and Cyril Grayson both had scores on the day. Mickens could also be in the mix as the team’s main kick returner and brings a ton of energy to the field when given his reps. Even on a short pass reception Mickens loves to race all the end zone and celebrate.

The Buccaneers will be back on the field on Thursday morning and PewterReport.com will be there to cover all of the action.