Coming off of two touchdowns each, O.J. Howard and Adam Humphries have been the noted talk of the Bucs for their performances at Carolina last week. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken has all the confidence in both players, seeing it since day one, especially in Humphries case.

Monken also sees the progression in the second year tight end Howard. What he wants to see next is some improvement in blocking, he believes he can be a complete player.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick rang the same sentiments of his offensive coordinator when it came to the offensive outburst of Howard and Humphries.

The grizzled QB then took a stroll down memory lane after he was reminded that his opponent this week, Alex Smith, was also part of his 2005 draft class. Fitzpatrick pointed out with a sarcastic wit of humor that Smith was drafted over 200 picks before him. He complemented the former number one overall pick after.

Fitzpatrick then rattled off a number of other quarterbacks who were drafted in the same class as him, including Aaron Rodgers, Jason Campbell, Derek Anderson, and Matt Cassel.

His attention soon turned to the rest of the Washington Redskins’ defense, particularly the secondary. Players such as Josh Norman and Fitzpatrick’s former teammate in Houston, D.J. Swearinger, are among the loudest trash talkers in the league. Fitzpatrick is looking forward to hearing what they got on Sunday.

The locker room portion of practice was up and next, and you guessed it, Howard and Humphries were front and center.

Another fun wrinkle we saw in Carolina was Humphries being moved into the backfield for a play near the goal line. Humphries discussed what it was like in a new role, crediting the coaches for putting him in that spot.

Playing in Carolina was almost a home game for Humphries as he grew up in South Carolina and played his college ball at Clemson. He certainly delivered in front of friends and family with two touchdowns, in fact, Humphries hadn’t scored two touchdowns in a game since his junior year at Clemson.

O.J. Howard was then up and was asked about the trash talk he might hear from Washington. He said he’s not to worried about it, as he doesn’t let that go to his head. Funny enough, Howard said that it’s his former Alabama teammates that talk the most to him, but everyone should be happy after defeating LSU over the weekend.

When it came to the game itself, Howard brought up the physicality of the Redskins’ defense, stating that’s what makes them so good. It should be another great challenge for the second year tight end.

Last up was one of the more bizarre starts to a press conference in 2018 that has been seen around these parts. To set the scene, last week on his radio show, head coach Dirk Koetter said that the candy “Bit-O-Honey” was his favorite Halloween candy when asked about it. So someone today jokingly gave him a bag of the candy, he then clarified that it’s not his favorite, he just had it on the mind.

Koetter offered the candy to everyone in the media, tossing it to many in the front and even showing off his arm strength to the camera people in the back.

Once everything was settled, the football questions were back. Vita Vea was a topic of focus as the coach entertained questions of what he thinks of Vea so far in his rookie season. For Koetter’s thoughts, the best is yet to come.

Vea along with Humphries, and Howard will look to continue their positive trend. They and the rest of the Bucs have their backs against the wall on Sunday when Washington comes into town.