FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• In last week’s SR’s Fab 5 column, I revealed that safety Chris Conte would be the subject of PewterReport.com’s veteran Bucs Training Camp Diary and that wide receiver Chris Godwin would be authoring our rookie Bucs Training Camp Diary. You’ve probably noticed that French Canadian tight end Antony Auclair is doing the rookie diary for PewterReport.com instead.

The reason? Despite Godwin’s agent being on board with his client being interviewed for the diary a few times per week, the rookie receiver respectfully turned us down because he wanted to focus solely on football during his rookie year. So we went to rookie running back Jeremy McNichols, and he had the same response for us.

Bucs TE Antony Auclair – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It’s not that Auclair doesn’t care about football or isn’t taking his rookie year seriously by doing the diary, but you have to commend Godwin and McNichols’ decision. Both Godwin and McNichols didn’t want any possible distraction as they maintain their focus on football. So far, Godwin has stood out as a tremendous pass catcher, while McNichols is proving he belongs in the NFL as a third down back at least.

Auclair, the team’s priority undrafted free agent, is drawing raves from the coaching staff in practice for his blocking and his receiving ability and seems like a lock to make the roster if he continues to develop at his current rate.

“He’s doing really good,” Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter said. “We feel like we got a real hidden gem, if you will, being able to get him as a free agent. He’s a guy that weighs 265, we like those big tight ends. We like tight ends that can block and catch. So far, he’s another guy off to a good start.”

Auclair’s latest Bucs Training Camp Diary will appear on PewterReport.com on Saturday, August 4.

Auclair’s Bucs Training Camp Diaries
8-1 Auclair’s Bucs Training Camp Diary: I’ll Share An Embarrassing Story With You

7-29 Auclair’s Bucs Training Camp Diary: I’ve Always Wanted To Compete With The Best

Conte’s Bucs Training Camp Diaries

8-3 Conte’s Bucs Training Camp Diary: DeSean Is Motivated, Hard To Stop

7-30 Conte’s Bucs Training Camp Diary: We Have Some Real Playmakers On Offense

7-28 Conte’s Bucs Training Camp Diary: I Was Really Impressed With Jameis

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• One area that Bucs defensive line coach Jay Hayes wants to see Noah Spence improve in is getting off the ball faster. There were times when Spence hesitated at the line of scrimmage, trying to diagnose the play and read what was going on rather than just getting up-field and doing his assignment.

“I really just want him getting off on the ball,” Hayes said. “If they don’t cover you then go ahead and beat him with speed. If they do get to you, then you have to get your counters involved. That’s the thing. He was stuttering at the line a little bit too much. Just go.”

• Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter raved about meeting with former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden on Wednesday at One Buccaneer Place. The team held a press conference to officially announce the induction of Gruden and Malcolm Glazer, the deceased owner of the Buccaneers, into the Bucs Ring of Honor this year. Koetter shared details about his time with Gruden with the media on Thursday.

“It was awesome,” Koetter said. “I was sitting in the back for the 1:00 p.m. press conference and it was great for me to hear Bryan Glazer talk about his father and then also talk about Coach Gruden. Then when Jon talked, that was fun to be in there. I spent about an hour and a half with Jon in my office before the team meeting and we just talked football. Two football coaches talking ball. That was fun for me. We got one of his old playbooks up in my office; we pulled that out, got a couple laughs on that. Jon’s a film junkie, still, and he’s making me say stuff that I wouldn’t say to too many people. That was fun, and then at 3:30 p.m. Jon talked to the team and he talked from the heart. He talked like he was the coach of the Bucs and it was great. It was a good message and fun to hear.”

Hopefully a good portion of that speech will be shown in the debut of HBO’s Hard Knocks Training Camp With The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday, August 8 at 10:00 p.m. ET. Gruden was given a Bucs polo shirt and a red visor during his press conference and looked like he was still coaching the Buccaneers, which was cool to see.

Bucs GM Jason Licht and former head coach Jon Gruden – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

Koetter was asked if he pulled any plays from Gruden’s playbook to use.

“Oh, of course. There are a lot of them in there. Different terminology. He doesn’t understand our terminology and I don’t understand his, but I’m good at seeing those pictures and knowing what they mean.”

• I broke the story that former Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden was preparing to return to coaching in last week’s SR’s Fab 5. And as I expected, Gruden walked back those comments a bit after Wednesday’s press conference.

“I don’t foresee myself coaching anytime soon,” Gruden told reporters when asked about a possible return to coaching. “But I do like getting as close to the fire as possible.

“All I really have going is football. I don’t know what I would do without it. I’m happy with what I’m doing. I study as if I am a coach. I still make my own breakdowns. I still come up with my own playbook – I just don’t have anybody to give it to.”

Gruden’s comments to PewterReport.com caused a bit of an uproar at ESPN where he is making a reported $6.5 million per year as the network’s highest paid talent, working as a color commentator for Monday Night Football and hosting Gruden’s QB Camp pre-draft series. It was interesting that the story was picked up nationally by every media outlet except for ESPN by Saturday, although I heard it did appear on Pardon The Interruption, the last thing he needed to do was to fan the flames with his current employer by creating more headlines about a possible return to coaching, so his comments were toned down.

“I feel like I’m still coaching,” Gruden said on Wednesday. “I feel like I could’ve gone out there today with a script. Then I see Jameis Winston and I was like, ‘Damn I wish I had that guy.’”

Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

But Gruden continued to speak with reporters and was asked by Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud about what he misses about the game he took on the same sentimental tone he did with me about his longing to return.

“You miss the adversity,” Gruden said. “The journey is what I’m talking about. Helping a guy get better. Seeing a guy get a contract. And seeing a seventh-round choice or free agent make the team.

“I remember telling the pilot take one more lap around, just another 12 minutes, so I can have a beer and enjoy this for just 12 more minutes. Because when the plane lands, it’s all about the next game. When the season ends, it’s all about the next season. It’s a 365-day grind, and that’s what I miss the most. All of it.”

Gruden, who turns 54 on August 17, misses the game terribly. Stroud wrote that he thinks Gruden will return to coaching in a couple of years when he is an empty nester, and I agree wholeheartedly. As I reported in last week’s SR’s Fab 5, Gruden’s youngest son will be a junior in high school this year. I could foresee Gruden looking to get back into the NFL in 2019 or 2020 – but not next year. Hence Gruden’s “I don’t foresee myself coaching anytime soon” statement.

Plus, I have some off-the-record information that only validates my opinion, and there is a good chance that Stroud has it, too, which is why he stated in his article that, “in two years, I think he will be coaching again in the NFL.”

• While rookie tight end O.J. Howard, the Bucs’ first-round draft pick, has looked incredibly good during the first week of training camp, Cameron Brate remains the starting tight end – and with good reason. Brate and wide receiver Adam Humphries have displayed the most consistent hands during the first week of training camp, and that comes as no surprise to his teammates. But it’s also been his blocking that has caught the eye of Buccaneers defenders.

“I gave Cam a compliment on it, too,” Bucs defensive end Will Gholston said. “Once you put on the pads you can definitely tell the difference. At first when he got here he was a little light, but now he’s definitely more stout. He has a couple little things he can work on, but I’m not going to tell him until after camp (laughs)! I think he’s definitely improved as a blocker. And he’s an animal catching the ball. You can watch the film of the 7-on-7’s. He’s a red zone threat and he can stretch the field. That’s going to be crazy with him and O.J. Howard. He’s always working after practice, too. The dude just keeps getting better.”

Brate is usually the last player off the practice field each day, putting in an extra 45 minutes of work either with the quarterbacks or taking a young tight end like Antony Auclair or Tevin Westbrook and working with them one-on-one. Gholston also heaped some praise on Howard.

Bucs TEs O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate – Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

“One of the most complete rookie blocking tight ends I’ve ever seen,” Gholston said. “He doesn’t give his assignments away. Usually you can read it in a rookie’s eyes. He doesn’t give it away. Good communication from my end because I know a couple of their calls. I think he is going to be the real deal, no question.”

• Thanks to you, the popularity of PewterReport.com’s Pewter Nation Podcast continues to grow. Starting this week, we will be recording two podcasts per week throughout training camp and the Bucs regular season. Instead of hour-long podcasts once a week, we will be doing 30-40-minute Pewter Nation Podcasts twice a week.

Click here to listen to the most recent podcast, Episode 20: This One Time At Bucs Camp.

The PewterReport.com staff will be taping one after practice for this weekend with our latest training camp observations, so stay tuned for Episode 21. In addition to listening to the Pewter Nation Podcasts on PewterReport.com you can also subscribe to the free podcasts at PodBean by clicking here and on SoundCloud by clicking here.

• The @PewterReport Twitter account continues to grow by leaps and bounds thanks to you, Pewter Nation. We reached 26,000 followers at the start of Bucs training camp. Join the legion of Tampa Bay fans that get their news from @PewterReport and PewterReport.com by clicking here to follow us on Twitter. If you’re on Facebook you can click here to follow us on Facebook, too.

• When Bucs free safety Chris Conte missed two games late in the season with a chest injury, the injury was more severe than most outside of the team knew. Conte revealed the serious nature of his chest injury to me when I interviewed him for the initial Conte’s Bucs Training Camp Diary. This segment didn’t make the cut, but he really opened up to me about last year’s injury and I wanted to share it with you.

“I had a bruised lung,” Conte said. “I hit [Seahawks tight end] Jimmy Graham and immediately started coughing up blood. It was a good amount of blood. Maybe a cup of blood – it was scary how much blood I was coughing up. I went to get a chest x-ray and then I stayed the night in the hospital. It was a bruise so I had to wait for it to heal. The bleeding stopped and they monitored me overnight. It was uncomfortable because my lung wouldn’t fill up with air. It was hard to breathe. It was scary. It was like having anxiety or a panic attack where you want to get air but you can’t. And a Xanex isn’t going to help that.”

That’s scary stuff, but good insight from Conte, who is actually a fascinating guy. Make sure you check out his exclusive training camp diary twice a week on PewterReport.com.

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