Pewter Report’s Bucs Camp Diaries, a popular training camp feature on PewterReport.com, returns in 2023. We are excited to have two really good players to profile in veteran offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs and rookie defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, the Bucs’ first-round pick.

Wirfs will offer up his perspective of Dave Canales’ new offense and learning to play left tackle this summer. Kancey will take readers through the experience of rookie life in his first training camp in Tampa Bay in the Bucs defense. Look for Wirfs’ and Kancey’s Camp Diaries each week throughout training camp and the preseason.

Tristan Wirfs is perhaps the most talented player on the Bucs roster. Entering his fourth year in Tampa Bay, Wirfs won a Super Bowl during his rookie season and has been a back-to-back Pro Bowler and All-Pro. Now he’s facing the challenge of maintaining that high level of play switching from right tackle to left tackle, replacing Donovan Smith. Wirfs is emerging as one of the team’s leaders at the young age of 24 and will share his great perspective with Bucs fans during training camp.

Tristan Wirfs Camp Diary – Entry 1: I Feel As Strong As I’ve Ever Been

Tristan Wirfs Camp Diary – Entry 2: I Slid Into Luke McCombs’ DMs!

The Heat Works To Our Advantage

By Tristan Wirfs As Told To Scott Reynolds

It’s been hot. Tuesday was really hot. Monday was really hot. Saturday was a freaking meat-grinder in the afternoon. It’s been pretty hot for a stretch of days for us. I weigh around 345 pounds, and I lose about 10 to 14 pounds of weight each practice. It just depends on how much sodium I have in me.

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Our nutritionist put a plan together for me. We did a sweat test this year to see why I was cramping so much. You guys probably remember me locking up with cramps in the past, and they saw that I lose a ton of sodium in my sweat. So I need to replace that and I have. This year –  knock on wood – I haven’t cramped up. But yeah, I lose about 10 to 14 pounds each practice. If I’m really on top of it, maybe just six to eight pounds.

Coach [Todd] Bowles has put together a great schedule for us honestly with three days on and one day off. In the past we would practice four days in a row before we had a day off, and I think you’re seeing fewer injuries because of our new schedule – again, knock on wood.

Just getting your legs back – that’s the biggest thing.  And staying on top of your hydration, which as you know, is really hard down here with how hot it is and how much you sweat. They told us after OTAs that this was what the schedule was going to be with three days on and one day off, and it’s worked out great for us so far.

Getting Hot And Bothered In Camp

Devin [White] really got me the other day with no pads on, so I saw him getting it on with Luke [Goedeke] on Monday. Pushing and shoving. I said, “All right I’ve got to go help my boy. I’ve got to get Devin back.”

That’s just how it is in camp. You leave everything out there on the field and then you come in locker room. Devin is still my boy, but I’m always going to have Luke’s back. And he’s always going to have mine. Luke is always looking to get into something, too. That’s camp for you. It was hot and I was pissed off, and we just got through with inside run drills. I figured it was time. I had to get it out of my system.

Nick Leverett got into it on Tuesday with K.J. Britt. I was surprised it took so long with those two. I figured it would be like Day 2 for those guys to go at it. Nick got his in. That’s the fun part of camp – getting to go at it with the boys. It’s always love at the end, but you have to let your frustrations out. Everyone’s always hot and tired and sore. So you have to let off some steam.

Bring On The 1:00 Games

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Practicing in this heat I really feel like we have a home-field advantage in Tampa, especially with all of these 1:00 p.m. games this year. That’s going to be nice.

With Tom Brady we had all of these prime time games at night, and they are fun too. But I was looking at the weather up in Buffalo and it was freakin’ 72 degrees the other day. If we had camp and it was 72 degrees it would be a breeze for us.

Camp down here sucks. So let’s play those games at 1:00 p.m. during the hottest part of the day and see how those teams that come down from the north deal with it. I’d like to say that the heat works to our advantage because it’s just so brutal down here.

Bucs Ground Game Coming Together

I feel like the past two days we’ve had some really good run periods. We’ve emphasized it and we’re knocking out a lot of four- and five-yards runs. We have to celebrate those. That’s not easy to do in this league. We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to do that the last couple of years, so when we do it – when we have those good gains, those good runs we have to be excited about it.

I felt like we did a great job of that on Tuesday. It was a good day. It’s going to be great to lean on those defensive linemen and kind of grind it out and wear them out. It’s so much better than having their ears pinned back and teeing off on us with a pass rush.

New Team, New Identity

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

I’m excited for our first preseason game on Friday. I think everyone is. Going against a different person … you know we all get chippy towards the end of the camp because you’re hitting the same guy, you’re hitting your brother over and over again. I am looking forward to being able to go against somebody else, see some new stuff and see all my hard work come to fruition.

We’re a new team and we have a new identity. For three years our identity was Tom. Everyone knows I love Tom to death, but you know now it’s time to write our own story and create our own path.

I’m just looking forward to taking it one game at a time, personally. I’m not trying to get ahead of myself. I’m trying to be in the moment, play in the moment right now. I know the work we’ve put in this offseason and this camp so far. Now let’s put it on display.

Kyle Trask Is More In Command

It’s been a great QB competition so far between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. Both of them have been great. I feel like Kyle’s kind of coming out of his shell a little bit. He’s been more decisive, more in command. I got to be in the huddle with him a few times over the past couple of years, and I hate saying he was timid. I’m not trying to call him timid, but you know coming in for two snaps here or there over the last couple of years is tough. Now he’s got a more command and more control over the huddle.

Baker has just always got that swag about him, and it’s been great to see. It’s just been a great competition so far between those two. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out now that the preseason is here.

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