Buccaneers vs. Dolphins: Rapid Reaction
By David Rumsey
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Miami Dolphins by a score of 22-17 on Thursday night, finishing the preseason with a record of 2-2. Only a few first-team players started for the Bucs as most key guys, including Jameis Winston, had the final game off.
Mike Glennon, the Bucs backup QB, didn’t look great in the first half playing against the Dolphins second-string defense. Glennon made a few bad decisions and threw two interceptions; he finished the night 11/20 for 141 yards, 1 TD & 2 INT.
Even though Glennon didn’t look great, a couple of his receivers did. Undrafted rookies Adam Humphries and Rannell Hall both shined as they made cases to be part of the Bucs final 53-man roster.
Humphries showed off his good hands as he had two brilliant catches and a TD on his way to to four receptions for 62 yards. With his speed and ability to get open its hard to say he didn’t look like a Julian Edelman-type player out there, or maybe it was just the no. 11 on his jersey.
Hall had four receptions for 63 yards and made some tough catches in traffic. The former UCF WR definitely put his name in the discussion to be an extra receiver if the Bucs choose to keep more than expected.
Humphries’ and Hall’s performances beg the question: will both 5th and 6th round picks Kenny Bell and Kaelin Clay make the Bucs roster? It’s hard to imagine cutting two draft picks, but neither has been completely healthy this preseason while Humphries and Hall have looked really good.
Rookie kicker Kyle Brindza, who the Bucs traded for just a few days ago, showed off his big leg and almost certainly won the starting kicking job. Brindza nailed 55 and 57-yard FGs and converted a PAT; he booted all of his kickoffs five or more yards deep in the end zone. Everyone assumed that it was Brindza’s job to lose after the Bucs traded for him, and Brindza definitely didn’t lose it.
While GM Jason Licht visited the broadcast booth in the 4th quarter to discuss the 2015 season he announced that the team had agreed to terms with veteran CB Tim Jennings, who visited the team on Tuesday. Jennings will bring some more depth to the Bucs secondary; the Bucs cut injured CB Leonard Johnson (who was supposed to start at Nickel CB) when they trimmed their roster down to 75 players.
The Bucs did suffer a few injuries throughout the night, the most serious being to DE Larry English, who was carted off the field after getting hit in the knees. Offensive lineman Garret Gilkey may have not made the roster anyways, but he was also carted off the field.
Jason Licht and Lovie Smith now have two days to decide which players will make up the Bucs final 53-man roster as all cuts have to be made by 4 p.m. on Saturday. There was definitely some impressive play at the receiver position that should make for some interesting decisions.
And not that you need reminding, but the Bucs season opener against the Tennessee Titans is now just 10 days away.