Here are some quick highlights from Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp, where ESPN’s “First Take” took center stage.
As always, we’ll knock the injury news out of the way first. The Buccaneers announced that defensive end George Johnson will be placed on season ending injured reserve with a hip injury and, as a result, signed defensive end Martin Ifedi to replace him. The usual guys missed practice today – Caleb Benenoch, J.R. Sweezy, Louis Murphy, and Cassanova McKinzy. Other than that, no new injury news to note today.
Kevin Pamphile did miss practice, but it was for a personal issue, not an injury. Here’s what Dirk Koetter had to say about it after practice;
"“Kevin was excused today for a personal issue, and I’m not sure but it’s nothing that is going to be long term, it’s something that just had to happen. Injuries or guys missing [practice], we just have to deal with it. That’s all you can do, you’ve got restrictions on how many guys you can have here and injuries are an unfortunate part. Kevin’s situation is not an injury but we just have to deal with it. That’s how you build your depth and that’s what we have to do.”"
On the heels of the (somewhat) controversial news that Cameron Brate is currently sitting atop the depth chart for the tight end position, Jameis Winston hit him for a touchdown in practice, showing that their chemistry is continuing to grow after last season;
Pewter Report was also covering what seems to be a tight race between receivers Evan Spencer and Jonathan Krause, as both men fight to earn a roster spot. These are some examples of the back and forth in practice (all four tweets were sent consecutively)
Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times got some nice videos of Krause during 1-on-1 drills;
With ESPN’s “First Take” on site, they sat down with some of the players after practice. For those who may have missed it, here are a few highlights from the show;
Koetter touched briefly on some blitz protections that are changing and implementing those things today. Like most other things, it will take some work.
"“Yeah, both sides [were picking it up]. Again, that was all third-and-long stuff. We were working on some new protections and the defense gave us some new pressures that they put in today, so there was a lot of things that we hadn’t seen before, on both sides. Jameis did some really good things and he missed a couple. That’s ongoing but we’re getting so many great looks that are going to help us over the course of the year. It’s not like we’re really focusing in on a gameplan where a team might only give us a handful of things, they’re throwing a lot at us. It’s good for both sides.”"
Next: Dirk Koetter Shows A Resemblance To A Boisterous NFL Coach?
The Buccaneers are back at it again tomorrow. Practice begins at 8:45 a.m. and is open to the public.