Editor’s Note: Our own Steven Thompson went to camp and took some rough notes while he was out there. 28,000 Bucs fans showed up at Raymond James for Practice, which give me a good sign on attendance for this year. If the Bucs can win a few games out of the gate, The Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts Nationally Televised games should stand a good chance of being sold out.
Observations from camp:
8/5– Practice was delayed for about 40 minutes due to a bad storm that rolled through but eventually passed and the Bucs were able to get a full practice in. Some people that stood out to me were Mike Williams, Sammy Stroughter, Donald Penn, Michael Bennett, Adrian Clayborn, and Mason Foster. All these guys had pretty good days and stood out. Josh Freeman didn’t have his sharpest day though he didn’t play bad by any stretch just had a few bad throws and also threw a pick on 11-11 late in practice. Watching the new kicker/punter Koenen I can see why Dominick did what he could to get him in a Bucs uniform. Not only does the kid have a booming foot but the hang time on each kick was great and he seemed to have an uncanny ability to drop the ball and have it die just before the end zone. The most enjoyable part of practice for me was watching Donald Penn and Adrian Clayborn rep after rep. Both guys won some and lost some but u can tell both players are benefitting from the competition. Rah has said Clayborn is an angry worker and from watching practice it’s easy to see why he has this assessment of the young linemen.
READ MORE for Training Camp Notes by Steven Thompson….
Bowers didn’t practice, but Michael Bennett did shine in his time at left end and had probably the best day of the guys on defense. McCoy also was very active and quick off the ball he won most of his battles when they did their 2-1 (2 off linemen vs. 1 def linemen) drills. McCoy did suffer a shoulder injury at the end of practice but Dominick said it was just a stinger and that it wasn’t serious. McCoy was able to attend practice the next day and participate but that practice was a walk through in anticipation of the night practice at Ray Jay. Practice was spirited as a scuffle with Kellen Winslow and Elbert Mack broke out though was quickly broken up and during the 2-1’s I told u about Demar Dotson and one of the undrafted rookie defensive linemen also got into it a bit. This wasn’t the sharpest practice I’ve seen yet as the defense at times had trouble getting a push with consistency and Josh Freeman wasn’t on his A game.
8/6– The always exciting night practice at Ray jay was a good time for all. Overall a pretty good turnout with most of the lower bowl filled minus a few sections behind the goal line. The night started off with a competition of kickoff returners seeing how many balls they could catch and hold onto. The winner was Michael Spurlock with 6, also the defending champion. After this drill and stretching and individual drills they moved on to goal line stands. The offense won for the most part. First play was a fake to the RB then Freeman found Kellen Winslow in the back of the end zone over Geno Hayes for a TD. Cory Lynch had a nice TD saving tackle on the line and Josh Johnson also had a nice TD throw to the back of the end zone much like freeman’s and K2’s. There was some 1-1 off linemen vs. def linemen that got the crowd going. The offensive line for the most part dominated. Trueblood and Bowers went and the Trueblood won 1 and bowers won 1. The other side was a different story. All through camp Penn and Clayborn have been going at it and Clayborn was holding his own but not tonight. Both snaps were won by Penn as on the first Clayborn tried to speed by outside but was pushed and pushed past the qb. The second snap Clayborn tried a pull rush strait into Penn which was unsuccessful and Penn just pushed Clayborn to the ground almost sitting on him. Roy Miller did a little better job against Jeff Fain but wasn’t awarded with a win. Next was basically one on one with a WR or RB vs. a LB or CB. a Couple of highlights were Earnest Graham smoking rookie Mason Foster w a little juke move and catching a nice over the head pass. EJ Biggers had a very nice interception where he stayed with the WR the whole way and at the last minute leaped to steal the ball and get the INT. the highlight of this drill was Mike Williams and Aqib Talib going 1-1. Williams didn’t get off the line great and wasn’t able really to get much separation so Talib was stride for stride with him. The throw from Freeman wasn’t the greatest as it was a bit long but Talib absolutely should have had an interception on the play as the ball sailed right through his hands and chest. Overall I thought the tempo and crispness of practice was pretty good and you could tell some guys had a little extra with the crowd motivation behind them. Some guys that stood out to me at the night practice were Josh Freeman, Quincy black, Michael Bennett, Dezmon Brisco, and Talib to name just a few
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