Thanks to a morning rain shower and some nearby lightning, Day Four of Bucs training camp was short and sweet.
COVID-19 protocol has left some media members on the outside, including yours truly. And I say that in a literal and figurative fashion. My day ended once the team moved into the indoor practice facility, but fortunately, the storms held off long enough to where I could glean some information from Wednesday’s practice.
Today’s takeaways -like the Bucs training camp practice- will be shorter than usual, but hey, something is better than nothing, right?
Veteran maintenance day equals more playing time for the youngsters
There were quite a few veterans taking the day off today. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Ryan Jensen, and Jason Pierre-Paul all rested. It really opened the door for the backup quarterbacks, the backup tight ends, Robert Hainsey, and Joe Tryon to show what they can do.
Both Hainsey and Tryon worked with the ones, which obviously gave them valuable reps. Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin had a pretty good day while Kyle Trask was up-and-down; mostly down. Tryon continues to impress and Hainsey looks to be settling in at center. In all, Wednesday was a good learning day for a lot of the youngsters.
Chris Godwin misses practice, again
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians has made it clear that he will be tight-lipped when it comes to injuries and absences during training camp. Godwin missed practice for the second straight day, so you have to wonder if there is some kind of ailment going on. If he’s not practicing on Friday after Thursday’s break, then it will be pretty obvious that something’s up. But until then, we will have to wait.
The reserve tight ends continue to show out on the fourth day of Bucs training camp
As mentioned earlier, Gronkowski had a maintenance day today and O.J. Howard didn’t practice, so it gave the trio of Tanner Hudson, Codey McElroy, and Jerell Adams even more chances to show what they can do.
And just like the last three days leading up to Wednesday, they balled out. Gronk said after practice that all three are capable of playing in this league and that all three have performed very well over the course of camp.
This won’t be an easy decision, figuring out who the TE4 is. But that’s what you want in camp.
Tom Brady – the most versatile quarterback in the league
Brady had a maintenance day, but that didn’t stop him from being as involved in possible. He was lining up on defense across from the running backs as they caught passes, he took handoffs, and he even caught a pass at one point.
Arians said after practice that he told Brady to put his “coaching hat” on before the day began. They most certainly took advantage of his off day.
Robert Hainsey had a solid day and is “getting better and better”
The rookie third-round pick practiced with the ones all day and outside of his first snap, he had a solid day, per Arians.
Hainsey not only provides the Bucs depth, but a potential plan for the future at the position. The fact that -per Arians- he’s getting “better and better” bodes well for both the short- and long-term future.
Leonard Fournette continues to receive the initial snaps at running back during Bucs training camp
When the Bucs being their 11-vs-11 drills, the fifth-year back has received the initial snaps for four straight days now. So, it looks like he is currently the Bucs “starter” four days into training camp.
The Bucs are taking a break from training camp with an off day Thursday, but Bucs Report will return Friday -weather pending, of course- with another report from camp!
If you’ve missed any of the previous reports, you can check them out below:
