Saturday Night Practice Notes And Thoughts

August 4th, 2012

The weather-delayed, steamy night practice at the New Sombrero drew a solid crowd tonight. Many left early, but Joe estimates there were still at least 10,000 or so in the house when practice resumed following the delay.

Here are some of Joe’s impressions:

*Plenty of 11-on-11 work with contact, in first-team offense versus first team defense, Dallas Clark beat rookie hopeful Leonard Johnson for long gain, and Johnson showed some bad tackling form.

*Keith Tandy and Cody Grimm were the second-team safeties. Tandy and Ahmad Black ran with the first team, as did Larry Asante a bit. Mark Barron and Ronde Barber sat out scrimmaging.

*Doug Martin wowed with a sharp cutback run against the second-team D. He went left, saw no daylight and broke it back right for a big gain. Overall, LeGarrette Blount and Martin appeared to have an even split of first-team work. Mossis Madu got his fair share of time with the first team, as well. Madu looks very comfortable in a third-down back role.

*The second-team offense worked against the first-team defense. Michael Smith was stuffed twice on run plays, and wide receiver Wallace Wright made a stunning catch with Aqib Talib all over him. But a toss soon after to Wright was not handled well and was picked off by Ahmad Black after a deflection.

*When the first teams squared off, Blount broke a tackle in the hole (perhaps the first great helmet crack of the night) and Black appeared lucky the whistle was blown before Blount reached him in the second level.

*Eric Wright was a very vocal presence on defense. Clearly getting guys in position.

*Blount was late releasing for a check down and Freeman threw the ball away at Blount’s feet. Not pretty.

*That drive ended with a Preston Parker drop, but Connor Barth nailed a 53-yard field goal — with plenty of distance to spare — to cap it. Greg Schiano really liked that kick.

*In more first-team on first-team work, Myron Lewis really held his own against Vincent Jackson and nicely batted down a pass over the middle. With the Bucs’ depth depleted, Lewis got plenty of first-team reps.

*Lavonte David does a lot of blitzing. The dude is extraordinarily quick.

*Undrafted rookie cornerback Marquese Wheaton had lots of trouble with Tiquan Underwood, who ran with the second team.

*Anthony Gaitor, with the second-team defense, had a bad pass interference penalty covering Sammie Stroughter.

*In full line pass rush drills, Gerald McCoy seemed to be the only guy getting through. Not much off the edge from first-team defense.

*Michael Bennett was still on the sidelines, and Donald Penn was seen riding a stationary bike through a good portion of practice.

*Aqib Talib did more work than usual on a variety of special teams units.

*Luke Stocker’s route running really left Joe shaking his head. Didn’t look good. Not crisp. Stocker’s either slow, or was not working at full speed tonight.

*During a 7-on-7 drill while working with the offense, Greg Schiano called timeout right before a snap. Details!

*Also in 7-on-7, Dallas Clark dropped a TD pass in the back of the end zone. Eric Wright blanketed Vincent Jackson on a fade route but the Josh Freeman throw was too low regardless. Sammie Strougther easily broke free from rookie CB Keith Tandy for a TD.

10 Responses to “Saturday Night Practice Notes And Thoughts”

  1. Fired Greg Olson! Says:

    Joe, was that Clark reception on Leonard Johnson the play where Johnson gambled, early in the 11 on 11?

    In regards to: “Dallas Clark beat rookie hopeful Leonard Johnson for long gain, and Johnson showed some bad tackling form.”

  2. ben Says:

    Got to get on the field level for a lil bit and before i thought dallas clark looked small, he looks way bigger in person

  3. Deminion Says:

    Thanks Joe

  4. raphael Says:

    that TV commercial on this site is obnoxious and annoying….really joe ?

  5. HFXBUC Says:

    I wasn’t there but the descriptions didn’t make it sound like the team was playing well. Is Freeman playing well overall?

    For the record, Joe just said something negative about Blount.

  6. Bucnjim Says:

    The origonal crowd before the rain was probably the biggest I’ve seen for a night practice. Even after the rain a very large turnout! The team looks fast and they play with much more urgency. The offense is ahead of the D, but that’s no surprise. Freeman looked Great! The D really played hard and held their own especially in the secondary where they got their share of passes knocked down. The O line is everything advertised; big and dominating! Jeremy Trueblood is not better in pass protection though. He was getting beat in drills by George Johnson on a regular basis. Decent run blocking though! The linebackers look really fast, but not much hard hitting so it’s tough to tell without real game action. Overall; the team as a whole looks much faster and more in sync. Way less mistakes then I’ve seen in the previous couple of years. Also; it looks like we’re in great shape at the RB position as well. All of these guys practiced hard and no on was slacking. Nice Change if you ask me!

  7. admin Says:

    Joe here,

    @Fired Greg Olson — Yes that was Dallas Clark,

    @HFXBUC – Freeman had an excellent TD to Williams, tippy-toe catch in back of end zone. Joe forget to mention that. Overall, though, Freeman isn’t razor sharp, but certainly nothing that looks alarming.

    @Raphael – The video (which isn’t up right now) turns off easily by clicking pause. … Joe’s got bills to pay like the next guy.

  8. Mike J Says:

    Thanks, Joe.
    This is the second reference I have seen lately to Tandy at safety, which is what I predicted when he was drafted.

  9. stevek Says:

    How did the D-Line look? Were we able to get any pressure?

  10. csidedave Says:

    Does anyone know the name of that cheerleader from several years ago? I get distracted easily.