Had a helluva practice today.

If there was a star of practice aside from Russell Shepard and Kenny Bell (yup, when Kenny Bell shines, you know the Bucs are still in underwear football), it was easily cornerback Alterraun Verner.

Yes, yes, yes. Joe knows it is underwear football and it is July 28 and it was the first practice of training camp. The way Verner flashed today, one could easily see why he was a former Pro Bowler and why the Bucs jumped on him to fill the void in throwing future Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis out on Martin Luther King Blvd.

What happened to Verner the past two seasons, who knows?

This morning, Verner was every bit the stud the Bucs thought he would be. At one point, he totally jumped a route on a short pass from America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, to the left side. Verner dropped what would have been a Deion-strut into the end zone for a pick-six.

“Blown hands on that one,” Verner joked after practice.

So Joe asked Verner when he makes a play like that, when he shows up Jameis that badly, if he runs smack at Jameis like, “No. 1 pick, my foot!”

Joe sort of knew the answer to the question as Verner is a laid back, chill guy (and a friend of Jameis). No, Verner said. No running smack at The Franchise.

“I don’t do that,” Verner said. “Jameis is going to have his mix-ups and then he is going to have his bombs. He will make his plays. But that is what we do here: have iron sharpen iron.

“We know what type of quarterback he is and hopefully he knows what kind of secondary we can be. It just makes us better. No point in trash-talking. He knows.”

Then Verner flashed a devious smile like he wanted to run smack, but he’s too much of a good teammate and good guy to pull that.

He knows.