Day 2 Minicamp Notes, Nuggets & News
June 14th, 2018
It’s off to the air conditioning! Joe gleefully jogged across the One Buc Palace practice fields to the indoor facility for viewing of Wednesday’s two-hour practice. Here’s your need-to-know:
* Ronald Jones up the middle for a four-yard touchdown. Yes, underwear football where a running back doesn’t have to worry about getting bruised.
* Jacquizz Rodgers scores on the very same play on the next play.
* INTERCEPTION! Someone steps on Ryan Fitzpatrick’s foot as the pocket collapses and Fitz stumbles away from trouble and throws off his back foot into the end zone as he is falling backwards. Great pursuit and tip by rookie safety Jordan Whitehead. Ball is picked by safety Isaiah Johnson.
*Offensive coordinator Todd Monken didn’t like the rhythm of the red-zone, walk-through like period. Jameis Winston is barking rhythm after that to the offense.
*Mike Evans beats Brent Grimes easily on a slant in the end zone. And here comes the slam dunk over the goal posts. Grimes is annoyed.
*11-on-11 red zone kicks up and it’s a draw to Peyton Barber, followed by a short pass to Barber to the 4 yard line. In a real game, Lavonte David is in position to completely blow him up.
*The run-pass-option appears and it’s not smooth, but it is a touchdown (underwear football) for Ronald Jones.
*Adam Humphries either couldn’t handle a rocket in the end zone (red zone) or Hargreaves had a nice breakup. Regardless, coverage was there.
*Back to Humphries and he shows some hops and catches and toe-taps in the end zone in a crowd.
*Perhaps nothing is more fun in these spring practices than watching Brentson Buckner coach players through drills. Joe spent a lot of time on that. Video later today.
* Alan Cross with a sweet outstretched catch down middle for a touchdown from Fitz.
* Bernard Reedy on a bubble screen from Ryan Griffin.
* Fitz rifles a pass during seven-on-seven drills in a crowd and threads the needle to find tight end Jason Reese for a 10-yard touchdown.
* Koetter seems ready for some football. He called a special teams play for the punt team and sharply slapped his hands together.
*Oh, no. Another out-of-sync moment by Jameis and DeSean Jackson. Three-yard pass in red zone lands short. Jackson comes back for ball, dives but can’t grab it.
*Jameis too high for O.J. Howard.
*DROP! Ronald Jones in the red zone, dumpoff pass.
*Man, the Bucs’ third-team defense looks bad. But more important, Vita Vea and Jason Pierre-Paul look awfully special.
*Plenty of juice in Charles Sims’ legs.
*Davonte Bond with a pass breakup on Barber.
* Mike Evans catches a short pass from Jameis for a touchdown and Vernon Hargreaves looked hopeless and helpless on the play as Jameis made sure he put the ball where the former Texas high school basketball star could grab the ball, and Hargreaves couldn’t. In general, Hargreaves looks so comfortable and instinctive in the slot. Different player when he’s on the outside.
* Ronald Jones with a monster gain up middle. He sure does have a burst. But again, underwear football.
* Jones around left end… to the house.
* Evans catches a short pass from Jameis to left for about 25 yards.
* Jameis connects with O.J. Howard for a monster gain in the right seam between Hargreaves and Kwon Alexander. Explosive play indeed. The kind of look that would get Bucs fans fantasizing.
*Howard comes back and hauls in a mid-range throw with Kwon covering. Howard appears unstoppable when using his size.
* Jacquizz Rodgers takes off around left end for a 47- yard score.
*Bond redeems himself with another pass breakup.
*Great moment in the stands. Bucs have V.I.P. guests in attendance, roughly 400. At one point, Joe is sitting with esteemed columnist Ira Kaufman of JoeBucsFan.com. A roughly 21-year-old turns around, looks at Ira and playful barks, ‘Hey, Irv.’ The reply? “That’s Sage to you young man.” It wasn’t Ira’s only interesting fan encounter of the day, but those will be shared on the Ira Kaufman Podcast next week.
Jameis to Evans. pic.twitter.com/Be1rhu8YEW
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) June 13, 2018
June 14th, 2018 at 8:16 am
Great write up, per usual.
I had a great time (as did other fans) going directly indoors and testing out the new facility. A/C on full blast tells me the Bucs were prepared!
Another shout out to Ira, Tampa Bay’s Hall of Fame voter! He had that column up quick! I currently stick to the reading side of things, but my friend informed me that the podcast is no joke! Keep up the great work!
June 14th, 2018 at 8:25 am
Joe….how is Justin Watson doing….is he on the field?
Also how are some of the UDFA doing…..the future grad students, P.E. teachers stock brokers, and sports blog writers……(there is my sense of humor)
June 14th, 2018 at 8:29 am
Jpp and vea look awfully special ?
Clarify? Cause you used 3rd team defense looks bad right before comment
June 14th, 2018 at 8:33 am
Hey, I wonder if they’re playing underwear football? Again, the over-under on how many times Joe mentions underwear football for mini camp is around 100.
June 14th, 2018 at 8:41 am
Thanks for the writeup! Great stuff.
Its a drinking game… drink a shot everytime you read underwear football.
June 14th, 2018 at 8:45 am
Yeah…mentioning underwear football almost every time Ronald Jones is mentioned seems overdone. Lol
Would also like clarification on JPP and Vea statement.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:13 am
Elaborate a little more on the JPP/Vea comment? Can’t make sense of it. Other than that it reads like Jones is getting a ton of work and that’s great.
??Men, there is nothing to clarify on the JPP/Vea comment. It’s positive and that is the intent. –Joe
June 14th, 2018 at 9:25 am
My take on JPP/Vea is that they are new players….first seen together and they are very large and they are Bucs Dlinemen……hooray!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 9:32 am
Joe
How’s the kicker looking? Remember first two days of practice he made like 9 of 10. I forget his name.
Excited to see VH3 in the slot. Getting tons of good talk. Could he be the #11 pick and we just didn’t know where to put him?
June 14th, 2018 at 9:36 am
Maybe the JPP/Vea means they look like they are already syncing together getting of the ball together. That’s all I can think of.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:36 am
could it be that VHG is comfortable and confident in the slot because he’s use to playing at the LOS?….wish smitty would play to his strengths and let all our CB’s play close to the LOS….no more soft coverage!!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 9:38 am
SOE, 11 pick or not the slot back is an important role to fill; if that’s his ceiling and he’s good there, so be it. Don’t pound the square peg into the round hole. The pick is long gone, use the guy best we can, I agree.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:39 am
Joe!! Thanks so much for sharing the interaction with Irv/Sage, that was my son…Man, you were very rough on the age! He’s 14. Thanks again for sharing, great to see you gentlemen yesterday!
Had prescription sunglasses on expecting an outdoor practice. He must have looked older in the darkness. LOL. –Joe
June 14th, 2018 at 9:41 am
Vh3 is a pop warner coach at best. Another 6th rd talent with no upside over drafted by an incompetent organization. If bucs have to rely on the short, slow and stupid vh3 for more than 5 or 6 relief plays a game the pass defense will be dead last again.
June 14th, 2018 at 9:41 am
seems like the offense is out of sync which is odd….the only new player is jones….everyone should be comfortable and know what their doing since most have been in the offense the past couple years….
imo, the 4vert offense is outdated….puts up tons of yards but not many points or “W’s”…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 9:56 am
813bucboi
Might be because Monken is totally running the show on offense and it is taking some time to adjust. Or so I hope.
June 14th, 2018 at 10:00 am
Great recap Joe, thanks. After watching the video, this statement about VHIII got me wondering … “Hargreaves looks so comfortable and instinctive in the slot. Different player when he’s on the outside.” Hargreaves was up at the line to start the play against ME13, but got blown up fast once they crossed the goal line together. Not even a contest once Mike turned around to face back towards Jameis. Justin Evans (21) looked like he made a nice move avoiding traffic to stay in his coverage on Cam Brate. Hoping for a big year from #21 once the season starts.
June 14th, 2018 at 10:04 am
SOE
I thought that at first but he’s been here for a while now too…..maybe he’s putting his own little wrinkle in….or at least I hope so…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!….GO BUCS!!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 10:04 am
Awesome practice yesterday, I enjoyed every second. Speaking of VH3, lil bro is playing with a lot of confidence and it clearly shows on the field amongst his teammates. Kwon was his usual self which is always awesome to see. Explosives all over the field yesterday on both sides of the ball. I really enjoyed seeing Coach Spicer and Buckner working with the dline. Evans is truly a mismatch in the slot, especially in the redzone as seen above. Hopefully there’s more to come of that once the season starts. OJ’s confidence is on the rise. Same for CG12, Peyton and RoJo. Always a pleasure being in the presence of THE SAGE. Steve(Joe) you lay off my guy!! lol. BLESSINGS….speak softly….
June 14th, 2018 at 11:15 am
“Howard appears unstoppable when using his size.”
Personally, I Wouldn’t mind running this offense through the running game and our two tight end sets. Move OJ around a la Gronk, run the ball and control the TOP… should help out our defense, especially the first half… give them time to gel and we should close out the season strong..
June 14th, 2018 at 11:27 am
Umm no lol. I would say calcification was needed in regards to vea and jpp. There were several of us confused as you had put it in the same statement as the third string defense was looking bad.
But thanks for the condescending clarification, I guess.
June 14th, 2018 at 11:30 am
|| “Howard appears unstoppable when using his size.”
Yeah! And imagine opponents start paying special attention to OJ and we start using Cam Brate!
June 14th, 2018 at 11:33 am
Clarification****
June 14th, 2018 at 11:39 am
madness
me and LC have been saying that all offseason…..a 2 TE set offense would help the run game, create mismatch problem in the passing game and help our offense become less predictable…..hope dirk and or monken listen and take notes…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
this might seem like a wierd observation. it seems when backup qb’s are playing they hit no name receivers all the time. why doesn’t JW do that….throw to guys they woud not expect/not named evans
June 14th, 2018 at 12:15 pm
Man, if VHIII can get his head right and into the game, that is just gravy. We need him to step up so it’s good to hear, albeit “underwear football”, that he’s progressing.
813- The 2 TE set is a no-brainer. Why it wasn’t utilized more is a mystery. Don’t forget, same coaches so, we’ll see.
June 14th, 2018 at 12:38 pm
bucsfanman
same coaches, that’s what scares me…..hopefully they prove me wrong…..
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!
June 14th, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Reality is a biatch or tmax what ever. Do u ever have a positive comment or are u always a negative Nancy? Just curious
June 14th, 2018 at 2:52 pm
Koetter answered my earlier question about the kicker’s status in his day three PC. 58-yarder. Nice.
June 14th, 2018 at 3:07 pm
??Men, there is nothing to clarify on the JPP/Vea comment. It’s positive and that is the intent. –Joe
Joe(s), I guess what was confusing was mentioning the 3rd string D and then saying JPP/Vea look special, as if they were running with the 3rd string D. Now it’s pretty clear though. Thx.
June 14th, 2018 at 7:36 pm
@ robert
First of all joe is providing individual plays. He is not giving the play by play. Secondly, jameis plays with the 1st team. His options are not no name receivers. Come on man, you cant be that clueless. Anything to take a weak jab at jameis. Buc fans smdh