Notes From Day 2 Of Minicamp
June 9th, 2022
Ryan Jensen and Tristan Wirfs share a laugh while warming up for Day 2 of minicamp Wednesday.
Today is the final day of mandatory minicamp and the next time the Bucs gather on the practice fields of One Buc Palace, it will be training camp (no, no dates have been announced).
So before we move on, let’s look back at yesterday’s underwear football practice. Yes, Kyle Trask was there. So too was Ryan Griffin. The vast majority of snaps went to Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert. Trask for a handful of snaps; Griffin even less.
Daily disclosure: This is underwear football. No pads. No tackling. No blocking. No hitting of any sort. Think flag football without the flags.
* This year’s hyped star of underwear football, Jaelon Darden, with a diving catch on a crossing pattern from the left side.
* Deven Thompkins catches a pass from Gabbert as Thompkins races in from the left sideline, catching the ball in a crowd. Looked like a pick play or a scissors play that sprung Darden. Defenders got tangled up. Also, Playoff Lenny lined up wide right. No, really.
* Brady looks right and no one is open. So he just launches the ball to the right — damn near over the adjacent practice field.
* A Benn’d Around! Receiver Kaylon Geiger on a run up the left side.
* Rachaad White runs for a nice gain (remember, underwear football).
* Brady throws to the right, spot-throwing and Codey McElroy comes from the left side on a crossing pattern, runs under the ball and hauls it in all in stride. Pretty.
* Brady throws deep down the right sideline and Darden dives and can only get a hand on the ball.
* Thompkins catches a pass from Gabbert and Thompkins zigs through traffic on the right side.
* Thompkins again catches a pass, this time from Gabbert and he gets loose on the left sideline.
* The immortal Cyril Grayson catches a short pass along the right sideline but he cannot shake the defenders.
* McElroy dives along the right sideline to grab a Brady pass.
* Brady with a long pass to Grayson down the left seam. Beautiful drop in the bucket.
* Darden cannot come up with a Brady pass along the left sideline for short yardage.
* Brady overthrows Tyler Johnson in the left corner of the end zone.
* Brady tries to connect with Johnson again in the left corner but Ross Cockrell’s coverage was too tight for a completion.
* Cam Brate catches a slant pass from the left side from Brady.
* Gabbert tries to get the ball to Geiger but Cockrell gets a pass defensed.
* White catches a short pass over the middle from Gabbert.
* Gabbert waits and waits and waits and then looks right and throws to a diving White along the right sideline. J.J. Russell’s defense was too strong for the completion.
* A Kyle Trask sighting! He ties to get the ball to McElroy but rookie safety Nolan Turner (Clemson) prevents that from happening.
* Trask to rookie receiver Kameron Brown (Coastal Carolina).
* Brady to McElroy in the right corner that had to be blown coverage. Wide arse open. Way too easy.
* Carlton Davis nearly comes up with a pick on Brady along the left sideline. He jumped ahead of the receiver to try to pick the ball but it was too early of a jump. Just missed.
* Trask to Brown in the right corner and this was a sick play. Perfect ball placement by Trask and Brown did a nice job of using a Mike Evans-like toe-dancing just to get two feet inbounds before his momentum took him out of bounds. Strong throw, good catch, better footwork.
* Gabbert to Geiger
* Now this was interesting. Although Ko Keift was not targeted on this play, he “blocked” his man lined up tight right, took a few steps past the line, turned back with shoulders square to the line, and squatted a little almost looking like he expected to get run over from behind — or was trying to block two guys with his back turned to him. Looked possibly like Keift was preparing to get a catch in a bubble screen of some sort, but there was nothing else around him.
* Brady connects with Breshad Perriman along the right sideline and Jamel Dean went for the pick but missed.
* Brady connects with Mike Evans down the right sideline.
* Grayson takes a short Brady pass over the middle and races up the left sideline.
* Brady to Darden slightly high and behind Darden. He skies for the ball and then continues his route.
* Gabbert flips a pass to Ke’Shawn Vaughn to the right.
* This would have been a coverage sack. Gabbert waited and waited for a receiver to get open and so after a while, he took off running.
* A Brady pass intended for Evans over the middle is tipped and nearly picked by a diving Ross Cockrell.
* McElroy on a crossing pattern from the left finds a Brady pass.
* Kieft on the field with the first team offense and he catches a pass from Brady down the right seam. Kieft got quite open. Joe will type again that Kieft does not look like some klutz catching the ball. Joe is not saying Kieft is the next Tony Gonzalez. But it seemed like several draftniks considered him mostly a one-dimensional tight end; that he can only block. But Kieft can catch and he seems fully capable of contributing in the passing game. Think Antony Auclair, sort of. Maybe a bit better.
* This time Kieft catches a pass from Trask over the middle.
* Trask tried to throw right for Brown to the right but the pass was behind him and the defense got a hand on the ball.
* Trask threads the needle hitting Thompkins, who was in triple coverage.
June 9th, 2022 at 2:33 am
Ko Kieft King of Underwear Football 💪🏼
June 9th, 2022 at 2:48 am
As one looks at this picture with Jensen and wirfs,
Wirfs is a really big man. He must weigh at least 50 lbs more than Jensen.
Did Wirfs injure his left or right foot?
Those palm trees in the back ground. There are 9 of them. They sure look peaceful in the breeze.
Is this a foreshadowing of Brady’s Super Bowl ring count at the end of the day?
I hope so….
Let’s see #8 this year…
June 9th, 2022 at 6:11 am
Yah wirfs thighs are wider then bradys waist 😂
Good stuff joes
June 9th, 2022 at 6:38 am
Ko Kieft (love that name) reminds me of Gronk with an attitude.
And Stone Crab I agree with you; Wirfs is a monster. Got a hunch we’ll be running to the right side on a lot of plays this year.
June 9th, 2022 at 7:40 am
Thanks for the play by play call Joe!!!!
June 9th, 2022 at 7:50 am
Met Wirfs at a car dealership a couple months ago. First, I will tell you the most dominant feature on his entire huge body are his MASSIVE gluts! Imagine taking half of a large monster truck tire and attaching it to a giant’s lower back and upper hamstring. No wonder he can squat City Hall.
I did ask him about his injury…said he went to a specialist in Green Bay who diagnosed there would be a full recovery with rehab, no surgery needed.
And BTW, this giant of a man happened to be so nice. Gracious with his time. Fully present with his conversation. The best part was that he really liked this muscle car. Before getting it, here’s the telephone conversation I overheard, “Mama, I really like this car. Can I buy it?”
Special shout-out to Mama! I have a sneaky suspicion your son will never go Antonio Brown on the NFL!
June 9th, 2022 at 7:55 am
Lol… TW’s right thigh looks as big as Jensens waist
June 9th, 2022 at 8:18 am
FWIW, Ko Kieft scored 30 TDs as a QB his senior year in HS. Not saying he’s Al Bundy or anything, but there’s clearly some athleticism that went dormant with what he was asked to do(and be) at Minnesota in his time there.
June 9th, 2022 at 8:52 am
Looks like we will be set at TE…..Sounds like McElroy is doing well but unless we keep 5, he’ll be on the PS.
And, maybe….just maybe….Darden has gained some confidence…..
June 9th, 2022 at 10:05 am
Defense Rules, your hunch about Wirfs running to the right side a lot this year is spot on. The big surprise this year with BA gone will be the Bucs revealing a true PA running game dimension which Brady has been arguing for since he signed. BA would have nothing of it. The internet is chock run of articles lauding Brady’s and OC Josh Daniels’ deft use of the PA running attack which kept defenses off-balance and guessing during the Pats’ 2018 SB LIII season run and into 2019. I’ll just link to the one below.
Why Tom Brady loves this scheme is obvious from any highlights video of the Pats 2016′- 2018 seasons (2 SBs won v. Falcons and Rams, 1 SB lost v. Eagles). In short, the single and double back looks, and run play options to the RIGHT off the Play Action, at times with a pulling OG or TE (Gronky’s coming back, no worries!) in motion for extra beef behind a solid OG and OT (think Shaq Mason and Wirfs), will freeze the pass rush, keep the D-line from moving the line of scrimmage while keeping DBs honest by having to keep an eye out for the run while defending man or zone. The latter leads to extra separation for Buc receivers on quick timing passes for needed first downs or longer slants and crossing routes. Last, the faking RB will likely be open for a check down, if needed.
Some of you football savants reading this will say “Okay wiseguy but you forgot to mention that the Bucs are missing a critical part of those Pats’ offenses: Fullback James Devlin”. To that I’ll say “you got me”….. but I’ll then draw your attention to another big clue from Joe, Himself, that the Bucs just might be drawing up something totally un-Arians like in their 2022 playbook:
“Could The Bucs Be Using A Fullback?
April 30th, 2022”
Rather than paraphrasing, I’ll just re-post Joe’s excellent observations and fine piece of One Buccaneers Place spy work:
“The fullback is an endangered NFL species. That’s partly because it is a passing league.
In a sign that former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians isn’t building the roster, the word “fullback” was uttered by John Spytek, the Bucs VP of player personnel. He spoke about the draft after the draft Saturday, and the discussion was about tight ends and wandered its way to Ko Kieft, the sixth-round pick from Minnesota.
The way Joe’s research on the guy all came back what a vicious and relentless blocker he is, Joe thought maybe this Kieft could be cross-trained to be a guard. Well, Joe was half right. Spytek admitted Kieft could play another position.
Fullback.
“Really a mauler,” Spytek said of Kieft. “We fell in love with the tape and the competitiveness. He is a guy that can do some stuff out of the backfield if we so chose to go that route. Use a fullback a little bit.”
A fullback? Arians didn’t believe in fullbacks. Never did. Just someone mentioning “fullback” around Arians caused him to spill his whiskey. A fullback on the Bucs?
Arians is clearly staying away from game prep.”
A successful PA offense supported by a dangerous, punishing run game has been the missing piece needed by the Bucs against the high octane offenses of the Rams, the Chiefs, the Bills, and any of the other expected SB contenders in 2022. This new dimension will lead to longer sustained and successful drives by keeping the Bucs “ahead on downs” and by keeping those other lesser QBs off the field. It will wear down defenses, eliminate the pass rush threat and freeze linebackers. Oh yeah, it would also finally jettison that perennial monkey on the Bucs’ back, the New Orleans Aints.
Any reader want to bet a steak dinner in Tampa against this prediction for the 2022 season? First come first served! (PatsPulpit)
“Football 101: Breaking Down the Art of the Play Action Courtesy of Tom Brady” (Bleacher Report)
June 9th, 2022 at 10:08 am
“Perfect ball placement by Trask … Strong throw … Trask threads the needle hitting Thompkins, who was in triple coverage“
No no no, Joe. That can’t be. Rod Munch has assured us he has seen Trask videos on YouTube and Trask can’t throw!
June 9th, 2022 at 10:50 am
Awesome. And I wasn’t sure McElroy was still on roster. He’s better than OJ Howard and good depth. With Gronkowski not signed and Otton sidelined, I’m loving Kieft and McElroy getting a bunch of first string reps, even if it is underwear.
June 9th, 2022 at 11:24 am
Glad to hear about a Trask sighting, happy to read your excitement about it.
It sounds like he just needs to learn to throw the ball away and he’ll be better than Gabbert. He has more potential than Gabbert, at least.
June 9th, 2022 at 11:41 am
Absolutely critical to have Jensen back, probably biggest move minus Brady coming back of course.
Dude is someone you want on your team and hate him if he’s on the other team.
Love the tude.
June 9th, 2022 at 1:33 pm
I love these snippets. Nothing personal against Gabbert, but I will never in a billion lifetimes understand why we are wasting reps on a bad football player when we have a talented second round pick in Trask who should be receiving them. This is even weirder than our gm (best in the league) being in denial that we desperately need another good corner and wide receiver. Hell, I feel this decision is even worse than Ira’s (love ya man!) annual receiver rankings. 😜
June 9th, 2022 at 1:43 pm
“Buczilla Says:
I love these snippets. Nothing personal against Gabbert, but I will never in a billion lifetimes understand why we are wasting reps on a bad football player when we have a talented second round pick in Trask who should be receiving them.”
Because Trask doesn’t fit the “look” the NFL wants in quarterbacks. Guys like him get suppressed by certain coaches. Look at all the overhyped “athletic”, “dual threat” quarterbacks taken ahead of him in the 2021 draft. They suck. But they have the “look” that sells jerseys and tickets.
June 9th, 2022 at 3:07 pm
@BucBoy Maybe you’re right, but we don’t have a single qb on the roster that is overly athletic and certainly no dual threat dudes, so I think that Trask must be truly horrible, or our coaches are just truly dumb when it comes to him. Whatever the reason, it’s f’ing weird. 😜
June 9th, 2022 at 4:20 pm
@Buczilla. Watch them stifle Trask this season and draft an “atheltic”, “dual threat” quarterback in 2023. This place will go bonkers over what a great pick he is!!! Just think what Joe and the Trask-haters here would be writing if we had drafted Justin Fields – who sucks – instead of Trask in 2021. They’d all be crying about how unfair it is that he hasn’t played . . . wah . . . wah . . . wah.
June 10th, 2022 at 12:51 am
Thanks for keeping us posted Joes! Got to love this time of the year.