Practice Players Versus Gamers
August 15th, 2025
Rookie cornerback Jacob Parrish (right) and Jamel Dean.
So Joe had a moment at Bucs-Steelers practice yesterday in Pittsburgh that had nothing to do the cool-for-Florida weather and Mike Tomlin barking a bit of playful trash talk at Baker Mayfield.
Tomlin called a time out in red zone work with the Bucs’ first-team offense battling the Steelers defense. And then flew the comments at Mayfield. Just fun stuff, no expletives, but no response from the locked in quarterback. (Yes, the Bucs celebrated a touchdown seconds later.)
But another moment had Joe writing notes about how Sirvocea Dennis had a rough day in 1-on-1 pass defense drills. Joe even wondered why Dennis, a speedster, looked slow and sluggish.
And then came the first play of 11-on-11 work at midfield. Real football — Steelers against the Bucs.
First snap? Dennis was lightning quick into the backfield for a tackle for loss, like a blur of light.
The more Joe watches practice, the more Joe can see players flipping a switch at times. Joe’s not saying Dennis is that guy, but it sure looked that way yesterday. Vita Vea is that guy. He’s got different gears, which is fine with Joe. (Joe couldn’t see the linemen 1-on-1 drills with the Steelers, but Joe was told “Vita dominated” by a reliable source.
One guy that strikes Joe as a model of consistency is rookie cornerback Jacob Parrish.
Joe saw it again yesterday. Does this guy have a weakness, other than inexperience? Stunning for a rookie.
He flashed his sideline-to-sideline speed against the Steelers. He can handle big receivers (the Steelers have a guy) and smaller shifty guys, and his nose for the ball is obvious. Joe even liked how Parrish rode a former Bucs receiver, whose names rhymes with Snotty Filler, out of the end zone yesterday so he couldn’t get his feet in. (Joe’s not supposed to report play details, per Steelers’ house rules.) Joe’s pass breakup list was filled with No. 25s. Mr. No. 23 had a special day, too.
Joe’s in we’ll-see-when-the-lights-come-on mode with the Bucs defense. Who will be a real gamer?
Plenty of candidates. More than last year. Joe’s got a watchful eye on Haason Reddick, who hasn’t been opening his bag of pass-rush skills this summer.
August 15th, 2025 at 11:10 am
U still think bucs need to go get Hendrickson from cincy he can rush the passer and this defense will definitely be a good defense i just don’t believe reddick is the answer he reminds me of robert ayers i don’t know thats just me.
August 15th, 2025 at 11:36 am
first, one hell of a post by joe. ahead of the curve stuff. take that and do me one better, analytics guys
all you keyboard gms are gonna have fun with this i predict.
second, there are guys that dont practice as well as they play everywhere. tebow at uf was known as a guy that didnt practice well. it does affect the timing of the other guys, so i dont advocate it all the time
in baseball they talk about regular play as a necessity for some guys to know what you really have.
i consider trask a gamer, but how is a young receiver see as many regular balls to time. trask at uf amped his practice game as a regular, but even there they couldnt risk the light not turning on to give him starter time even though they knew the upside.
anyway, some coaches and gms know this better than others, i think ours are near the top, based on the times our draft picks did better than their equals coming out of college
August 15th, 2025 at 11:42 am
I had no idea who Parrish was after the draft to be completely honest, so I was more hyped about Morrison but now I’ve hit a complete 180 (more like a 165, I still love the Morrison pick). Dean needs competition, the only reason I haven’t given up on him is because I haven’t seen him on the field since January. I’m so ready for football man. Need to grab one of these new jerseys before the season, Parrish is now on the list.
August 15th, 2025 at 11:46 am
When gamers line up in the end zone stands, they sell hot dogs instead of break up passes.
August 15th, 2025 at 11:49 am
I think they did great with the DB picks!
Great to hear Dean is playing up to capabilities and healthy. Zion could be a pro-bowler. Safeties could be great (get healthy!!)
They all need to produce picks this year.
Real curios what they have in Reddick. They keep hyping him, but haven’t heard much so far from the practices. That is a little scary because he is A BIG KEY to the defense.
Disappointed Walker got injured, wanted to see him get in the rotation a little on edge.
August 15th, 2025 at 12:03 pm
Glad to get the good news re: SVD. Pulling for him to stay healthy this season.
August 15th, 2025 at 12:06 pm
What we have is an insanely athletic secondary. Certainly it’s the fastest corners of any team- they all ran 4.3 40’s! That’s Morrison, Parrish, McCollum AND Dean. So because of their pursuit ability it’s going to be extremely difficult to have big plays/breakaways against them. The safeties are no slouches either and typically excellent tacklers.
Since they are so fast they should be able to play man and not worry about receivers getting past them. If athleticism is key to playing well at corner we certainly have that covered.
August 15th, 2025 at 12:08 pm
I’m not making any predictions,
I just wanna see them play some good football
And I’m not getting over excited for the season
I’m definitely not buying into the hype anymore
August 15th, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Hendrickson is like 31 years old
August 15th, 2025 at 1:21 pm
Being a gamer and not a good practice player seems to have gotten Trask in hot water this year. It may not make a difference to us, but the Bucs coaching staff wants practice performance to resemble game performance.
It’s hard for some players, especially QB’s facing a fake pass rush, to apply the same intensity at all times. IMO, if a young player can’t learn to treat both practice and games the same way they’re more likely to form bad habits that are tough to break.
August 15th, 2025 at 1:29 pm
Baker Bowl, I’d seen Parrish play a few times in college and knew he had the right stuff. It wasn’t until we drafted him that I learned his history. Brothers and family were always wrestling. Something about wrestling translates really well onto the football field. Joe observing “does this guy have a weakness…Stunning for a rookie” the skills of this 3rd round pick doesn’t surprise me one bit. Joe ain’t the first one to observe that. Or the first one to gush superlatives after witnessing it!
August 15th, 2025 at 1:44 pm
“Something about wrestling translates really well onto the football field.”
-Discipline
-Conditioning
-Attention to detail/technique
-Hand Usage
-Leverage
-Explosivity
-Patience
-Toughness
-Studying opponents
August 15th, 2025 at 2:02 pm
Come to think of it, the only times I remember hearing Reddick’s name in these camp notes were two times he was in coverage.
August 15th, 2025 at 2:08 pm
I’d love to see Evans have a career year.
He’s finally got the NFL’s attention. He’s going for a Rice record. This is his time to take center stage and have the NFL world discussing Evans as an all time great.
With 1500 yards, Mike would leap 13 players on all time rec list. 5 of them are HOF. He’d be poised to pass Moss next year and move into 3rd all time in 2 seasons. THAT’S NUTS!
August 15th, 2025 at 2:19 pm
and the steelers looked big and fast and physical in their first preseason game vs the jags… impressive
August 15th, 2025 at 2:41 pm
@Sly
11 TDs this season and he jumps over Tony Gonzalez(8th) & Antonio Gates (7th) all-time in TD receptions.
Moss averaged 15.6 yards a catch over 14 years
Mike is sitting at 15.3 in the same category.
August 15th, 2025 at 3:00 pm
What’s this I hear about Izien gettin a Steeler pulled from the field for getting into his head?
August 15th, 2025 at 8:23 pm
I hope I’m not right but I’m not expecting much from Riddick. Why anyone else is from someone who had one sack last year is beyond me.
August 16th, 2025 at 2:53 am
1 on 1 drills can be monotonous for these dudes. Especially when they are going up against guys who will be driving a truck in a few weeks and don’t really care if they take a cheap shot at someones knees. Sometimes guys like Vea are trying to set guys up for a power move as well. Back in the day I watched Sapp set guys up like that.
Go Bucs!