Antoine Winfield Jr. Leads Hot Start For The Defense

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After a few weeks off following mandatory mini-camp in June, the Bucs were back at it on the practice fields at the AdventHealth Training Center on Wednesday morning for the start of training camp.

As mandated by the NFL, Tampa Bay opened up camp in shorts, jerseys and helmets and will continue to ramp up for a few more days until the pads come on. Todd Bowles’ Bucs started camp short-handed under blue skies and a light breeze.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Matt Matera, Bailey Adams and Adam Slivon were on hand at One Buc Place for the start of training camp. Here are their observations and takeaways from Wednesday’s practice, which marked the real beginning of Tampa Bay’s 50th season.

Bucs Who Were Not Practicing

There were no unexpected absences from Tampa Bay’s first training camp practice of the year. The team placed wide receiver Chris Godwin, left tackle Tristan Wirfs, guard Sua Opeta, offensive tackle Silas Dzansi and quarterback Michael Pratt on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on Tuesday.

Inside linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. was also placed on the active/non-football injury list, while defensive tackle Desmond Watson was placed on the active/non-football illness list. Other than that, defensive tackle Greg Gaines, who missed time this offseason and is considered week-to-week, was the only other non-participant on the first day of practice.

A Hot Start For Antoine Winfield Jr., Bucs Defense

We can add in the Todd Bowles-sponsored caveat that the team was only in “t-shirts and shorts,” but after an offseason that featured a lot of talk about the need for the Bucs defense to create more takeaways in 2025, Wednesday’s practice was a great start.

Antoine Winfield Jr., who is coming off an injury-plagued 2024 season, led the way with interceptions of Baker Mayfield on back-to-back plays late in practice. The first was probably the highlight play of the day, and it started with Zyon McCollum, who was in coverage on Mike Evans. McCollum nearly had an interception near the sideline, but Evans ripped the ball loose as the two were falling out of bounds. Winfield was right there to save the day for the defense, bringing the ball in and getting two feet in to complete the interception.

On the very next play, Winfield jumped another Mayfield pass and took it the other way, refusing to slow down until he reached the end zone.

“It’s just good to see him healthy, Bowles said of Winfield. “I’m not going to put too much into the first day. We’re in shorts and t-shirts getting acclimated. But he made some plays in shorts and t-shirt that I know he can make in pads, so it’s just happy to see him moving around.”

It wasn’t just Winfield making plays on the back end of the defense, either. Soon after those two interceptions, safety Tykee Smith stripped the ball loose from Sterling Shepard after Shepard hauled in a pass.

Elsewhere in practice, veteran cornerback Bryce Hall made an impact. First, he came through with a pass breakup on rookie quarterback Connor Bazelak before later jumping a Bazelak pass for an interception. It was great to see from Hall, who re-signed with Tampa Bay this offseason after a major leg injury he suffered in Week 1 last year cost him a full season.

“From what he had to how he came back to where he is now is unbelievable from what I saw from him,” Bowles said. “He’s a tireless worker, he’s in great spirits all the time. He worked at it and he earned it. He did a heck of a job today as well.”

Tykee Smith and Josh Hayes also had pass breakups on the day, which was largely won by the Buccaneer defense.

Mike Evans Highlights The Day For The Bucs Offense

Year 12 began on a high note for future Hall of Fame wide receiver Mike Evans. He looked revved up and ready to go from the start of Wednesday’s practice, and he went on to be the main highlight-maker for the Bucs offense, as he often is.

Early in 11-on-11s, he made a touchdown catch in the back corner of the end zone through tight coverage by Zyon McCollum. It was a beautiful tight-window throw by Baker Mayfield, and Evans showed great concentration and reach by bringing it in.

Evans was the first target during the offense’s red zone period, too, bringing in a slant from Mayfield with rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison in coverage. And later on in 7-on-7s, Evans created immediate separation from cornerback Kindle Vildor and caught an intermediate pass over the middle of the field.

While Evans was the most consistent playmaker for the offense on a day when the defense made the majority of the plays, there were still some other offensive highlights from Sterling Shepard and tight end Devin Culp. Shepard, in particular, made a nice catch on a pass he tipped to himself, while Culp found himself wide-open down the field on a pass from Kyle Trask.

Connor Bazelak also threw a beautiful deep ball to Ryan Miller over the middle of the field for a touchdown.

Lavonte David Still “Earning His Stripes” In Year 14

If there’s one guy on the Bucs defense who “earned his stripes” a long time ago, it’s linebacker Lavonte David. Entering his 14th season in the NFL – all of which have been with Tampa Bay – David has already cemented himself as a record-breaker, one of the top players in franchise history and a surefire Bucs Ring of Honor member.

But that doesn’t mean David’s mentality has changed, even as he enters his 14th NFL training camp at age 35.

“It feels great. I didn’t get a chance to take part in OTAs and mini-camp, but it definitely feels good to be back out there,” Daivd said after practice. “It felt like I was part of the team again. I had to earn my stripes today because I missed OTAs and mini-camp, but nonetheless, it felt amazing, it felt good being back out there with the guys. It was fun, for sure. Everybody’s excited, everybody’s ready to go, so that’s what I definitely love to see.”

David’s expectations for this team are high. After the Bucs missed the playoffs each of the first eight years of his career, they’ve made it to the postseason in five straight years. But the goal is another Super Bowl, right? The 35-year-old was asked Wednesday whether he would be back in Tampa for another year if he didn’t believe in this team’s chances to win another Lombardi Trophy.

“Probably not, to be honest with you,” David said. “I know what we’re capable of. I know we could get it done. I feel like we fell short last year. I feel like we would’ve had a great run at it last year. We just fell short, and that’s definitely unfortunate. But probably one of the main reasons I came back is I know what we’re capable of and I know what we can do.

“We’ve got the talent to do it, and we’ve got the mindset to do it. So, we’ve just got to put it all together. I always say, offense just do their thing, defense, we’ve got to take care of them. We’ve just got to do a better job defensively, and I think we’ll get to the promised land if we do that.”

Observations & Highlights From Day 1 Of Bucs Training Camp

Here are some quick-hitting observations from Tampa Bay’s first training camp practice of 2025:

• Pro Football Hall of Famer and current Colorado head coach Deion Sanders was in attendance for Wednesday’s practice to watch his son, Shilo, begin the first training camp of his NFL career.

• New defensive line coach Charlie Strong was very focal and hands-on in coaching up Tampa Bay’s interior linemen. It was also interesting to see the group split up for some teaching at one point, with Strong taking one half and training camp coaching fellow/former Bucs defensive end Robert Ayers Jr. taking the other half.

• Without fans in attendance, it was easy to hear how loud the pre-snap communication was on the back end of the Buccaneers defense.
• With the injuries to Tristan Wirfs and Silas Dzansi, Tampa Bay has had to do some shuffling at offensive tackle to start training camp. Charlie Heck, who is primed to step in for Wirfs at left tackle, was taking snaps with both the first- and third-team offensive lines, while rookie Ben Chukwuma slid in with the second team.
• Head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles did some shuffling with his secondary on Wednesday, as rookie Benjamin Morrison and veteran Kindle Vildor both saw time with the starting defense. Jamel Dean did as well, but he also got some reps in on the second team.
• Tampa Bay began practice with special teams sessions on two different fields. That allowed for more punting reps between the two punters, as well as more return reps. Rachaad White, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan were catching punts on one field, while Trey Palmer, Tez Johnson and Kameron Johnson fielded punts on the other.