Baker Mayfield Leads Offense’s Rebound

 

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The Bucs returned to the AdventHealth Training Center Friday morning for their third training camp practice, another session that was held in front of the general public. It was another shorts, jerseys and helmets practice for Tampa Bay, which has Saturday off before returning to action on Sunday morning.

Once again, there were no unexpected absences at practice. Only wide receiver Chris Godwin (PUP list), left tackle Tristan Wirfs (PUP list), guard Sua Opeta (PUP list), quarterback Michael Pratt (PUP list), inside linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (active/non-football injury list) and defensive tackles Desmond Watson (active/non-football illness list) and Greg Gaines were sidelined, as they have been from the start of camp.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Matt Matera, Bailey Adams and Adam Slivon were all at One Buc Place to watch everything unfold. We also heard from head coach Todd Bowles, running back Bucky Irving and safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith after practice. Here are their observations and takeaways from Friday.

Bucs Survive One Injury Scare, Await Word On Another

Outside of the players who were expected to miss the start of training camp after Tuesday’s roster moves, the Bucs made it through the first couple of days of practice unscathed on the injury front. That appeared to change on Friday, with injury scares for two of the team’s young, up-and-coming outside linebackers.

First, it was second-year pass rusher Chris Braswell pulling up on a rush during the 11-on-11 period. He remained down briefly and looked to be holding his calf or ankle, but soon enough, everyone could breathe a sigh of relief as he remained on the field and later returned to action in 11-on-11s. So in that sense, Tampa Bay survived that scare as it appeared to be nothing more than a cramp.

The bigger worry for the Bucs right now is with rookie outside linebacker David Walker, as he went down on a run play during the one-minute drill at the end of practice. After Walker was helped to his feet, he limped off the field with the help of team trainers.

Head coach Todd Bowles said after practice that it was too soon for an update on Walker and that he would have to see where things stood once he went inside. With the Bucs off on Saturday, it’s likely that we won’t know more until after Sunday’s practice.

Baker Mayfield And The Bucs’ Offense Rebound To Win The Day

While the Bucs’ offense made some plays here and there throughout Wednesday and Thursday’s practices, the defense largely got the better of the battles as it continued to pile up would-be sacks, pass breakups and interceptions. But on Friday, the offense bounced back and mostly got the better of the defense, with quarterback Baker Mayfield looking especially sharp to lead the way. 

Head coach Todd Bowles was asked about the winner of the day after practice and said he doesn’t typically name winners when they’re practicing without pads.

But on the whole, it was easy to see that the offense simply made more plays on Friday.

It started early on in the full team period with some quick-to-intermediate throws. Quarterback Kyle Trask found tight end Devin Culp, Mayfield hit tight end Cade Otton over the middle and then threaded a couple of nice throws to wide receiver Mike Evans near the sideline in addition to floating a beautiful pass down the sideline to second-year wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

From there, Mayfield and the rookie wide receivers took over.

Emeka Egbuka continued his strong start to camp, with Bowles specifically praising how crisp the first-round pick was with his route-running and how well he came out of his breaks. Egbuka made play after play, looking much more like a multi-year veteran than a guy who is three days into his first NFL training camp.

At one point, Egbuka found a hole in zone coverage and made a catch near the sideline with both Antoine Winfield Jr. and Benjamin Morrison trailing behind him. Later on in the two-minute drill, he created great separation over the middle and followed up the catch by finding space for some big-time YAC.

As for fellow rookie wide receiver Tez Johnson, he continued to shine in Friday’s practice as well. He’s another one who was making plays all over the field, as it felt as though he had both double-digit targets and double-digit catches throughout the full team period. And at one point, he showed incredible effort to finish a play after catching a pass from Mayfield. Johnson raced down the sideline toward the end zone, with Winfield also finishing the play with max effort in an attempt to haul him down.

The key for Johnson will of course be to keep producing when the pads come on next week. But as far as starts go, he’s done about as well as you can in “shorts and t-shirts” football, as Bowles calls it.

Bucs’ Reserve Wide Receivers Doing Their Best To Stay In The Race

Coming into training camp, it was no secret that Tampa Bay’s top four receivers are set with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and Emeka Egbuka leading the way. That likely leaves only one or two roster spots left up for grabs. While Tez Johnson certainly feels like a favorite to earn one of them, a couple of other young wide receivers showed up on Friday to show that they’re still in the fight.

Kameron Johnson was one of them, as he caught a huge deep ball from Kyle Trask during 11-on-11s, beating rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison for what was perhaps the longest play of the day. Trey Palmer made a nice play for himself later on as well, catching a perfectly placed ball from Baker Mayfield near the sideline with Antoine Winfield Jr. closing fast in coverage.

Palmer also remains in the mix during the special teams periods early on in practice. If Tez Johnson is able to win the WR5 job and the Bucs do keep six, it’ll be down to Palmer, Kameron Johnson, Sterling Shepard and Rakim Jarrett, among others.

Shilo Sanders Is A Big Fan Favorite At Bucs Training Camp

Buccaneer fans are lucky to have a long list of players on the team’s current roster who can be classified as “fan favorites.” And while some rookies in Tampa Bay’s 2025 draft class should get there in time, there’s one undrafted free agent who has already become a fast favorite: Shilo Sanders.

Sanders, the son of Colorado head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, has a massive social media following and made national headlines when he signed with the Bucs after the draft. But it is clear that he doesn’t just have fans on social media – he also has plenty of them out at practice at One Buc Place.

The rookie safety drew some of the day’s biggest cheers on Friday as he jumped a pass and knocked it away. As the crowd cheered, Sanders encouraged them to get louder and then there were “Shilo! Shilo! Shilo!” chants that continued into the next play of the period.

“Shoutout to Bucs nation,” Sanders told Pewter Report after practice. “It felt good, my first fan interaction on the field, you know. Made a play, the fans showed love. That’s part of football.”

The love continued after practice, as there was a huge group of Bucs fans – and plenty of security – gathered around seeking autographs and pictures from Sanders. He was the last player on the field, looking to sign as many autographs and take as many pictures with the fans as he could.

“It’s great,” Sanders told Pewter Report. “With that, I know that I have to be on my game at all times. Because as soon as… they’ll love you, but they’ll hate you at the same time if you’re not doing your job. So, it just keeps me on my toes and keeps me paying attention to every little thing, making sure I’m not caught slipping.”

Observations & Highlights From Day 3 Of Bucs Training Camp

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

• Just as the offense had some moments of its own when the defense won the day on Wednesday and Thursday, the same can be said on Friday. While the offense won the day, the defense had its share of highlights, too.
• Among those highlights was an early Antoine Winfield Jr. sack of Baker Mayfield on a blitz, a near-interception from linebacker Antonio Grier while in coverage on Payne Durham and some good rushes by Mike Greene, Haason Reddick and Elijah Roberts.

• Logan Hall had a strong day as well, coming through with a sack on Baker Mayfield after putting together a great rush on him earlier in the team period.
• The offense wasn’t turnover-free on the day, either. Undrafted rookie quarterback Connor Bazelak had a pass tipped by tight end Ko Kieft and intercepted by cornerback Kindle Vildor early in 11-on-11s, while safety Kaevon Merriweather had an interception of Kyle Trask on a deep ball. Defensive back Christian Izien also had a nice pass breakup on a Trask pass intended for wide receiver Dennis Houston.
• The defense also stepped up late in the two-minute period. After the first-team offense got down near the goal line with just about no time remaining, Baker Mayfield looked to find tight end Tanner Taula for a touchdown. Taula brought the ball in, but inside linebacker Lavonte David was tight in coverage and made sure Taula wasn’t able to get two feet down to complete the catch.
• Then, in the second-team offense’s two-minute drive, the defense didn’t allow anything and finished things off on fourth down with a Kaevon Merriweather sack.
• Elijah Klein continued to take reps at right tackle throughout Friday’s practice.
• Newly signed offensive linemen Michael Jordan and Tyler McLellan participated in their first practice with the Bucs as well.