Competitive 2-Point Period Ends Another Shortened Practice

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Ahead of what Bucs head coach Todd Bowles called “a day and a half” off for the players, the team was back on the fields at the AdventHealth Training Center for the ninth practice of training camp Saturday morning. With one week until Tampa Bay’s preseason opener against Tennessee, Saturday’s practice was lighter and shorter, partly due to the attrition the team is dealing with at several different positions.

Saturday’s practice was held under partly cloudy skies with Krewe Members in attendance. Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds, Bailey Adams and new intern Ava Rankin were also there at One Buc Place to catch all the action and speak with Bowles, defensive tackle Logan Hall, inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis and tight end Devin Culp after practice. Here are their observations and takeaways from Day 9 of training camp.

Bucs Who Were Not Practicing On Saturday

Much of the same group was missing from Saturday morning’s practice, with starting quarterback Baker Mayfield once again being the headliner with the contusion on his throwing hand. While he missed his second straight practice, Mayfield is expected to be back in the fold next week when the team returns to practice ahead of Thursday’s joint practice with the Titans.

Outside of Mayfield, linebacker Lavonte David, tight end Cade Otton, wide receivers Trey Palmer, Kameron Johnson, Tez Johnson and Ryan Miller, quarterback Michael Pratt and running back Josh Williams all remained sidelined. Wide receiver Mike Evans also didn’t practice, though it’s fair to assume it was a veteran day off for the soon-to-be 32-year-old, especially considering he’s had to cover more reps and practice more in recent days due to the injuries at receiver.

It’s worth mentioning that left tackle Tristan Wirfs was once again watching practice with crutches, though it seemed like he was holding them more than actually using them at times. Not only that, but Saturday was the first day that he didn’t have a sleeve or brace on his knee.

Could that be a positive sign for the All-Pro? It’s worth monitoring as he continues to work his way back, hopefully sooner rather than later but certainly only when he’s 100%.

Saturday’s Practice Cut Short Again As Team Weathers Injury Situation

Friday’s practice was originally scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. until 11:10 a.m., but it ended around 10:20 a.m. – nearly an hour early. Then, on Saturday, practice was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. until 10:40 a.m., but once again it wrapped up about a half-hour early. After practice, Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds asked head coach Todd Bowles whether the early finishes to practice were due to attrition with all of the injuries or because he was pleased with what he had seen.

“Due to attrition at some of the positions, so we’ve got some new bodies in here running around,” Bowles said. “They’re minor injuries, but at the same time, we need to get practice in.”

The good news for the Bucs is that very few of the injuries they’re dealing with are anything major. But as Bowles said, they have to get practices in, and it’s hard to get full ones in with so many players sidelined. On Saturday, Tampa Bay was without six wide receivers in addition to only running with two quarterbacks, Kyle Trask and Connor Bazelak with Baker Mayfield (hand) and Michael Pratt (back) sidelined.

Not to mention, two of the team’s top inside linebackers – Lavonte David and Anthony Walker Jr. – are dealing with injuries, too.

Cutting these last two practices short just ahead of a Sunday walk-through and a day and a half off could be a two-pronged play, as Bowles is looking to get his injured players healthy while also keeping those who are healthy as fresh as possible. After all, the Bucs have to get through three full preseason games that are bound to feature very few regulars.

Not to mention, Tampa Bay has had to bring in some new bodies this week as camp has gone on, such as running back Owen Wright and wide receivers Jaden Smith and Jacob Harris. The team can’t really afford any more injuries because, of course, a corresponding move has to be made every time they bring in a new body. The related move with Harris’ addition was placing rookie outside linebacker David Walker on injured reserve, but there’s no doubt the Bucs would prefer to go into the preseason with their initial camp roster intact as much as possible.

Bucs Practice Ends With Competitive 2-Point Conversion Period

With Saturday’s practice being lighter in terms of players, it was also a bit lighter in terms of competition and highlight plays. However, the morning did end with a competitive two-point conversion period down inside the 5-yard line.

The defense came away with stops on three out of the four plays from the 2-yard line, with a couple of big pass breakups. The first came from veteran Jamel Dean, who knocked a pass away from Jalen McMillan at the goal line. Then, it was rookie Jacob Parrish closing in on the intended receiver for another pass breakup. He got there with perfect timing, avoiding a would-be penalty while knocking the ball away.

The offense did get a win to end practice, though, as running back Rachaad White caught a nice touchdown throw from Connor Bazelak. White has been a quiet, steady star thus far in camp and closed out Saturday with a score after having one of the biggest plays of the day on Friday, a run of 60+ yards for a touchdown.

Observations & Highlights From Day 9 Of Bucs Training Camp

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

• With so many wide receivers out of action, it was interesting to see a group of defensive backs catching some kicks in the team’s early special teams period. Rashad Wisdom, Jacob Parrish, Kaevon Merriweather, Josh Hayes, Christian Izien and Tyrek Funderburk were all back there, perhaps just working on their hands or simply providing extra bodies as the team worked on its kick return game.
• Alongside the defenders in the return game were Jalen McMillan, Rakim Jarrett, Garrett Greene and Sean Tucker.
• Speaking of special teams, the Bucs broke out a fake field goal later in practice that featured a catch by tight end Payne Durham.

• The biggest play of the day on Saturday came on the first snap of 11-on-11s, as Kyle Trask found a diving Bucky Irving deep down the sideline for what looked to be around a 35-yard catch on a wheel route. Antonio Grier and Rashad Wisdom played decent coverage on the running back, but it was just a spectacular catch by Irving.

• Jamel Dean should’ve had his first interception of training camp as he got his hands on the ball on a deep shot by Connor Bazelak intended for Garrett Greene. But as Dean came down from his leap, he got tripped up by Greene and fell to the ground with the ball coming out for an incompletion rather than an interception.

• Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jacob Parrish both continued to be deployed as blitzers, with both coming up with potential sacks during 11-on-11s.
• Wide receiver Dennis Houston showed great body control and a nice catch radius on one particular pass during 11-on-11s, going up for the ball over the middle and rotating in the air before coming down with it and running the rest of the way for a touchdown.
• How nice is it to not have to intently watch the field goal periods? There’s no kicker battle, for one, plus Chase McLaughlin has been as steady as ever throughout camp.