Bucs fans watching the preseason opener tomorrow night won’t see many starters, if any, but that will change quickly.
Joe talked to Todd Bowles about this yesterday afternoon.
Simply put, the Bucs just had two consecutive days of hard-hitting, high-energy practices against the New York Jets in full pads. The work was exceptional. Buccaneers legend and insider Rondé Barber even remarked on his WFLA streaming show that he watched the film of Tuesday’s practice and came away very impressed by the quality of the session.
“The energy and the speed of practice [Tuesday] was 30 percent higher,” Barbers said, making the comparison to a typical Bucs training camp practice.
Joe was impressed witnessing it first-hand.
After practicce, Joe had private time with Todd Bowles and asked the head coach about the quality of work Wednesday and Thursday. Bowles said he was pleased but downplayed the pace of play and workload that impressed Joe and Barber.
Bowles noted that the two days of joint practice is why starters will sit Friday. However, per Bowles, no joint practices next week is why the starters will play in Preseason Week 2, a home game against the Chiefs.
That higher-quality work is essential, Bowles said, and since it won’t come during next week in practice, it’ll happen under the lights at The Licht House.
Joe is pleased for the home fans. They’ll get to see some of the Bucs studs in the only home preseason game of the season.