A different look: Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. enjoyed the opportunity to practice against the Buffalo Bills last year at Acrisure Stadium prior to their preseason meeting, and he is equally excited about today's practice against the Buccaneers.
"This is going to be my second one," said Porter of the joint practice. "I enjoyed the one last year with the Bills. I learned a lot from it, so hopefully I can learn a lot from this one with the Bucs."
One thing Porter pinpointed was the opportunity to go against Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans, who is entering his 12th NFL season, and is one of the NFL's steadiest receivers. He is a two-time AP All-Pro second-team selection, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and everything you want in a receiver.
And Porter is excited for the opportunity.
"Going against Mike Evans. I'm excited for that," said Porter. "I've been watching him for a long time, so now I get to go against him in practice. I'm excited for that."
There is also the added benefit of practicing against a different team that has Porter ready for action.
"Just going against new players," said Porter. "I feel like everybody, we kind of get tired of going against each other, beating up on each other.
"So, it's a different team with a different jersey. We get to beat up on them for a little bit. So, I feel like everybody is excited for that."
The secondary as a unit aren't just getting a new look with their opponent in the joint practice, but they have also given new looks, with guys moving around in the secondary, playing different spots, and being interchangeable.
"I give it to our coaches because they're teaching us to be more expandable and play all different types of roles and they give us the capabilities of doing that," said Porter. "So, it's just them trusting us being able to switch up roles and the guys execute.
"Those are my guys, everybody in there. Dealing with Jalen (Ramsey) and Darius (Slay) coming in, the OGs. We always crack jokes. They're good teammates to have."
Porter said the ability to have the secondary be interchangeable is one of the big things that have come out of training camp, but not the only thing for them.
"Other than being able to play different parts of the defense and everybody being exchangeable, I feel like our communication has been top notch for us," said Porter. "That's really the main thing we've been pushing. Just communication to be able to make plays out there and not play so textbook."