As Joe noted yesterday, training camp is no longer open, the bleachers have been removed and stored until next summer, no fans are milling about the practice fields.
But what is open have been practices this week and Joe’s taking advantage by taking notes for his readers.
From what Joe has been told, Thursday will be the final practice that is open to the fourth estate. The next open practice won’t be until next spring for underwear football.
Today, like next spring, it was an underwear football practice at One Buc Palace.
* Payne Durham goes over the middle for a pass from Baker Mayfield but the ball was tipped on the second level high into the air and Will Brooks nearly had a pick.
* Sean Tucker pulls in a Mayfield pass near the right sideline.
* Tucker runs off-tackle to the right.
* Josh Williams bobs and weaves his way through the middle.
* Williams up the middle.
* Trey Palmer goes high along the left sideline to pull in a Kyle Trask pass (the anti-Teddy Bridgewater crowd would refer to this pass as a “hospital pass). Great leap to go get the ball.
* Trask throws way behind Tanner Taula along the left sideline and SirVocea Dennis nearly has a pick.
* Nagasaki! Baker Mayfield drops the bomb on Emeka Egbuka down the right sideline. Egbuka got way behind the defense.
* Mayfield is chased out of the pocket to the right so he runs for a few yards.
* This was cool: Mayfield fires a quick pass to Sterling Shepard along the left sideline and take a guess who raced to the sideline to lead a blocking convoy for Shepard? Mayfield.
* Trask to Kameron Johnson along the right sideline.
* Tucker catches a short pass over the middle from Trask.
* Trask fires a quick pass to the right for Garrett Greene. Good thing Trask was quick with the throw as Kaevon Merriweather was right on top of Trask.
* Williams catches a pass along to the right.
* Tez Johnson catches a short Trask pass over the middle. Shilo Sanders came up to stop any YAC from Johnson but Johnson slid past Sanders.
7-on-7 Goal line
* Mayfield is flushed right on the play but he still finds Emeka Egbuka and Mayfield link up for a score.
* Rachaad White runs between the left guard and tackle.
* Tucker tries to go up the middle and is stuffed.
* Bad snap! Kyle Trask looked like he was totally fooled by the snap. You know how someone sort of jumps when they don’t expect something? That’s what Trask looked like here. The snap was bad, chin-high. Still should have been caught but the way Trask snapped to attention when the ball was snapped, Joe is pretty sure Trask did not expect the snap. Trask did an excellent job of scooping up the ball and just throwing somewhere in the general vicinity of St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital, high, high in the air.
* Williams jukes left.
* Williams runs inside left guard.
* SirVocea Dennis shows some hops. Mayfield targeted someone in the back of the end zone. Joe couldn’t see who the intended target was as he was screened but Joe sure did see an arm rise above the wall of players in front of Joe and the ball popped in the air. Sure looked like Dennis may have gotten his paw on the ball.
* Without bleachers, Joe is confined to the Bucs’ patio which also serves as the media viewing area. And as usual Joe has to attempt to navigate a wall of humans, including players, coaches, suits and staffers. Think of trying to watch a game through a picket fence with the pickets sometimes only having maybe a foot of space in between. Joe has thought about bringing a stepladder (photographers will do that at times) but Joe is pretty confident that would surely trigger Bucs brass.
* Rachaad White is wide ass open along the left sideline in the end zone and Mayfield hits him for six.
* Teddy Bridgewater hits Tez Johnson along the right sideline.
* Oh, swell. The Bucs just had staffers stack trash cans onto flatbed carts (like you would have a stack of Solo cups) and place the carts right in the viewing path where there was no human picket fence. Guess Joe should take a hint, huh?
* Bridgewater tried to throw over the middle but had the pass broken up. Joe couldn’t tell who the intended target was or who got their mitts on the ball but Joe did see the ball fly up in the air. The stacked trash cans worked. 🙁
11-on-11
* This didn’t look so smooth but it worked! Mayfield throws to Payne Durham near the right sideline and Durham’s footwork looked like Joe trying to leave Hooters after a full day of college football. Talk about some ugly footwork! But dang if Durham didn’t stumble badly but still was able to get his feet inbounds for the catch.
* Mayfield throws to Egbuka to the left and he gets a good chunk of YAC.
* Mayfield launches a bomb deep down the middle for Tez Johnson and the ball went right through Johnson’s arms. Coaches and suits will likely remember this 10 days from now when the Bucs whittle the roster down to 53. Roman Parodie was no joke as he had good defense on the play. Just about a perfect throw.
* Bucky ducks (Ducks?) into traffic up the middle for no gain.
* Shepard hauls in a pass from Mayfield on the right side.
* Mayfield tries to connect with Devin Culp to the right but it is incomplete. After a fast start to training camp, Culp has slowed down lately. Not the desired trajectory 10 days before The Turk visits.
* Trask is flushed to the right and, while on the run, connects with Tez Johnson near the right sideline.
* Ryan Miller catches back-to-back passes from Trask, one to the left and the second to the right.
* Mike Evans is still him: Picture if you can Jamal Mashburn of Kentucky with a one-handed slam in traffic in the Final Four against Michigan. Joe was transported back to that specific play, watching Mike Evans today. Near the end of practice, Baker Mayfield threw toward Evans where only Evans could catch the ball along the left sideline. Teddy Bridgewater haters would call this pass a “hospital pass.” Evans skied way, way, way high and with one hand reached up and caught the pass in midair, hauling it in for one of the better catches you will ever see. Every media person in attendance said out loud in unison, “Aaawww… “ witnessing this sick catch. It reminded Joe of a Mashburn one-hand baseline jam late in that semifinal overtime game against Michigan years ago.
* Mayfield throws to Evans to the right side and this time the pass was too long.
* Tez Johnson catches a Trask pass to the right and cuts inside for some good YAC.
Tomorrow, Joe was told, is the final fully open Bucs practice to the fourth estate this season. Of course Joe will have notes afterwards.
Bucs practice Wednesday morning. pic.twitter.com/ROk2p8ZHMe
— JoeBucsFan (@JoeBucsFan) August 20, 2025