"Obviously we've had some injuries and you never want to see that. And obviously, prayers to those guys who are injured. We want them to get healthy and get back to us quickly. But, yeah, we've got a lot of depth in this room. Like Mike Evans said, we've got the best group in the NFL. We've got to live by that, abide by that and guys have to step up. We've just got to put the next-guy-up mentality."
Miller, who was primarily an undersized tight end at Furman, knew any future he had in the NFL would be at receiver and he started working with his college coach over his last two seasons to prepare for the transition. While he showed enough in his rookie camp to gain a coveted spot on the practice squad, he knew he had work to do to before he was truly ready to play in the NFL. Two years later, things have changed.
"I will say my rookie year, I don't think I was entirely ready to play in the NFL," said Miller. "I was still developing – because obviously, I played tight end in college so transitioning to NFL wide receiver, I guess was a little bit different for me, having to work against outside cornerbacks and stuff like that. But being consistent, working on my craft, I had a good offseason this past offseason, just working out. I would throw with Baker [Mayfield] about once or twice a week, so I was here prepping for the season."
Bowles has seen the growth in Miller as well and now considers him a well-rounded receiver who can help an offense in a lot of ways and make an impact on special teams, too. During the stretch last season when both Godwin and Evans were out, Miller contributed 12 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. He also had six tackles on special teams om 11 total games to rank third on the team behind two players who have since departed, Tavierre Thomas and J.J. Russell.
"Ryan is smart, he's reliable, he's tough, he has great hands, he's going to block when you need him to block, he's going to get open when you need him to get open, he's a very good special teams player," said the coach. "His confidence has grown from year one until now. Coming out of college as a free agent tight end and playing wide receiver, you see the toughness, but his work ethic has changed. I kind of knew he arrived when he cut his hair because he had been walking around a little crazy before, but now he's kind of settled in and become a little mini vet right now. So that's a good thing."
There's still plenty of competition, of course, and more than two weeks before the first regular season game for players to make their case. Evans still leads the unit and rookie draftees Egbuka and Tez Johnson feel like near locks for the roster. But with Godwin and McMillan not ready for the start of the regular season, the third through (potentially) sixth spot on the receiver depth chart could still go to the likes of Miller, Trey Palmer, Sterling Shepard, Rakim Jarrett, Kameron Johnson and Garrett Greene. Among that group, all but the rookie Greene have already played for the Bucs in the regular season in recent years, and Greene has looked intriguing as he makes his own conversion from college quarterback to receiver.
"[I'm] just taking it one day at a time," said Miller. "Trying to string a couple good practices together this week. And then just go put my best foot forward Saturday and try to make plays for this team. Ultimately, it's up to the coaches and the staff to decide who's going to make this team and that's out of my control, but I can just control what I can control and do my best."