Bucs and Dolphins hold joint practice ahead of preseason matchup

Joint practice for the Dolphins and the Bucs

Kevin O'Donnell reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Quarterback Baker Mayfield welcomed the Bucs' in-state rivals from the south with hugs. This would be a friendly meeting on the field, one that both teams wanted to benefit from.

There were no fights, but competitive battles. Overall, the Bucs looked solid for the majority of the hour and a half joint work.

"It's great to get another look," said rookie center Graham Barton. "It's great to get, as you said, guys like Calais [Campbell] and [Zach] Sieler, [who] are really good D-tackles inside. It's great to get different looks [after] you've been going against your team for about a month now. To be able to get other teams in here and see different looks and different styles of offense and defense. It's very beneficial for both teams."

The Bucs felt the practice started slowly, but the intensity was higher than a normal training camp practice.

"It definitely picked up," Defensive lineman Calijah Kancey said. "I feel like we started off [well] as a whole. The intensity definitely picked up and we just matched their energy."

After spending most of the time watching the Bucs offense, head coach Todd Bowles was pleased with the practice, but still wants to look back at the recorded work.

"I thought they competed," Bowles said. "Some mistakes made… [It is] a very good group Mike [McDaniel] brought in here – defensively, they’re more aggressive up front. I thought we had some runs in there. We’ve got to do some work in protection that we’ve got to clean up. I’ve got to look at the tape to see that. I’ll look at the defensive tape and the defensive side as we go in, but offensively, we did some good things. We’ve still got some things to work on."

Bucs linebacker Lavonte David grew up in South Florida. His entire family are Dolphins fans, but admits that he never liked the Dolphins and won't commit to saying he likes joint practices, but does see the benefits of them.

"I’ve been doing them for 13 years," David said. "I can’t complain about them now. It’s pretty good work. Like I said, when you’re going against your own team over and over, it gets kind of redundant and repetitive, so when you get the chance to throw it up against other guys and be more violent against other people instead of your own teammates. It’s really good competitive work. As long as it’s competitive – both sides competing – it’s a good day."

Bucs starters will see their first preseason action Friday night and are looking forward to building off this practice. How long Baker Mayfield and his Bucs bunch are on the field will be decided by what they accomplish.

"They’re going to play," Bowles said. "I want to see some coordination and get them in sync. I don’t have a set number of plays, but they’re going to play. I’ll get them out when it’s time to get them out."

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