Bucs ready to embark on a 49th training camp
TAMPA, Fla. - The Bucs are back and ready to embark on the franchise's 49th training camp. Rookies reported on Monday. The veterans will follow on Tuesday with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
With a solid foundation laid during the offseason, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is ready for his Bucs to hit day one of training camp running.
There is a lot he wants to get done in a short time, especially given teams get a day off after three days of practice.
The Bucs face two playoff teams in the first month of the season and that's the message he delivered to the team when they wrapped up the offseason work on June 13.
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"We play both Super Bowl teams," Bowles said. "We play everybody that was in the championship game, plus the division itself and some other teams. We’re going to have a hell of a schedule. We know how hot it’s going to be in summer, [so] it’s really just coming back in shape, ready to compete."
There aren't too many questions for this team that's won a franchise-best three straight division titles. Quarterback is set with Baker Mayfield. Their all-time leading receiver Mike Evans is back also with a new contract. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs is the one unfinished business as he awaits a new deal, but other than that, what is Coach Bowles most looking forward to for this camp?
"I don’t know if it’s guys for me," Bowles stated. "For me, it’s really just the offensive system coming together as a whole and as a group – those guys getting on the same page, continuity-wise. Seeing the O-line work together is going to be really big for us and the communication on defense is going to be really big for us. The special teams with the kickoff and kickoff return. I’m more or less looking at that. The guys that are going to stand out will stand out when the pads come on and I’ll see them then."
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Lavonte David, the elder statesman in the Bucs bunch, is returning for a 13th season. While training camp will be brutally hot, he's excited for the real work to begin.
"I’m just ready to see guys compete, man," David said. "Just being out here, guys are competing, guys are trash-talking. We’re comfortable with each other, but still, that’s something that I really like. It just goes to show that everybody is getting comfortable at doing what they’re doing – defensively and offensively. That’s just stuff that I love to see. Once gametime comes and we get to game-planning and stuff like that, it’ll show on the field, hopefully. It’s definitely fun to see guys out here having fun. Nobody is really like, ‘Oh, we’re out here practicing,’ everybody is just out there practicing to get better and having fun. That’s something I love to see."
It all gets underway on Wednesday.
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