The Buccaneers went into their second day wearing pads at Training Camp with fire, but towards the end of practice Head Coach Dirk Koetter noticed something else, dropped balls.
“Well just in general, late in practice we’re wearing down a little bit, which is to be expected when it’s hot and humid. We’re getting a little sloppy with our fundamentals on both sides, we’re getting a little sloppy with our mental errors.”
Late in the squad practice Mike Evans clearly dropped a pass that hit not only the numbers on his chest, but his hands as well. Evans has been criticized since last season when he led the NFL in dropped passes. Coach Koetter went a step further knowing full well his team is only on day five of training camp.
“Those guys go in there, whatever they did bad on their coaches are getting after them, they’re going to come out and do better tomorrow. It’s been around for ages in football like that. We’re progressing just how we should be – players have their first day off tomorrow, so they’re happy.”
Koetter removed the veil of mystery for at least one position that pundits were saying was going to a camp long battle when he announced who his number three wide receiver is.
“Adam Humphries is going to be our number three wide receiver. On the young lady’s question, you talk about the definition of consistent player there’s Adam Humphries’s picture right there, [a] consistently strong player. Adam’s going to be our slot receiver and then the battle for four, five, six and beyond, there’s some really good competition. Kenny is one of the guys in that mix.”
Humphries seemed a tad bit unfazed when reporters told him what his coach had said moments earlier.
“Yeah, I mean obviously, it’s early in camp and we still got a lot of work to do. Obviously, that’s good to hear from the head man, but got to keep the edge and keep working hard every day and I’ve got to earn the spot every day no matter what he says. I can mess up or I can keep getting better and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Humphries wasn’t the only youngster spoken about by the coaching staff today as Mike Smith addressed how he planned to start using rookie cornerback Vernon Hargreaves.
“We are using him inside right now and once he has a comfort level inside then we will get him some snaps outside.”
Second year pro and starting Quarterback Jameis Winston spoke about the much improved defensive scheme that Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith has been installing since he was hired.
“I’m just very impressed with our whole team. The chemistry of that defense is showing and [that it’s] their first year in that defense, it’s very impressive. I can’t wait to see how things work out for them because I know they’re giving us trouble out there and they’re very tough. It’s so good for the quarterbacks.”
The Team will be off tomorrow (Tuesday 8/2/16) and will return to the practice field Wednesday August 3rd at 8:45am for any fans wanting to attend.
