This is supposed to be the year the Bucs end their 10-year playoff drought. They came close last year at 9-7, losing out on the final day of the season, on a tiebreaker. This year, everyone is better, there are new faces.. free agents and rookies.. who will lead them to the tournament.
On a sun-drenched, heat-filled, sweat-stained morning at One Buc Place, the journey began. Although Head Coach Dirk Koetter said, the players looked rusty after six weeks off, “Too many balls on the ground, too many guys on the ground,” there was plenty of good will to go around showing the potential of this 2017 squad.
The only injury so far is DE Jacquies Smith. He suffered a setback in his recovery from a torn ACL. He had a procedure performed on his knee today, and he’ll be out a few weeks, “We hope to get him back at some point,” said Koetter. That’s not the voice of optimism right there.
But overall, Day 1 was a good start. The Bucs don’t have to try to win a game until Sep. 10, so they have six weeks to clean up everything and not get hurt.
From this perspective, now in my 33rd year of covering training camp, today’s star was DeSean Jackson. He turned a couple of simple hook routes, into nice gains, “You could see DeSean flash,” said Koetter with a grin. This 30-year-old is still fast.. just about as fast as anyone in the NFL. It was nice to see DeSean and Mike Evans hanging around together on the practice field, giving each other water, leading the wide receivers in drills, acting the role of veteran leaders.
Koetter didn’t hesitate to rattle off the big competition battles in training camp. He started at safety.. will it be returnees Chris Conte and Keith Tandy, or the new guys, free agent J.J. Wilcox and 2nd-round draft choice Justin Evans?
On to kicker, where Roberto Aguayo won’t be given a mulligan this season. Veteran K Nick Folk is there to provide competition. And it wouldn’t bother me if Folk wins the job, he’s an 11-year vet who’s kicked a lot of field goals in the NFL. Wide receiver depth and backup linebackers were next on the list, but when the competition is among the second and third teamers, that’s a sign of a talented football team.
And there’s HBO and Hard Knocks in training camp this year. Cameras, cameras, cameras following the players everywhere. “These guys are used to having cameras around. It’s part of it...” Still, they’re going to follow some players home, and that could be Must-See TV.
Training Camp will be similar to the other 32 I’ve covered. It’s great to have football back, nice to see them practicing, but after about a week of this, we’ll all be complaining that it’s time to start playing games. Then, after a few dull pre-season games, we’ll all complain that’s it’s time for the regular season to start. Some things never change.
But that first day, there’s a little extra. As Jameis Winston said, “It was electric out here.”
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