Buccaneers, Jets make some noise
A few leftover thoughts from attending the Buccaneers-Jets joint practice Wednesday in New Jersey, at which Bill Cowher, Mark Sanchez, and Eric Decker were in attendance:
■ The Buccaneers are having a quiet camp now that Tom Brady is gone, and Todd Bowles’s team seems to be in a good spot entering the season with low expectations. The offense is obviously a major question mark, between Baker Mayfield’s inconsistent play, a first-year offensive coordinator in Dave Canales, and an injury for center Ryan Jensen.
But they still have an aggressive defense that wreaked havoc on Aaron Rodgers
and the Jets’ offensive line on Wednesday. The Buccaneers may not have Brady, but they aren’t totally rebuilding, either, and won’t be a fun opponent.
■ Wednesday’s practice was a mess, with at least seven fights breaking out and the HBO “Hard Knocks” cameras there to document every punch and shove. “That was the most fights I’ve ever seen,” 10-year Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans said.
One fight took out Jets cornerbacks coach Tony Oden, who was down for several moments and then carted off and taken to a hospital for precaution. “I think he caught some friendly fire,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said.
Fights were seemingly more prevalent than ever at joint practices across the NFL this training camp. But teams still find the practices to be mostly productive. As Bill Belichick pointed out Friday in Green Bay, the Patriots and Packers may have fought a number of times over two days, but they also practiced about 150 snaps of offense and defense and another 50 snaps of special teams.
■ From the moment he came to New York, Rodgers hasn’t stopped raving about second-year receiver Garrett Wilson, the 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Rodgers openly compares Wilson to his former teammate Davante Adams, both of whom wear No. 17. Wilson returned to practice against the Buccaneers after missing the previous joint practices with the Panthers, and Rodgers couldn’t stop praising him.
“Seventeen being out there just changes the dynamics of the whole thing because he’s so special,” Rodgers said. “He’s so eager to learn and he’s so talented with the football. I told him I used to have a rule with Davante where I’d give Davante a little extra tick, because I know if I did that, he’s going to get open, because he is really difficult to cover. I have to give that to Garrett, too, because sometimes you give him just a little extra tick, where you’re sitting on him, he’s going to be really open.”
■ New Jets running back Dalvin
Cook watched Wednesday’s practice in street clothes and did some agility drills on Thursday, but won’t join the team until this coming week, as he is going home this weekend for the birth of his child.