The pads finally went on today, which means that some players who have flashed so far will start to disappear, and we'll be able to actually say something useful about line play. Of course, I then have no useful notes on line play. It is what it is. Here are the notes:
- Arrelious Benn was held out of practice. He has been held out of several practices so far, which is supposedly just precautionary.
- Dezmon Briscoe continues his good showing. Despite some reports that he didn't show up for Josh Freeman's offseason workouts, Briscoe has consistently looked very good in training camp so far.
- K Josh Jasper has been horrifyingly bad in training camp, apparently. Sounds like Connor Barth is safe, as if he ever was in danger.
- With the pads on, the defense looked better. Running routes against people who can now hit is apparently harder. What a surprise!
- Jock Sanders, Sammie Stroughter and Preston Parker were all returning punts. Interestingly enough, I haven't heard anything on Micheal Spurlock this offseason, although he isn't allowed to practice yet because of CBA rules. The Bucs have a lot of bodies at wide receiver, and if Spurlock is losing half of his returning duties as well, he may be headed out of town.
- In goalline offense, the offense scored 4 out of 10 times (that's the last count I got, I'm pretty sure they ran it more often). That's an impressive showing for the defense, although the Bucs were very good in short-yardage situations on defense last year anyway.
And as a final note, the Detroit Lions signed Maurice Stovall. The veteran wide receiver always teased with his potential, but only made an impact on special teams. He really had little chance of making the roster this year even if he had been re-signed.