First Padded Practice of the Year Packs a Wallop

In sweltering morning heat, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wowed their capacity crowd with some ferocious contact. Big hits highlighted the first padded practice of Camp Toes On The Line but for Bucs coach Greg Schiano there's still much work to be done.

"We certainly have a ton of stuff we have to work on," Schiano said following the aggressive session, "It was sloppy...but everytime you add a new variable, you're going to get some of that."

Schiano cited penalties, missed assignments and a fumble during the session as points of emphasis going forward.

"We had one ball come out and that just can't happen," Schiano said, "the ballcarrier cannot put the ball on the ground - Period."

While he may have been upset with some of the turnovers and blown assignments, Schiano certainly liked the way the Bucs were hitting.

Tampa Bay's Linebackers were impressive during 11-on-11 drills with Lavonte David, Mason Foster and even Quincy Black delivering some punishing hits. There's no word on whether someone switched jersey numbers with Mr. Black.

Foster was very active, breaking up a pass from Freeman intended for Dallas Clark and blasting Sammie Stroughter. David had a pick, a tackle for loss and blew by LeGarrette Blount during a blitz.

CB Anthony Gaitor continued his rise up the depth chart with an impressive interception.

DE Adrian Clayborn had the undisputed hit of the day by blasting FB Eric Lorig.

While the defense definitely had it's moments, the Bucs offense was no slouch. The Bucs running game of Martin and Blount punished the defense's front seven. Freeman and Orlovsky both connected on deep bombs for touchdowns.

The Bucs receivers had another great day with Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams and Tiquan Underwood all making big plays.

"It’s (the offense is) very dynamic, to tell you the truth," Vincent Jackson told Stephen Holder of the Tampa Bay Times, "I love it. We have so many options. We have a plethora of great receivers and running backs and tight ends as well. We’re going to be getting the ball to everybody. We’re going to be very balanced."

It's hard to tell if the Bucs offense is going to be that good or the Tampa Bay defense is still that bad. We'll begin to get those answers when pre-season kicks off on August 10th.

Of course, the best news at the end of every training camp practice is that no one was seriously injured during this session.