Buccaneers minicamp: Five things to watch

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will start their mandatory mini-camp tomorrow, after holding physicals today. This minicamp won't be fundamentally different from the offseason workouts of the past weeks, but it's mandatory (meaning everyone will be there), and the media will be allowed to view all of the practices. Which means we should see lots of interesting notes come out of minicamp.

Here are five things to keep an eye on as we head into minicamp.

1. Injuries

Carl Nicks won't be there. His 'target' was training camp, and we haven't heard a thing since then. But other players have missed significant time with injuries, too, and while none of it is too serious, they do need to catch up. Mike Evans especially, who can't afford to miss too much more time if he wants to learn the offense. But Vincent Jackson, Dashon Goldson and Mark Barron have also been out with injuries.

2. Offensive guard

There will be no shells at the mandatory mini-camp which means that, once again, we won't really be able to judge the work of the defensive or offensive linemen. But we can go by some of the starting rotations at offensive guard. Oniel Cousins and Jamon Meredith appear to have taken most of the starting reps so far, but others have been in the rotation as well.

3. Defensive linemen

With the same caveat that physical contact will be minimal, the defensive line rotation will be pretty interesting, too. Is Adrian Clayborn taking starting reps at left end? Is Akeem Spence getting much playing time? How is William Gholston looking? Is Da'Quan Bowers in shape?

4. Wide receiver battles

With Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson out until now (and maybe out a little longer), everyone else is getting a chance to step up. We've mostly heard positive things about Chris Owusu and Louis Murphy, but is anyone else stepping up? What about Robert Herron?

5. Lifting the veil on the offense

The media will be allowed to view all of practice, which means we'll see a lot more of the offense than we have in the past. At least, those parts of the offense they'll be allowed to communicate to the world. No specific plays, presumably, but general trends should come out of this minicamp.