The Bucs still have room for a playmaker like Cameron Brate./CARMEN MANDATO
Tuesday, 2 a.m.
The Bucs worked on their two-minute drill Monday.
Dirk Koetter did, too.
Koetter, the coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs, is trying to get his team over the hump from a nine-win team to a playoff team. He's trying to incorporate new offensive weapons. He's trying to bide time until running back Doug Martin can join his team. He's trying to make sure the defense starts faster this year. He's trying to blend his safeties. He's trying to prove his offensive line is better than outsiders think. He's trying to find a dependable kicker.
And that's just in the morning.
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Doug Martin's preseason will be a long one./CARMEN MANDATO
On his place-kickers: "Not too good, not too good. It's one day on, one day off. Whatever they ate for breakfast today, off the menu, because that wasn't it. It's kind of day-to-day. Neither one of them was very good today. I mean, it's a simple process. You're a kicker in the NFL – inside 50 yards you've got to make your kicks. I'm not being a hard-ass or anything, that's just what it is. That's what it is in this league. They know it, I know it, everyone here knows it. It is what it is."
On rookie tight end O.J. Howard: "O.J. continues to make 'wow' plays every day and he also is doing a really good job blocking. That's the second time he's got stripped on the sideline in the two-minute drill. He's just got to learn that the guys in this league are really good at it. It's a learning process. We've seen him make so many
O.J. Howard has been impressive as a rookie./CARMEN MANDATO
great plays, when there's a play that maybe doesn't look like a great one, that he doesn't make, we expect him to make it. That's a good thing. That's a good problem to have."
On quarterback Ryan Griffin, fighting to be Jameis Winston's backup “Griff is throwing the ball great, number one. He’s really throwing it smooth right now. In this first game, the ‘ones’ aren’t going to play a ton and so we’re going to give Fitz [Ryan Fitzpatrick] and Griff reps both with the ‘twos’ and ‘threes.’ But before it’s all over, we would like to get those other guys a series with the ‘ones’, with the first O-line. That would give them their best chance to show what they can do. But this game, Jameis [Winston] and the ‘one’ line are going to play the same amount.”
On the depth at wide receiver: “Different days, all of them have their day. We had to hold Donteea Dye out today. Got a little bit of an ankle [injury], so we held him out. I thought Derel Walker showed up a few times today, [Chris] Godwin has shown up every day. All those guys, Josh Huff has had his moments, Freddie [Martino] has had his moments. D.D has had his moments. [Bernard] Reedy has had his moments. It’s tight, it’s tight for those last couple spots there.”
Jameis Winston compares catching techniques with O.J. Howard./CARMEN MANDATO
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