Bucs Hold Practice At Ray Jay

The Bucs held their last OTA for May in Raymond James Stadium yesterday, as they generally do once or twice a year. Jon Gruden cranks up the music and the crowd noise and tries to get the players excited for practice. There are a few reports out there about how things went, which range from uninteresting to slightly less uninteresting. The Roy Cummings-written report on TBO sounds like he was actually there and watched the practice. It has details on where players lined up, substitutions, how they did and everything. Seriously, it's easily the best thing he's written in a year. The Times and the Bucs' official site also has similar, if less detailed reports. Here's the summary, including a couple things I learned that weren't printed.

• Warrick Dunn caught a lot of screen passes. Gruden hasn't used the screen much in the past, but I'm sure he thinks he has the perfect player to run them with now.
• The snap seemed to be a big problem for a couple different quarterbacks. Brian Greise was especially sloppy, although he was getting the ball from John Rochford who may have been part of the problem. Gruden shouted something about Griese looking like an amateur.
• Josh Johnson only took a couple reps. Bruce Gradkowski took zero. Johnson also fumbled one of his few snaps from center. It appears that if the Bucs were forced to cut their roster tomorrow, the depth chart would be Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Luke McCown and Josh Johnson. I expect Johnson will be inactive and in street clothes most of 2008.
• Both Michael Clayton and Cortez Hankton made impressive catches. Hankton's was over a defender after the ball had been batted.
• Dexter Jackson dropped a couple of the few balls he was thrown. He looked good receiving kicks, though. I can't see how Jackson will get many reps on the offense this year unless he really improves his receiving skills during camp.
• Michael Bennett looks extremely fast on special teams. He could be the next gunner that makes the big tackles after punts. Bennett also took most of the reps at running back. He did well, but did lose a fumble.
• The first-string defensive line looked like this: Kevin Carter, Chris Hovan, Jovan Haye, Gaines Adams. Greg White replaced Carter towards the end.
• Adams is easily the most athletic lineman of the group. Jimmy Wilkerson also looked better than expected. He's very fluid.
• Jovan Haye is walking with a limp. He may have just tweaked it because he completed every drill.
• Sabby Piscitelli started in place of Jermaine Phillips. Phillips was excused for personal reasons. Also, Ryan Nece started in place of Cato June, who was nursing his foot but insists he'll be 100% for camp. I think Nece is going to have a hard time making the roster this year, but if June's foot doesn't heal right, his chances to stick go up considerably.
• The defensive linemen played some weird version of tag inside small circles on the field. This was a real drill, not a recreational thing.