Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles identifies area of improvement after Titans joint practice

Training camp is all about getting better as a team, and there's even more opportunity to do that when it's a joint practice against players and scheme looks you haven't seen before. That was the case when the Buccaneers went up against the Tennessee Titans in joint practice on Thursday, and head coach Todd Bowles identified one thing he'd like to see improve after the practice — protection from the interior offensive line.

Tampa Bay's interior line is the same as last year. Center Graham Barton, who had a strong year in Year 1 and is looking to build off that, anchors the line, and he'll be paired on both sides with left guard Ben Bredeson and right guard Cody Mauch. All three players had good years last year and were a big part of Tampa Bay's stellar run game, and with a similar system in place by offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, their play could elevate to the next level in 2025.

To get there, though, the whole team is looking to improve in training camp. And when Bowles was asked after practice about the team's blocking against the Titans' defense, he mentioned that the interior protection is an area of improvement heading into the rest of training camp. e

Buccaneers need to block better in the interior

"Just blind sight, not even watching the film, I think we can protect up the middle a little better in the pass protection part of it," Bowles said. "I did not watch the defense. I thought our [wide] receivers did a good job trying to insert and block and get open and those type of things, but I thought it was a little too much penetration up the middle."

As Bowles mentioned, he'll need to look more in-depth at the film to make a true evaluation. Additionally, there's usually an added wrinkle in joint practice — there's no prior film study for tendencies, formations and playcalls before a joint practice, unlike in a real game, so both teams fae each other significantly less prepared than they normally would be. As a result, joint training camps can be an unfair evaluation, but it's also a great exercise in instinctual football and learning fundamentals and technique against players you haven't seen before.

Barton, Mauch and Bredeson are all strong blockers and should fare well in the regular season, but they have a few weeks to hone their craft and another opportunity to face a different squad when they hold joint practice with the Pittsburgh Steelers next week on the road. And while Bowles mentioned that the offense had some improvements to make, he also praised their effort.

"I'll look at the tape overall to see. We’ve executed some things and some things we need to work on. We saw another defense and they shifted us to some things that we got to adjust on and we’ll get better from that. But, you know, overall the effort was there."

The Bucs will get some game-time experience on Saturday against the Titans when the two face off in preseason at 7:30. Starters likely won't play much, if at all, but the rest of the roster will have a great chance to apply what they learned from Thursday's proceedings.