3 takeaways from Day 8 of Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp

It’s Day 8 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it was a longer session today — the team went for almost three hours, but there was a star player missing from the fold.

There have been a lot of mounting injuries so far this camp, but a blow to the quarterback room has seen some different faces get a bigger share of the reps. Even so, the offense is improving, and the defense made some plays as well.

BucsGameday was live on site for Day 8 as the Bucs strapped in for a long one — here are our three biggest takeaways from the day:

Baker Mayfield absent

Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield wasn’t involved in the action today after suffering a hand contusion (a bruise) during Thursday’s practice. He’s day to day, so we’ll see when he comes back — for now, though, quarterbacks Kyle Trask and Connor Bazelak took over proceedings. Trask looked better today, finding some chemistry with Mike Evans, but the team will want Mayfield back ASAP.

There were some other injuries as well. Wideouts Tez Johnson and Trey Palmer didn’t go, linebackers Lavonte David and Anthony Walker were out and Cade Otton still hasn’t recovered from a hamstring tweak. Injuries are piling up now, so the Bucs will hope to get some guys back sooner rather than later. 

Offense cooks in red zone

It was a big day for the offense in red zone work for the first time this camp. While the defense has normally gotten the best of the offense, quarterbacks Trask and Bazelak were dealing — Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan, Tanner Taula, Dennis Houston and Garrett Greene (among others) all had touchdowns during red zone work from some nicely-placed footballs.

It was a good pick-up day once again for the offense, who had a better time of things than they did the past few days.

Defense forces some fumbles

Todd Bowles said he wanted some ballhawks at the NFL Combine this year, and it’s looking more and more like he’s got them every day of camp so far.

The Bucs defense forced two fumbles on Friday — cornerback Benjamin Morrison forced one on Mike Evans and then defensive back Christian Izien forced one on tight end Devin Culp. That tenacity is something the Buccaneers defense will want to display going forward, and it couples nicely with the team’s slew of interceptions so far this camp.