Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Joint Practice Report Following Sessions with Patriots

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the New England Patriots Friday night at 7:30 for preseason Game 3 of the NFL schedule. Prior to the action under the lights at Raymond James Stadium, the two teams joined together for a few joint practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

There are a lot of reasons to practice against another team during the preseason, head coach Greg Schiano told the Tampa Tribune.

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"There are a lot of reasons for it, but, No. 1, you do get into a little bit of a lull here, and so this is something that excites the players; heck, it even excites me," Schiano said. "You get a championship organization to come down and practice against, you get to watch as you are doing it how they do things. So, it was really a good experience."

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And watch the Patriots they did.

Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy spent a lot of time staring at New England quarterback Tom Brady. McCoy was impressed at how focused Brady is for the entirety of a practice session.

"He just like locks in and as soon as he gets a break it's like he's coming out of a trance,” said McCoy to the Tribune. “But when he's in it, he's in it. He's good, and he's never satisfied, and you can see that when he practices."

McCoy wanted nothing to do, however, with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. McCoy told the Tampa Tribune that he doesn’t get nervous around many people but when he saw Belichick in the hall at One Buc Place he “dang near turned the other way.”

Having the Patriots in town isn’t just a way to work out frustrations against another team or pick off a few tidbits of information that normally wouldn’t be gleaned. Those are both great side effects of the experience, but Schiano is starting a new regime in Tampa Bay, a new Buccaneer way of doing things.

Seeing how an uber-successful franchise walks the walk should do wonders for the Buccaneers.

News of Note After Both Combined Practices Were Complete

• Running back LeGarrette Blount left last week’s game early with a groin injury but said he’s feeling no pain and is a full-go for Friday’s game.
• Four players were still sidelined with injuries, according to Pewter Report: Cornerback Anthony Gaitor (hamstring), wide receiver Arrelious Benn (knee), cornerback E.J. Biggers (foot) and defensive end Da’Quan Bowers (Achilles).
• Schiano wasn’t a fountain of information Thursday about how much the starters would play Friday. He did say he hoped the starters would play into the second half, but wouldn’t commit to that.