There were no fights, but the Bucs were pushed by the Jags in a joint practice

JACKSONVILLE — At least there was no punching, pushing or elbowing after the play.

Those things are common when teams like the Bucs and Jaguars participate in a joint practice as they did Wednesday morning.

But in other ways, the Bucs admit they could have shown a lot more fight.

Sure, it’s day 14 of training camp, but there are a couple of things to remember.

Most of the Bucs’ starters did not play at all in the 17-14 preseason win at Cincinnati.

The joint practices Wednesday and Thursday in Jacksonville — and next week’s in Tampa against the Dolphins — serve as the best preparation for players like Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and defensive starters Zyon McCollum, Jamel Dean and Antoine Winfield Jr.

Please note that these are controlled scrimmages in the sense that there are no tackles on the ground or hitting quarterbacks.

Bucs coach Todd Bowles may have only seen the offense live on Wednesday and was disappointed.

When you watch your defense against Jaguars quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones, you might feel a little defeated.

Cornerback Zyon McCollum was outplayed by LSU rookie Brian Thomas Jr., the Jaguars’ first-round pick. Lawrence threw poorly on the first, but then connected perfectly with Thomas behind safety Kaevon Merriweather the next time for a touchdown.

Receiver Elijah Cooks also got behind the Bucs defense, beating cornerback Josh Hayes for an easy touchdown pass to Jags No. 3 quarterback CJ Beathard.

“I feel like we started off a little bit slow,” Winfield said. “As practice went on, we got better. So I’m looking forward to the game (Thursday). We know what we have to do now.”

What they can’t do is play like they did against the Jaguars’ offense at 7-on-7. Hayes and Bryce Hall were targeted, and with a few exceptions, successfully.

“I spent the majority of the time with the offense, so I’ll look at the defense as we go along,” Bowles said. “We had some plays. I think there are some things we need to improve on. The guys that didn’t play get more reps and they need to come out in better physical and mental shape to play. But I think they fought hard.”

If there was a bright spot, it was the Bucs’ defensive front.

Calijah Kancey and Yaya Diaby, two of the Bucs’ best young defenders, did not practice.

But Vita Vea pushed the ball into Lawrence’s lap several times. While he did, the Bucs got some nice plays off the edge that would have resulted in Lawrence getting sacks about a half-dozen times. What was encouraging was that Alabama rookie outside linebacker Chris Braswell was among those who consistently got to Jacksonville’s quarterbacks.

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Offensively, the Bucs didn’t have much success, but the biggest culprit was dropped passes.

Rookie Jalen McMillan, Washington’s rookie and the darling of training camp, dropped a pair of passes. So did second-year player Trey Palmer, the guy he’s competing with for the No. 3 receiver spot opposite Mike Evans and Godwin.

Overall, it wasn’t the best day to throw the ball for Baker Mayfield, who connected with Evans in the red zone and Godwin up the middle despite tight coverage.

“He had some plays,” Bowles said. “He had some plays he would like to have back. Obviously, we were up against a good defensive front and we have to watch the film to be sure, but he ran the offense well.”

The lackluster performance on the first day of joint training camp is not unprecedented for the Bucs.

Hardy Nickerson was ejected from practice here once for fighting after Tony Dungy woke up his team at 5 a.m. and bused them to Jacksonville to practice.

Last week, the NFL fined the Lions and Giants $200,000 each for fights during their joint training camp.

Seattle wide receiver DK Metcalf was caught brandishing a helmet during a fight with his… own equipment.

“This is a game for us because we don’t play all the preseason games,” Winfield said. “This is a game for us. Game speed, game mentality.”

If it had been a game, suffice it to say the Bucs probably would have lost.

It’s true that you don’t need to be combative with your opponent in a joint practice, but the Bucs need to be much more competitive.

“It was football,” Bowles said. “There was great physical play up front. Everybody looked out for each other. You don’t have to fight to play good football.”

You just have to prove something.

Injuries: Bucs tight end Payne Durham left practice with an apparent injury. Bowles did not give any update on the nature or severity of the injury.

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