Buccaneers Camp — Aug 23: Daniels Closes His Second Straight Win

For the second Saturday in a row, an undrafted rookie quarterback closed out a Buccaneers win. Jalon Daniels took over in the third quarter against Kansas City with Tampa Bay trailing and led three straight scoring drives — nine of 14 for 71 yards, a two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ko Kieft, a 46 yard field goal drive, and then the march that ended in Sean Tucker's one-yard game-winner in a 16-to-15 final at Raymond James Stadium, per Brianna Dix on the team's website. He added seven carries for 19 yards, including a 10-yard scramble to keep the winning drive alive. Todd Bowles afterward: "He did a good job closing out the game for the second week in a row. He made some plays, some clutch plays." A week ago it was two touchdown drives against the Jets; now it is a closed-out comeback against the Chiefs, and a quarterback who was fighting for a roster spot in July has become the most productive passer of Tampa Bay's preseason.

The honest frame on that game: it was mostly depth against depth. Patrick Mahomes sat entirely for Kansas City, whose offense belonged to Justin Fields, per Pete Sweeney's game story, and Baker Mayfield's first preseason action of the summer was two drives — two of four for 10 yards — before Jake Browning took the rest of the half and went eight of 11 for 84 yards, per Dix. Browning was himself just back from the back injury that cost him the opener, per Josh Alper at Pro Football Talk. The defense's backups kept making plays too: outside linebacker Anthony Nelson strip-sacked Fields in the first quarter, and undrafted cornerback Roman Parodie's interception set up the winning touchdown, per Dix — the second straight week an undrafted Tampa Bay corner produced a takeaway. File all of it as roster-battle material, but two August wins built by the bottom of the roster is a different depth picture than this team had a year ago.

The week's biggest piece of hard news came Thursday: Vita Vea's hold-in is over. The starting defensive tackle — who had been in the building but not practicing, a posture that spared him fines, per Teddy Ricketson at Yahoo Sports — agreed to a one-year, 30-million-dollar extension that runs through the 2027 season, and he was on the field for that afternoon's practice, per Scott Smith on the team's website. The team's own announcement acknowledged a reported trade request at the beginning of the process, per Smith, which is how far this one had traveled before it landed. General manager Jason Licht, in the release: "Vita is exactly the type of player and person we want to build around in Tampa Bay." Within 10 days, Tampa Bay ended extension talks with its quarterback until March and paid its defensive tackle now — one referendum deferred, one closed with cash.

The practice fields produced their own stories. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs was in full pads Monday for the first time since straining a hamstring in the conditioning test at the start of camp — individual drills only, no team periods yet — with Bowles saying, "We're trying to ramp him up a little bit. See how much he can go this week," per Matt Matera at Pewter Report. Wide receiver Jalen McMillan followed Tuesday, back from the leg injury that had sidelined him since August third, limited to individual work and ruled out of the Chiefs game; Bowles: "He's just warming up, getting accustomed back to playing," per Bailey Adams at Pewter Report. Wide receiver David Sills and cornerback Zyon McCollum also returned during the week, per Adams. Meanwhile rookie wide receiver Ted Hurst III keeps forcing his way into the reports — Wednesday he went up over Antoine Winfield Jr. for the catch of the day, caught slants from Mayfield and scored a red zone touchdown, per Matera — and the pass rush had its say too: outside linebacker Yaya Diaby sacked Mayfield on consecutive two-minute-drill snaps Monday, and rookie pass rusher Rueben Bain Jr. got the better of right tackle Luke Goedeke in Wednesday's one-on-ones, per Matera.

The absence ledger, briefly. Emeka Egbuka still has not practiced — the second-year wide receiver's toe is a stable sprain, he is expected to sit out the rest of camp and preseason, and the team is described as very optimistic he plays Week One, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times — so the plan is September, and nothing this week disturbed it. The one new concern is cornerback Benjamin Morrison, who missed Wednesday's practice after participating the two previous days, with Bowles vague on his status, per Matera. Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving drew no adverse reporting all week.

Back in July we previewed this team as the favorite with no rebate — an earned eight-and-nine record the regression rules won't subsidize, a price that bets on health returning to the skill positions and on a fifth offensive coordinator in five years being a fix rather than churn. We've been checking that preview against camp every week, and this week mostly paid the bet down: the last unsettled contract in the building got settled, two starters came back to the practice field, and the injury that mattered stayed on its Week One trajectory. One more check before the season. What to watch: whether Egbuka is on the practice field before cutdown to 53 on Sunday, August thirtieth, and whether Wirfs gets from individual drills into 11-on-11 work by then. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._