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Jul. 25 -

 

Through the first week of his first NFL training camp, nearly every time he has dropped back to pass, quarterback Chris Simms has had Jon Gruden right behind him, offering instant feedback, sometimes shouting instructions during the play. For the last 20 minutes of Friday morning?s practice, there was nothing but empty field behind Simms, yet his passing guru was even closer than before.

 

During this drill, Gruden was inside Simms? helmet.

 

For the first time since training camp began on the Saturday prior, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran a practice drill that was intended to simulate a game-type atmosphere. The competing offense and defense took separate sidelines and even the coaches vacated their usual spots on the field. As he will during every game in the upcoming season, Gruden held a radio on the sideline and called the plays in to the quarterbacks? helmet receivers.

 

?It?s really the first time that Chris has had a chance to run the offense without some guy screaming in his ear,? said Gruden, who held up Simms? golf cart after practice so he could talk to the young passer. ?I just wanted to go over the stimulus that he got in that period, what he saw and why he did what he did and maybe a couple of pointers that maybe he could do better the next time. But, I was really pleased with our rookie today and Shaun King and Brad (Johnson) are both playing very well.?

 

The down-and-distance at each snap was pre-scripted, so an incomplete pass on first-and-10 could still lead to a second-and-seven, but the tempo of the session and the advancement of the ball down the field forced the offense to work at game speed. There were small victories on both sides of the ball ? the second play, for instance, was a complete pass down the middle of the field from Shaun King to Rickey Dudley ? but

Gruden considered it a successful period for the whole team.

 

?It?s a great period, what we did today,? said Gruden. ?We took the coaches off the field and the ones (first-team offense) had a seven-play drive, the twos had a seven-play drive and so did the threes.?

 

Simms led the third team and got a very valuable peek into the speed of the game at the NFL level.

 

?There?s no question with a rookie quarterback, just to call the play, go to the formation, set the motion off correctly, look for a potential audible, who?s hot, what?s my progression, is my footwork changing, and then you see the World Champion Buccaneer defense out there frothing at the mouth, it can be a little bit much,? allowed Gruden. ?But this young man is doing everything he can. I give him a lot of credit and we have to keep helping him and hopefully I won?t drive him crazy in that process.?

 

Friday morning?s finishing piece was a nice change of pace from the predictable camp practice schedule but not the type of drill Gruden plans to use often. In the end, it is still only a simulation of a game atmosphere, and thus not nearly as useful as the games themselves.

 

?You can only simulate live performances to a degree, unless you go out and play it live every day and for that you?d be crazy,? said Gruden, who wouldn?t want to risk injury or fatigue in that manner. ?When the lights come on, that?s when the performers come out. A lot of these guys have five opportunities, in these preseason games, to showcase their skills and (Simms) is one of them.?

 

**

 

A Little Banged Up

 

Perhaps the most notable development of camp was the almost utter lack of injuries, even relatively minor ones, over the first five days of double practices. Of course, that could not last forever, and a few aches and pains have surfaced over the last 24 hours.

 

WR Charles Lee (foot) and DT Warren Sapp (knee) returned to practice on Friday morning after missing part of Thursday?s work, but WR Keenan McCardell (hamstring) did not. He was joined on the stationary bikes by LB Justin Smith, another hamstring victim.

 

?We held Justin Smith, our outside linebacker, out - he has a slight hamstring pull,? said Gruden. ?He?ll probably be out for a couple days. Keenan McCardell, also with a slight hamstring pull, he?s day-to-day. Charles Lee returned to practice this morning and that was exciting to see.?

 

CB Ronde Barber was added to the list of injury concerns on Friday when he was pulled from practice a bit early. Gruden said the move was precautionary.

 

?He?s had some leg problems in the off-season and we?re going to monitor him a little bit in the next week to ten days,? said the coach. ?We want to make sure he?s fully recovered from the ailments that he?s worked himself through. He?s one tough soldier, but we?re probably going to limit him on the field the next few days and let him get rejuvenated physically.?

 

Even with those limited players, the Bucs had close to 90 men running and hustling around the two Disney Wide World of Sports Complex fields devoted to Tampa Bay?s use. A full complement of players is one of the reasons the team has had consistently productive practices during the first week.

 

?Our health has been really outstanding, knock on wood,? said Gruden, echoing his thoughts from the day before. ?That?s one of the things that we?re very excited about, to have a football team mostly intact at this time during camp. Normally, you have some pulls, you have some injuries, but the etiquette in which we practice, the conditioning of the football team (and) the familiarity with the system have certainly helped us avoid some of the piles and some of the wasted plays and, certainly, injury.?

 

Gruden has also demonstrated a good feel for just how hard to push his team. On Friday morning, though the practice was originally intended to be run in full pads, Gruden let his players come out in shorts, without pads.

 

?We?ve had four straight days of pads, live short yardage, live goal line,? he said. ?Last year, right around every fifth day, we changed the attire to try and freshen them up a little bit and still get a number of snaps on the practice field and that?s what we did today.?

 

c/o nfl.com

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