{"id":293387,"date":"2026-06-02T18:39:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/293387\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:39:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:39:13","slug":"3-things-that-turned-our-heads-at-week-2-of-tampa-bay-buccaneers-otas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/293387\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Things That Turned Our Heads at Week 2 of Tampa Bay Buccaneers OTAs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/buccaneers\/onsi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> are undergoing their second week of OTAs, the first day of which began on Tuesday. There was plenty to watch after a strong showing on the first day last week, and BucsGameday was live at One Buccaneer Place to catch all of the action. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">Here are our three biggest observations from the second day of Buccaneers OTAs available to the media:<\/p>\n<p>Bucs Have Bigger Turnout in Week 2<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kt4nvsey52a7dtw46t.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Yaya Diaby (0) prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints  \" title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Yaya Diaby (0) prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints  \" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7b\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Yaya Diaby (0) prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints  | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">The Bucs already had a strong turnout last week, but as expected, it got even better to start Week 2 of OTAs.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">Outside linebackers Yaya Diaby and Chris Braswell, both of whom missed the first day of last week due to an Islamic holiday, were back on Tuesday. Additionally, left tackle Luke Goedeke showed up as well, adding another veteran to the fold, and defensive back Keionte Scott, recovering from wrist surgery, was practicing for the first time media has seen this offseason<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">Outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad was not at OTAs last week and also wasn\u2019t present on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Defense Wins the Day<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kt4nxmpvfgqbq2ry1j.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Benjamin Morrison (21) participates in training camp  \" title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Benjamin Morrison (21) participates in training camp  \" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7y\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Benjamin Morrison (21) participates in training camp  | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">We said yesterday before Week 2 that we were looking for the secondary to make some plays, and that\u2019s exactly what happened Tuesday \u2014 and they wasted no time.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"85\">Second-year cornerback Benjamin Morrison picked off quarterback Baker Mayfield early on in OTAs, jumping a route near the sideline. The defense naturally hyped him up afterward, and it was the first pick we\u2019ve seen during both practices available to the media.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"88\">Additionally, UDFA Cade Fordham got a pick on fellow UDFA Jalon Daniels in 7v7 work. Overall, it was a strong day for the defense.<\/p>\n<p>Offense Struggles in Red Zone\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kt4nz1tgrehdj5g1rm.jpg\" alt=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) looks on during a combined NFL football training camp  \" title=\"Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) looks on during a combined NFL football training camp  \" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8l\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) looks on during a combined NFL football training camp  | Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8p\">The offense struggled just about all day on Tuesday, but they particularly floundered during the last red zone period. They were unable to score on the defense, with\u00a0passes going to Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson both broken up by the defensive backs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8s\">It&#8217;s far too early to read into things too much, but the Bucs were just 24th in red zone scoring last year. Tampa Bay brought on offensive coordinator Zac Robinson to help fix that, and they also grabbed a big-bodied target in Ted Hurst to help in that area in 2026 and potentially beyond. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8v\">The defense played very well on Tuesday, but the offense will look to punch it in the end zone far more often as the offseason continues. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"92\">Sign up to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/buccaneers\/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">free newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BucsGameday?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bucsgameday?s=21&amp;t=nyCeWGVWMsSpULqWCupqGA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/buccaneersgameday?igsh=NWVob203dzZpYnp0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0for the latest news.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are undergoing their second week of OTAs, the first day of which began on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-293387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}