The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came from a 9-0 deficit to defeat the Chiefs on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium, 16-15. Now, they will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars for the final preseason outing in 2026. The two Florida clubs will meet on the evening of August 28, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at EverBank Stadium.
Tampa Bay returns to Jacksonville for an August contest for the second time in three years. The two teams also met in the second week of the 2024 slate. Prior to the game on Friday, the Bucs and Jaguars will conduct a pair of joint practices to ramp up competition.
"It will be great to get practice reps against them [Jaguars] because it will be the last one going into the season and you'll see the full gambit," said Todd Bowles. "I think we got a small sample size last night, but we need more practice in certain situations to clean things up so we're hoping to get some work in."
The Bucs' starters took the field for the first two possessions in Preseason Week Two, including quarterback Baker Mayfield. While the offense was unable to reach the endzone, Tampa Bay's defense put the clamps on the Chiefs and orchestrated two-straight three-and-outs.
In the Jaguars' 34-17 loss to the Panthers in Preseason Week Two, Liam Coen opted to rest Trevor Lawrence and other key first-team players following their joint practices with Carolina. Undrafted rookies Joey Aguilar and Trebor Peña connected over the middle of the field on a 29-yard touchdown pass after the pair made an impact in the preseason opener. The offense's biggest play came from running back Ameer Abdullah, who had a 23-yard run around the right edge in the second frame, forcing a Panthers missed tackle. The Buccaneers will likely follow the same routine as the club's first preseason game with the Jets, where the starters were sidelined following two days of practices with the unfamiliar foe.
