Kicker Martin Gramatica did get a few field goal tries in before the lightning and rain struck
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got an unscheduled night off on Wednesday, but at the expense of their Thursday morning free time.
An overflowing crowd at the University of Tampa's Pepin-Rood Stadium witnessed just 19 minutes of practice Wednesday night before repeated lightning strikes drove the team off the field. Though the coaches waited another 30 minutes to see if the weather would clear, the lightning intensified and eventually was joined by a heavy downpour.
The team chose not to come back out, instead rescheduling their workout for Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. Like all of the team's practices during training camp, Thursday's a.m. session is free and open to the public. There is also a previously-scheduled 3:30 practice in the afternoon.
The Bucs will use Thursday morning to focus on the situations they had planned to attack Wednesday night, mainly field goal kicking and two-minute drills. The 19 minutes the team did get in on Wednesday were devoted to field goal attempts by second-year kicker Martin Gramatica, who looked as sharp as he did during his rookie season.
On Friday, the team will head to Orlando for two days of joint practices with the Miami Dolphins in the Florida Citrus Bowl.
