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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Takeaways from 2021 Bucs OTAs: May 26

Voluntary offseason workouts continued on Wednesday at the AdventHealth Training Center.

View the best photos from the second day of Bucs OTAs.

It was another hot and sunny day with temperatures topping 90 degrees on the field of AdventHealth Training Center. Perfect football weather. At least, perfect football weather in Florida.

Voluntary workouts continued in Phase Three of the NFL's offseason training program on Wednesday. It was the second day of practice for the Buccaneers with over 40 players in attendance.

Though no contact will be allowed in any of these practices and it isn't a full squad, the energy level has still been on par with that of a normal in-season practice. There are individual periods following by team periods and different installs as new players especially get used to their new system on both sides of the ball.

Here are a few observations from Wednesday:

-Fourth-round pick Jaelon Darden continues to impress as much as he can in shorts and a t-shirt. His routes are crisp and he positions himself well to make the catch. He had a great grab on a comeback route in individual routes where his timing with quarterback Kyle Trask looked right on the money.

-Defensive players are getting in on the ball skills. Linebacker Grant Stuard was good about getting his hands up in front of receivers, showing off some coverage skills.

-Fellow rookie linebacker K.J. Britt got some air at the line when he jumped up in front of quarterback Ryan Griffin. The middle level isn't just relying on the secondary to try and disrupt the passing game however possible.

-Both Stuard and Britt have gotten their fair share of work as well, taking a majority of the reps on defense without the benefit of a full team to rotate with.

-Outside linebacker Cam Gill, who recorded a half sack in Super Bowl LV, got his hands on the ball on Wednesday, batting down a pass and coming down with it for what would have been a pick-six.

-Safety Javon Hagan, who also contributed late in the postseason when his name was called on for the NFC Championship in Green Bay, joined Gill in interceptions. Hagan crept up and seeing that a ball was a bit overthrown, hustled down and made a diving grab to come up with the takeaway. Hagan also looks a little leaner than he did last year and it seems to have translated into some more speed on the back end so far.

-Tight end Tanner Hudson made the catch of the day with a diving grab in the back of the end zone during the last team period of the day.

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