McCollum, Johnson shine in Bucs’ joint practice with Dolphins

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After a disappointing performance in last weekend’s preseason loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Bucs secondary started their joint practice with the Dolphins with a bang.

Cornerback Zyon McCollum picked off Tua Tagavoila on the first play of 11-on-11 drills. A welcomed sight for McCollum, who’s slated to start this year and said earlier in camp his goal is to grab six interceptions this season.

“I’m starting to get to the point where I can bait a lot of these quarterbacks into throwing where I want them to,” McCollum said. “Just sat on a different route, he threw it deep, and I went up and got it.”

On the flip side, it was a solid day for the Bucs offense. Baker Mayfield connected with multiple receivers and the ground game got going, but head coach Todd Bowles did note the offensive line does have some things to clean up in terms of pass protection.

“I thought they competed,” Bowles said. “Some mistakes made. Very good group Mike [McDaniel] brought in here. Defensively they’re more aggressive up front.  I thought we had some runs in there. We’ve got to do some work in protection that we’ve got to clean up. I’ve got to look at the tape to see that. I’ll look at the defensive tape and the defensive side as we go in, but offensively, we did some good things. We’ve still got some things to work on.”

Today marked one of the final opportunities for guys fighting for a roster spot to make a good impression.

One guy who continues to turn heads is Kameron Johnson. The young wideout made several nice plays this afternoon and should see the field quite a bit Friday night.

“I’m definitely excited,” said Johnson. “Mentally, I’ve just been locking in, keeping my head down, working, like I’ve usually been doing. Just showing that I know the playbook, but I can execute the playbook as well. When the balls in my hand, I can be very special. That’s what I’ve been showcasing, just trying to actually do it under the lights.”

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