Coaches are allowed to return to team facilities today, but it will be some time before players return.
And Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians is hoping to get a little extra time with them to make up for the OTAs and minicamps they missed because of the coronavirus.
Via Greg Auman of TheAthletic.com, Arians said that dates are still tentative, but his plan is for players to report for training camp on July 21. That’s about a week earlier than normal, since they open the preseason Aug. 14.
Arians also mentioned the possibility of a “quarterbacks school” or “rookie school” starting on July 15.
Either way, it’s going to be hard to make up for time lost, as he estimated players have missed 400 repetitions while limited to Zoom meetings and whatever individual work quarterback Tom Brady has thrown together offsite.
“Walkthroughs and practices are really how our guys learn today,” Arians said. “There’s only so much attention span on a computer. That’s one thing I’ve learned in the last 15 years of teaching: Attention span isn’t the same as it used to be. Walking through and practicing is the best way to teach. Those are valuable minutes and reps missed. I don’t know how we’ll make them up. Hopefully, we get some extra time in practice in camp. A few extra days would help.”
The Bucs had planned to have joint practices with the Jaguars and Titans, which he said he prefers to actual preseason games. But those are scrapped now with the league mandate that camps be held at team facilities only.