Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Early on in the first team period on Friday, Alex Anzalone caused havoc. He was aligned on the open side and following the snap, came barreling downhill off the left side and was met by Bucky Irving in pass protection on the chip. Anzalone spun and pushed the running back into Mayfield for a loss on the play. Throughout camp, the free agent acquisition has been all over the field causing disruption.

During the team's first 11-on-11 period during Friday's practice, Emeka Egbuka caught a pass from Baker Mayfield for a touchdown downfield. Egbuka lined up on the far left side of the formation and ran a post corner route, leaving two defenders in the dust as Mayfield delivered a perfectly timed pass in front of No.2. Egbuka has displayed his command of the catch point, ball-tracking ability and effectiveness at influencing coverage throughout camp.

Last season, in his first year as a full-time safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tykee Smith thoroughly filled up his stat line. In addition to making exactly 100 tackles, he has six tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, five quarterback hits, one interception, two fumble recoveries and 13 passes defensed. That last number in particular jumps out. Not only did it lead the team by a good margin but it tied the franchise's single season record for passes defensed by a safety.

The Buccaneers new offense will feature more wide zone runs, which is a rushing scheme aimed at creating a horizontal stretch to spark cutback lanes for the rusher. Linemen move laterally, stepping sideways in unison towards the play side to force the defense to move sideways rather than pushing them back. The running back surveys and reads the flow of the defense. If the defense over pursues, the running back is able to plant and cut back through the vacant gap.

During the red zone period, seventh-round pick Baur Sharp snagged a touchdown from Baker Mayfield. On the play, Sharp was lined up in the slot and ran a square out route. The tight end was left in a vacant zone and right when he cut at a 90-degree angle towards the sideline and turned the upper part of his body, Mayfield delivered the ball right on the tight end's chest. Sharp entered the portal and transferred to LSU in 2025 and amassed 24 receptions for 252 yards, with a 10.5 average per catch.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield is going into the final season of the three-year contract he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024. He is seeking a new extension and hoped to have that bit of business done well before this point in the 2026 calendar year. Mayfield set a deadline of the start of training camp, which was on Wednesday, after which he does not plan to negotiate with the team during the season. As Mayfield put it on Thursday, he is now focused solely on playing football.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers today announced a multi-year partnership with PEPSI®, naming the brand the Official Soft Drink of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The agreement marks the franchise's first beverage partner change in 50 years and establishes Pepsi as a Pewter Partner, the club's highest level of corporate partnership, further strengthening PepsiCo's longstanding relationship with the Buccaneers across its Gatorade and Frito-Lay brands.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers created an open spot on their 91-man training camp roster on Tuesday when they waived rookie safety Ja'Qurious Conley. It wasn't empty for long. On Wednesday, after the first practice of camp, the Buccaneers filled that spot and got back to seven strong in the safety room, signing sixth-year veteran Ifeatu Melifonwu, most recently of the Miami Dolphins. That wasn't the Bucs' only moves on the opening day of camp.

Following an injury-marred second season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was back in action on the first day of the team's 2026 training camp, and he hit the ground running. Irving took first-team reps, ran at full speed, glided out on his routes and stacked cuts like he so often did during his remarkable rookie season in 2024.

During the first play of the third-down period, cornerback Zyon McCollum snagged an interception off Baker Mayfield. A defensive player jumped offsides and as the play unraveled, Emeka Egbuka ran a corner route from the far-right side of the formation. As Egbuka made his sharp cut to the sideline at the 25-yard marker, McCollum was waiting. He stayed in Egbuka's hip pocket and undercut the pass from Mayfield, which sent the defensive sideline into cheers.