TAMPA, Fla. — "The fighting? I didn’t see any fighting."
That was Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians reaction after Thursday's joint practice with the Titans.
"A lot of pushing and shoving. I didn’t see any fists thrown," added Arians. "Waving flies."
The practice was paused four times for separate altercations. One of which included Bucs linebacker Devin White getting his helmet ripped off by a Titans player. But the players had no complaints and held no ill will after the workout.
"Great practice! A lot of grown men competing with emotions," White said with a big smile. "Things happen, just gotta protect your brothers. Emotions going, you see your same color jersey with two other jerseys of the opposite color, you just want to help your guy."
Dust-ups aside, the Super Bowl champs got what they needed after practicing against themselves full-time.
"I think we’re starting to put some things together. We’re not where we need to be, but I think I like where we’re at, and we’re going to continue to grow," said receiver Chris Godwin. "The great thing is we have a bunch of great leaders on our team, and bunch of guys that understand what the standard is. We’re gonna keep pushing towards that."
Arians said he's going to rest most of his starters this weekend; so the staff told them to treat Thursday like a game.
"We’re tired of going at each other," White said. It was good to be able to test our skills with unfamiliar players that we don’t look at every day. Now you get a new scheme in here, and now you gotta see where you really at."
Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans left the practice field early. He was walking slowly with a team official, but Arians said he was just tired. Arians added that backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert will start Saturday night when the Bucs kick off against Tennessee at 7:30 p.m.
