Last week Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians stated he wanted his defensive backs to get their hands on interceptions & on Sunday they did just that.
The Buccaneers were back at training camp practice on Sunday after a day off following their loss in Pittsburgh on Friday night in their first game of the preseason. And early on the defense set the pace during team drills.
It had been over a week since Jameis Winston threw an interception in practice & after completing five of his six passes on Friday, the quarterback was probably hoping to continue the trend of zero interceptions. But early on during 11 on 11 drills, Winston went deep to wide receiver Mike Evans down the left sideline. But cornerback Vernon Hargreaves had solid coverage & was able to bat the ball up in the air. Safety Isaiah Johnson snatched the tip pass for an interception, breaking Winston's string of four straight practices plus the first preseason game without throwing an interception.
Hargreaves added to the defense's turnover total during Sunday's practice, when after being matched up one on one against Evans again, the cornerback got good position on another long Winston pass & came down with the football for an interception.
The third interception of the practice came with some help from pressure on Winston, as the defense blitzed & was able to force the quarterback to throw the ball to his right. Cornerback De'Vante Harris jumped the hot read route & secured the interception.
Over a week ago, the first time the team's top two quarterbacks went through a full practice without throwing an interception, Arians stated he expects his defense to get at least three interceptions in practice. Well, it had been awhile but the head coach got what he wanted on Sunday from his defense.
After practice Arians spoke to the media about the team's performance on Sunday, provided an update on starting safety Mike Edwards & expressed his thoughts on the passing of a coaching friend.
Click below to hear the full interview with Arians