Less two-a-days for Bucs in preseason camp

Bucs training camp shouldn't be as much of a grind under first-year coach Raheem Morris, as Tampa Bay will have just eight days of two-a-days out of  19 days of preseason camp.

The Bucs open camp on Aug. 1, and the team will have double practice sessions only every other day -- they have two-a-days on consecutive days just once, and one of the afternoon workouts is special-teams only. Last summer, under coach Jon Gruden, the Bucs had two practices on 14 of 18 days.

Morris said last month that he intends to have more of the practices in full or partial pads than the team held under Gruden, so while there's fewer overall practices, he wants a more physical, energetic camp.

The opening day's evening practice will be held at Raymond James Stadium, but otherwise, it's the team's first training camp at the new One Buc Place after using Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando in recent years. A full schedule of practices is available on the Bucs' official site.

An important note for fans interested in attending practices, which are free and open to the public: Advance tickets are only available for fans who sign up for the team's free One Buc Club e-mail newsletter. The team expects to be able to accommodate about 4,000 fans at each session, but no walk-up tickets will be available if enough tickets are reserved in advance through the One Buc Club. Fans who do not have e-mail access to join the club will not be able to get advance tickets, according to the team.

We'll have plenty more on training camp as it gets closer, but the team is stressing now that fans can only enter the Bucs complex through Himes Avenue, and not through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, so as to minimize the traffic impact on surrounding streets.

-- Greg Auman, Times staff writer

Comments

[Frank Artz]

Yes, Coach Morris wants a more physical training camp, but what are we going to do when everybody starts getting injured??