Bucs first-round pick Joe Tryon both solid and ‘slippery’ in practice debut

TAMPA — More than a month after the Bucs selected him with the draft’s 32nd overall pick, edge rusher Joe Tryon made his formal practice debut Tuesday morning.

Much to Bruce Arians’ delight, the initial impression ranged somewhere between favorable and flattering.

“He’s full speed now, and he looked really, really good,” the Bucs’ third-year coach said.

Tryon, who opted out of the 2020 season at Washington following a breakthrough redshirt sophomore year (12.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks), was an observer at the recent rookie minicamp and organized team activities after undergoing an arthroscopic knee procedure in April.

But during Tuesday’s opening session of the team’s mandatory full-squad minicamp (where players wore shorts and helmets) Tryon was a full participant, alternating reps in 11-on-11 work against the first-team offense.

“He was obviously everything we thought he was, and obviously we’ll learn more in pads,” Arians said. “But he’s slippery in shorts and a lot of guys aren’t. He showed some really good skill sets.”

All hands on deck ... almost

The Bucs reported all 89 rostered players attended Tuesday’s workout, with 83 participating. None of the bystanders, however, appear in danger of missing any part of training camp, Arians said.

The non-participants included receiver Antonio Brown (“clean-up” knee procedure), rookie receiver/return specialist Jaelon Darden (hamstring), tight end O.J. Howard (ruptured Achilles), defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh (wrist) and safety Jordan Whitehead (torn labrum).

“It’s more of a precautionary piece,” Suh said. “And I’ll definitely be prepared for camp and then the season.”

Darden could return to action as soon as Thursday, Arians indicated. Howard, injured in Week 4 last season, is “really close” to returning, the coach added. Whitehead is “a little farther off,” according to Arians, but ran sprints on the practice field Tuesday.

“None of those guys will have any problem (by) training camp,” Arians said.

Among those returning from an extensive layoff was right guard Alex Cappa, a full participant after fracturing his ankle in the playoff victory against Washington.

“I’ve been good for a while,” said Cappa, who initially thought his injury was merely a sprain. “The good thing is, you can take it slow in the offseason and make sure you get it right, so I was able to do that. But I feel great now and it was fun being out there.”

Odds and ends

Arians said the raise he recently received from the Bucs “means the world.” In addition to his salary increase, the Bucs also extended the contract of general manager Jason Licht. “They rewarded us for doing a good job; it wasn’t necessary, but they wanted to do it,” Arians said. “I was really happy to see Jason’s extension. He very well earned it.” ... Veteran cornerback Ross Cockrell intercepted Brady during seven-on-seven work Tuesday. ... Receiver Chris Godwin, who was given the franchise tag in March, betrayed guarded optimism about getting a long-term deal done with the Bucs. “I think we all want the same thing, it’s just figuring out how to make it work,” he said. “I think one of the biggest things I’m happy about is that I’m able to be here this year, and I have representatives that handle this. So I don’t sweat any of that too much.”

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