Bruce Arians praises Bucs players who showed up

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - The Bucs' two-day voluntary camp came to a close and the boss seemed pleased with the progress.

“Work habits," said Arians. "That’s probably the most pleasing thing right now, seeing how we work and that we’re willing to work. That’s the thing when you’re building culture, it’s all about accountability, I hate the word chemistry. It’s all about accountability and just building that monopoly.” 

For the players who were able to participate for these two days, they have an edge on those who passed on these practices. Arians made it very clear: This is a new staff and a new year and, right now, no one has earned a starting role.

"Really, we don't have any starters," said Arians. "You have to be out practicing to be a starter."

Arians has a lesson for players to learn.

“Oh, there’s no doubt that the more reps you get, the better you get, the more exposure you get," said Arians. "Your tape is your resume. What you’re putting on tape, the more you put on tape, the better chance you’ll have. These guys are too young to know who the hell Wally Pipp was, but you always tell that story about Wally Pipp; a guy replaced him one day, his name was Lou Gehrig, because Pipp had a headache, he played 2,000 games in a row and you never heard of Wally Pipp again and he was an all-star. So, who’s here is here.” 

There were still a few starters missing for this second day of voluntary work, but the Bucs got back one key starter. Last year's defensive captain, Lavonte David. 

“He’s amazing because he missed the first [practice]," said Arians. "He had some personal issues and came in, had no mental errors. But, obviously looking at the tape on his iPad, I don’t think he had another one today. He brings that veteran presence that we don’t have a lot of on defense, and hopefully Jason [Pierre-Paul] – he’s going to be in next week - and we can have more veteran presence on defense.”  

Coming off a year in which the Bucs produced the most passing yards in the NFL, O.J. Howard isn't concerned with a change in the offensive scheme

“I like what we are doing," said tight end O.J. Howard. "Coach has always been a great offensive coach just looking at his resume and bringing that here with us. We have the talent, that has never been the issue. So, just excited to be out here and have an opportunity to learn a new offense and it’s going good so far.”