The Buccaneers have been intense under head coach Greg Schiano, but they may have taken it too far in OTA practice. According to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune claimed that contact was happening in the Buccaneers' OTA practices. For those of you that may not be familiar with the problem here, hitting in OTA practices is prohibited by the collective bargaining agreement, and that report could land Greg Schiano in some hot water.
Cummings said on 98.7, The Fan [via Pro Football Talk],"It’s football practice, without pads. I’ll tell you what, Greg Schiano is right on the border of getting investigated and possibly — I don’t know if they would fine him, I don’t know what the penalty is — but these guys are out there, they’re hitting. . . . There’s no pads on, but I’m telling you, the linemen, these guys are hitting. People are going down on the ground. And it’s interesting. I mean, most of this was second- and third-team guys, it wasn’t the front-line guys. So there’s a little bit of what Jon Gruden used to call ‘practice etiquette’ that I think has to be learned here, but they’re going at it pretty good."
Cummings went on to acknowledge that he didn't think any of the contact was planned by the coaches, "I can’t imagine it’s being ordered, I think it’s just guys being a little overzealous, trying to earn a spot," Cummings continued. "And that’s part of what this part of the season is about."
Regardless of whether contact was planned or ordered by the coaching staff, ultimately, it falls on Greg Schiano's shoulders to maintain control of his team. The collective bargaining agreement outlines fines and possible loss of practice time for such infractions, and if the NFLPA decides to pursue action, there's little the Buccaneers could do outside of accepting any penalties levied by the league and moving on from the incident.
