* Practice focused on 2nd and long and 3rd down, so both the offense and defense were put in some critical passing situations where both sides of the ball had to be a little more aggressive.
* It started quickly with the fourth play in 7-on-7 when Russell Wilson threw an excellent pass on a flag route to Darius Slayton, but Dru Phillips played tight coverage and knocked it away with one hand after getting his head around to locate the ball. On the next play, Wilson tried to squeeze a pass into Theo Johnson on a short throw over the middle, but Micah McFadden and Darius Muasau combined to force the incompletion. Dart would later complete a similar throw to Johnson over the middle between a couple defenders.
* When Brian Daboll spoke to the media today, he talked about Jameis Winston’s confidence and willingness to throw with anticipation into crowded areas. His first completion during 7-on-7 came on a pass like that, squeezing a slant into Bryce Ford-Wheaton between a pair of defenders. Ford-Wheaton was later carted off the field with a leg injury. Wan’Dale Robinson also left practice, though he remained on the sideline.
* There were several big plays, but none were more spectacular than Darius Slayton’s one-handed grab while getting both feet in on the left sideline on a perfectly thrown ball by Russell Wilson, who placed the pass over Slayton’s outside shoulder where only he could catch it. Cor’Dale Flott had tight coverage on the play.
* Just two plays later, the defense got its revenge. On a quick-hitter to Malik Nabers, which looked like a reaction to a Dru Phillips slot blitz, Phillips got his hands on Wilson’s pass on his way to the quarterback, knocking it high into the air. Jevon Holland high-pointed it and ran it back for what might have been a touchdown.
* Jaxson Dart had more than one downfield completion, the first on a deep crosser to Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Three plays later, Jameis Winston completed back to back passes over the middle, the first a quick slant to Ford-Wheaton against the blitz and the second to rookie Thomas Fidone II, who beat a safety on a crosser over the middle.
* In the next period, Russell Wilson hit Malik Nabers on a deep pass as he ran across the field towards the left sideline. Nabers caught it and turned upfield before going out of bounds.
* A few plays later, Jameis Winston put a pass on the money down the sideline to Dalen Cambre, though if it was live action, Dane Belton would have put a big hit on him coming over from his safety position. After the Cambre catch, it looked like half the receiving corps came over to celebrate, along with Winston. Malik Nabers gave him a flying chest bump.
* The last two periods featured competitive move-the-ball opportunities for the offense. Russell Wilson led the first drive and methodically moved the ball downfield despite a sack and at least one other pressure from Abdul Carter. Wilson got the ball into the end zone on a designed QB run.
* Jaxson Dart moved the ball on his drive, completing a bunch of short passes to get the offense inside the ten-yard line. A Dart designed run was stopped in the backfield by Ty Summers (who also had a pressure earlier in practice) and the defense held firm on the final play of practice. Dart tried to connect with Da’Quan Felton in the back of the end zone, giving the 6-5 receiver a chance to jump and grab a high throw but the defender got his hand on the ball and tipped it into the air towards the sideline. Cam Skattebo ran under it and caught it but couldn’t keep his feet inbounds, making it a win for the defense.
* On two separate occasions, the offense used a hard count to try to draw the defense offsides. Wilson failed in his attempt, but Jaxson Dart succeeded on his, sounding an awful lot like the cadence Jon Gruden had him practice during their offseason visit/interview.
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