The Buccaneers’ unexpected search for a practice field led to a rare assist from a fellow NFC team on Thursday as Tampa Bay looked to continue preparing for Saturday’s preseason game vs. the Jets.
A routine week of preparation suddenly took a turn for Tampa Bay on Tuesday, when Jets coach Robert Saleh canceled the second of the teams’ two joint practices in order to avoid a potentially contentious follow-up session. Ironically, those concerns wound up being met during a heated practice on Wednesday morning.
With the Bucs now in need of a place to practice, the NFC South club’s request would eventually be met by an NFC East foe in the Giants, who offered their Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J. for the day.
“The Bucs needed a place to work since their joint practice apparently was canceled. They asked about our fields. Given our schedule, we said yes. It worked out,” the Giants said in a statement, per SB Nation.
As the statement alluded to, the Giants, fortunately for the Bucs, just so happened to be off on Thursday, with the team slated to face the Panthers at home on Friday.
Given the random twists and turns of the last 48 hours, Tampa Bay can now, at least, say it ended the week on a high note, thanks to New York’s generosity. And, while the Jets may have something to say on Saturday, the Giants will likely revel for the time being in the chance to show up their crosstown rival when they least expected it.
New day, new practice field 📍 pic.twitter.com/54lKzpQWrd
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) August 17, 2023
