3 takeaways from the Buccaneers' joint practice with the Tennessee Titans

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hit the practice field on Thursday, but they didn't do it alone — they had some competition with the Tennessee Titans.

The Bucs and Titans are set to play on Saturday in the team's first preseason matchup, but before that, the two teams squared off in a joint practice on what would be Day 12 for the Buccaneers. It was a slow day offensively for both sides, but one Bucs player made a big play on a defensive unit that played good football on Thursday.

Bucs Gameday was there and caught all the action, as always. Here are our three takeaways from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' joint practice with the Tennessee Titans:

Haason Reddick, defense win the day vs. Cameron Ward

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Haason Reddick (5) talks to media after training camp at AdventHealth Training Center. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Bucs got to play against rookie quarterback Cameron Ward and the Titans, and they made the most of it. Ward had trouble against Tampa Bay's defense, frequently dirting the ball and throwing it out of bounds, but there was one play that edge rusher Haason Reddick got the best of him — and it wasn't a sack.

Reddick dropped into coverage during 11v11 work midway through practice, and he was able to get an interception against Ward. The Bucs defense cheered him on after the play, and it came in response to a big bench-clearing brawl that had occurred just moments before the team lined back up.

And speaking of which...

The Buccaneers and the Titans got chippy

Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Cody Mauch (69) and guard Chris Murray (56) during training camp. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Bucs and the Titans had two big fights on Thursday. The first one came during 1v1 work between the offensive and defensive line, when Jeffrey Simmons went up against Cody Mauch. Mauch got pushed back and then threw Simmons to the ground, and the ensuing fallout from that started a fight between those two groups.

The second one came during an 11v11 period. The Bucs offense ran a play, and though it was hard to tell exactly what happened, center Graham Barton and tackle Charlie Heck appeared involved in some sort of skirmish. Once running back Bucky Irving got thrown to the ground, the benches cleared on both sides, and the fight took a while to disperse before both teams could line back up again.

Emotions were high and tempers fierce on Thursday, but both teams were still able to get some good work in against each other.

Buccaneers offense struggles against Titans defense

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) works out at One Buc Place. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

There's no gameplanning before a joint practice, so the offense and defense have to react in live time. That being said, the Bucs offense didn't have its best day against the Titans' defense.

The interior line struggled against Tennessee's pass rush. Baker Mayfield didn't have his best day today, overthrowing some passes, and the ones he threw well were often dropped — Emeka Egbuka and Dennis Houston both had some drops during 11v11 work.

It wasn't all doom and gloom — Mike Evans had a nice touchdown on a red zone fade and Jalen McMillan had a nice catch on the sideline that Mayfield dropped in a bucket earlier, but there's still some work to do for that unit moving forward.

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