Bucs HC Bowles Says Rookie Bain ‘In Midseason Form’
The Miami product dominated rookie minicamp with veteran intensity and elite conditioning, signaling a defensive culture shift as the first-round pick begins his highly anticipated professional career.
This past weekend was the beginning of the Rueben Bain Era for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, sort of. Bain won’t play in his first preseason game for three more months and will have another month after that before his regular-season debut.
However, Bain did perform at Tampa’s rookie minicamp, and as expected, he impressed his new head coach and defensive coordinator. Bowles told reporters Friday that Bain already looked like he was “in midseason form. ” “He brings a certain attitude to your defense, obviously,” Bowles said.
“We tried to get a couple of those guys in here this year, obviously with Bain, A’Shawn (Robinson’s) attitude. You’re talking about the newcomers, (Josiah) Trotter and Keionte (Scott) as well along with (Calijah) Kancey and all the guys we already have on defense. It just brings them closer together and makes them push each other to work harder.
” Bain entered minicamp in grand fashion, paying homage to one of the greatest players in franchise history, who also happened to star at the University of Miami. Playing at Miami and being from the city originally, where Bain starred at Miami Central High School, gives Bain an advantage in that he doesn’t have to move far from home to start his pro career. It also gave him an advantage specific to rookie minicamp.