The Tampa Bay Buccaneers closed out their 2026 preseason on Friday night in Jacksonville with a 19-0 loss to the Jaguars, and the final tune-up gave the coaching staff one last long look at players fighting for roster spots.
For a game that didn’t matter in the standings, it mattered plenty to the men on the field. Every snap was part of the audition, every mistake carried weight, and every good rep counted toward the final 53-man roster conversation.
For some, the practice squad remains the fallback. For others, even that door is still far from guaranteed.
One of the clearest bright spots for Tampa Bay came from edge rusher Pyburn, the former and maybe future LSU Tiger, who kept bringing heat off the edge all night. He finished with two sacks, matching what he did against the Jets in the first preseason game, and nearly added a third when his pressure helped force an incompletion on third-and-long in the fourth quarter.
Punter Riley Dixon also did his job in a game where the Bucs needed him a lot. Dixon was one of the few projected starters to play the full contest, and he handled a busy workload with a 48.8-yard average on 10 punts.
He also repeatedly flipped the field by pinning Jacksonville inside its own 20. After an uneven run since joining the Buccaneers last season, that kind of outing had to help his case.
Everything else, though, was rough.
Jalon Daniels flashed his arm talent on a couple of throws, but he did not separate himself from Jake Browning in the battle for the backup quarterback job. Worse, Daniels put the ball on the turf with a second-quarter snap fumble, a mistake that stood out even though Jacksonville did not turn it into points. It was, by any measure, Daniels’ worst showing of the preseason.
He also didn’t get much help. Tampa Bay’s receivers had a first half full of missed chances, with drops from Kameron Johnson, Garrett Greene and Tez Johnson. In a game where the offense was already sputtering, those plays loomed even larger.
The offensive line had its own problems. Jacksonville spent much of the night harassing Tampa Bay’s reserve blockers, and the Buccaneers allowed five sacks overall.
Bryan Thomas Jr. was a major problem, accounting for 2.5 of those sacks. Whether Daniels or Browning was under center, there wasn’t much clean pocket to work with.
The run game never found any traction either, finishing with fewer than 50 rushing yards.
The night also brought a scary moment in the third quarter when Mo Kamara went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. He was eventually helped off the field and into the locker room. Kamara had been one of the more impressive edge rushers throughout the offseason and looked like a strong practice squad candidate before the injury.
By the end, there just weren’t many positives to hang onto from a mostly ugly performance. The preseason is over, the regular season is next, and now the Buccaneers will find out which players did enough to carry their summer work into September.
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Jalon Daniels Just Put Tampa Bay's Backup QB Battle In Focus
The Buccaneers final preseason game turned into a long night for the offense, with rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels getting the start and little help around him in a 19-0 loss to the Jaguars. Tampa Bay mustered only 87 total yards, and Daniels finished 8 of 15 for 57 yards while taking three sacks, a rough outing in a game that featured scoring from all three phases for Jacksonville.
For a team still sorting out its backup quarterback picture, the performance put the spotlight right where it needed to be. The Jaguars scored on a field goal, a touchdown pass with a two-point conversion, and a punt return touchdown with another two-point conversion, leaving the Buccaneers with plenty to sort through after a preseason finale that offered few answers and raised a few more questions. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Suddenly Face A Jack Pyburn Decision They Didn't Expect
An undrafted rookie who has already made a favorable impression in camp, Jack Pyburn has pushed himself into the Buccaneers late-summer conversation at linebacker. His preseason performance has only added to the intrigue, turning what might have been a straightforward roster call into a more complicated evaluation for Tampa Bay as it tries to sort out the back end of the defense.
Pyburns on-field case is only part of the story now. He is also tied up in a legal battle against the NCAA as he seeks to regain another year of college eligibility, even though he has already signed a professional contract with the Buccaneers, a situation that is both unusual and controversial. The NCAA has opposed players returning to college after signing NFL deals, which leaves Tampa Bay watching a precedent-setting case while still having to decide whether Pyburn is worth a roster spot. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Take Control As Buccaneers Backup Battle Gets Messy
The first half of the preseason meeting with Jacksonville offered a mixed snapshot of where the Buccaneers depth chart stands, even with the Jaguars carrying a 3-0 lead. Anthony Nelson continued to make his case as a useful pass-rush piece, and Kameron Johnson looked like the most reliable target in the receiver group despite one drop. Dixon also gave Tampa Bay something to build on in the kicking game, averaging 45.3 yards per punt and placing two inside the 20.
The quarterback battle, though, looked a little messier. Jalon Daniels struggled to find a rhythm, finishing 7 of 14 for 54 yards while also turning the ball over, and the offense never quite recovered from there. Tucker flashed early on the ground but found little room after that first run, leaving the Buccaneers with more questions than answers as the second half would have to sort out who, if anyone, had gained ground. [Read more 🡒]