Nothing decided yet at center

Questions surrounding the potential decision the Bucs have to make at center after the injury to veteran Ryan Jensen still loom. Despite head coach Todd Bowles saying Jense could miss months, there has yet to be a timetable set.

But work continues at training camp which now includes evaluating who will take the starting job at center.

Speaking to the media Saturday, Bowles was asked about one potential candidate to take on that role in offensive lineman Robert Hainsey and made sure to include Nick Leverett in the conversation.

“He’s very smart – going to the right places and doing the right things out of pads,” Bowles said. “When we go into pads, when he goes up against Vita [Vea] and Akiem [Hicks] he’ll get a lot of good work that way. But he did everything [well], and so did [Nick] Leverett.”

Hainsey and Leverett will be heavily considered to play center if Tampa Bay elects to stay in-house with the decision. And while things look good so far for both linemen, as Bowles points out things could look very different once the pads come on at camp. Then that is when the real tests for those two begin and the Bucs can truly make the right decision on the direction they’ll take following those evaluations.