About the Project » astonzo and Austin Howard

Starters for both teams were long gone before the Detroit Lions rallied for their first preseason victory under coach Matt Patricia Kyle Okposo Jersey , leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a loss that didn't feel like a loss.

"They keep score, so you want to win the game," Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. "But our first two groups played well. ... We've just got to finish the game a little better."

Brandon Powell scored on an 80-yard punt return and Jake Rudock threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Lucas with 30 seconds remaining to give the Lions a 33-30 victory Friday night.

Detroit (1-2) rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit, after Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and regulars from both teams departed.

Theo Riddick scored on a 10-yard run and Matt Cassel threw a 3-yard TD pass to Bradley Marquez to begin the comeback.

Adam Humphries returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown for Tampa Bay, which led 20-6 at halftime and extended the lead to three touchdowns early in the third quarter.

"I think our guys know we're making progress as a football team," said Bucs coach Dirk Koetter, who's encouraged by the way his offense has performed in the preseason. "We're executing at a pretty high level. ... That starts with the quarterbacks."

Ryan Fitzpatrick was sharp in what may have been his final tuneup for the regular season, which the Bucs will begin in two weeks without suspended quarterback Jameis Winston, who's banned three games for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Fitzpatrick, entering his 14th season, went 6 for 7 for 82 yards before he was replaced by Winston early in the second quarter. Winston also worked one quarter, throwing a 10-yard TD pass to Chris Godwin and finishing 6 of 10 for 60 yards with no interceptions.

Stafford played into the third quarter for the Lions, producing a pair of field goals in his most extensive work of the preseason. The 10th-year pro Womens Esa Lindell Jersey , who completed 9 of 18 passes for 113 yards, moved the Lions 69 yards in 10 plays to set up Matt Prater's 24-yard field goal. He put together a 13-play, 90-yard drive to produce another short field goal.

"I felt pretty good out there. I felt like I was seeing it well," Stafford said. "Obviously, every time I go play I want one or two back, and today was no different."

BIG RETURN

Humphries' field goal return came on Prater's 62-yard miss on the final play on the first half. He started up the middle of the field, cut to the right to avoid a potential tackler before turning back to his left and racing toward midfield, where he cut to his right again and into the clear.

"I knew it was going to be short and I knew there was an opportunity to return it.," Humphries said. "We actually repped that in practice about 2 1-2 weeks ago. So, I'm glad coach Koetter called a timeout and was able to get me in there, and the defense did a great job blocking for me."

BACKUP QBs

Bucs third-string quarterback Ryan Griffin, who'll back up Fitzpatrick during Winston's suspension, threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Martino in the third quarter. The fifth-year pro who's never taken a snap in a regular-season game finished 8 of 11 for 100 yards and no interceptions.

Cassel was seven of 11 for 60 yards for the Lions.

WEATHER DELAY

The start of the game was delayed 59 minutes because of lightning and heavy rain. Players left the field and fans were directed to seek cover in concourses Richard Panik Jersey , ramps and club seat dining areas at Raymond James Stadium about 40 minutes before the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff. When the storm cleared, the teams returned to field for player introductions and a 20-minute warmup period before the national anthem.

INJURIES

Lions: TE Luke Willson (knee) left in the first half and did not return.

Buccaneers: They played without three starting offensive linemen 鈥擳 Donovan Smith, G Ali Marpet and G Caleb Benenoch 鈥?as well as starting DT Beau Allen and S Justin Evans. First-round draft pick DT Vita Vea, sidelined most of training camp with a calf injury, did not dress for the third straight game. LB Devante Bond (foot) and S Keith Tandy (hamstring) left during the first half and did not return.

NEXT UP

Lions: Close the preseason at home against Cleveland next Thursday.

Buccaneers: Play final game before Winston's suspension begins, hosting Jacksonville on Thursday.
Andrew Luck feels as sore and tired as he expected four days into training camp.

He’s also pain free – just as the Indianapolis Colts hoped.

Luck passed his first major tests by returning to the practice field, taking all of his normal snaps during the Colts’ first two workouts, connecting with receivers on the run rather than throwing at stationary targets while feeling good physically and mentally.

It’s a good start for the quarterback with the surgically repaired right shoulder.

”Every day there will be new hurdles,” he said Sunday. ”The second day, things seemed to calm down or slow down a lot. The first day I was nervous, I was excited and there was a certain element of the unknown. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen. It was also very fun to be out there with the guys and focus on getting better at practice and not just surviving practice.”

The angst could be sensed all around the Colts’ new camp site earlier this week in Westfield, Indiana, a northern suburb of Indianapolis.

Fans roared throughout Thursday’s opening workout Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey , even cheering when Luck was throwing to ball boys and quarterbacks. One fan shouted ”stay in that pocket” as Luck went through an individual drill designed to help all four quarterbacks evade oncoming pass rushers.

Not surprisingly, the early jitters also impacted Luck’s performance.

He was just 4 of 9 with an interception in his first 11-on-11 work since having a partially torn labrum fixed in January 2017.

On Friday, he was 15 of 19 overall.

He resumed throwing Sunday night, his first full practice in pads in nearly 20 months, and was 19 of 22 with two touchdowns in seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills.

”There have been four or five throws that have been like, `Oh yeah, that looks 100 percent like normal,”’ coach Frank Reich said before the evening workout. ”Then there have been one or two that we just need to work through and continue to get better.”

Luck did not talk with reporters after those practices or Saturday when he left the field about halfway through Saturday’s practice at Grand Park Sports Campus – as scheduled.

”It’s weird, but this is the plan Frank and I and (general manager) Chris (Ballard) and everybody who helped came up with at the start. I know it’s helped me continue to get better and better and better,” Luck said. ”It is sort of a bit odd to reconcile `OK, I’m out here, but I don’t get to participate.”

But after blaming his slow recovery at least partially on skipping steps in a rush to get back, he’s sticking to the plan this time.

And Reich intends to hold him to that promise even though Luck is under no restrictions on the field.

Luck still must pass a few more milestones such as throwing deep balls and taking hits. The wait may not be too long.

Reich has said he expects Luck to play in the Colts’ preseason opener on Aug. 9 at Seattle Vincent Trocheck Jersey , though Reich has not yet determined how much Luck will play.

”I’m going into this from the very start that he was full go, fully cleared for everything. We have some planned rest days, but in my mind the amount that he plays is he’s 100 percent in my mind,” Reich said. ”We will plan him playing accordingly based on how much we would want to play our starting quarterback.”

Luck isn’t just starting to shake off the rust.

With each successive practice, he seems to be picking up Reich’s newly installed offense better and continues to look stronger and more confident in the shoulder.

”It’s fun. What can I say? I had jitters like before a game for that first practice, which was a neat feeling. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time. It’s been responding well,” he said. ”No pain. Soreness, tiredness for sure and stresses on my arm that are different. Shoot, there are stresses on everybody’s body at this camp that are different.”

Notes: Reich hopes to have injured offensive tackles Anthony Castonzo and Austin Howard back ”pretty soon.” Neither has practiced yet and only eight of the 15 offensive linemen practiced Saturday. … Offensive lineman Jack Mewhort returned to practice Sunday after getting an extra day off Saturday. … The evening practice was marred by a scuffle that began when right guard Matt Slauson instigated after he thought George Odum took an unnecessary hard shot on rookie running back Nyheim Hines. … Linebacker Anthony Walker left practice early with a groin injury.

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