Kyle Trask’s Increased Mobility Showed Up On Thursday

Kyle Trask demonstrated his increased mobility during Thursday’s practice on a play-action scramble to the right side. He was looking to pass, but when no one was open and a whole lot of open field in front of him, Trask took off for the yard marker.

The only problem was that outside linebacker Shaq Barrett was in pursuit. Trask had a running start and took the proper angle to win the foot race with Barrett bearing down on him. It was just enough to outlast the defender, keep the drive going and get out of bounds quick enough to avoid absorbing contact if it were a game.

That’s a play Trask admits he wouldn’t have been able to make years ago.

“In the past, probably in college, somebody trailing me probably catches me there,” Trask said. “But if I can get to the sideline before they catch me, that’s a plus for me even if it’s two yards. If I’m getting positive yards then that’s good for the offense at the end of the day.”

When describing what some of the biggest adjustments were for him learning this offense, he once again brought up the scrambling concept. There was much preparation that went into it.

“You’re going to have similar concepts no matter what offense you’re in. They’re going to have different names,” Trask said. “But then you also have your styles and this style’s going to be more of – you’re going to have your keepers and your mid zones and things like that. With this offense you got to have your legs ready to scramble, get out the pocket, go make a play, whereas in the past were more drop back focused, so just getting your legs ready to go and be able to get out on the edge and make a play.”

Kyle Trask Is Making Improvements In The Passing Game

Kyle Trask started the first half of practice really well by completing many passes and throwing a nice touchdown to rookie wide receiver Ryan Miller. He faltered a little in the second half by botching a handoff exchange with Ke’Shawn Vaughn, which resulted in a fumble, and then throwing an interception to rookie linebacker SirVocea Dennis. But Trask stayed resilient and rebounded late with a great pass down the seams to tight end Cade Otton for a big gain and then a touchdown pass to David Moore.

The learning lesson in there is to not make the same mistake again.

“If you are going to take a chance it’s going to be now, not on Sunday,” Trask said. “You’re always going to have new mistakes and new things to learn from, which is football. “At the end of the day you don’t want to make the same mistake twice. You always want to be learning and progressing forward. That’s really been my mindset.”

As a passer, Trask mentioned that he needs to take more advantage of his height and presence in the pocket. He hadn’t been playing to his size and that’s what he’s worked on this summer.

“Just staying calmer in the pocket,” Trask said. “I think in the past I was a little agitated or megabyte trying to force my feet around I wasn’t as smooth as I am now. Just trying to be clean and smooth in the pocket and play taller. I think in th past, maybe i was a little squatty, I wasn’t plying like I’m 6-foot-5,’ I need to take advantage of it. Playing a little taller, smoother, smooth is fast, so I would say that’s been my main focus, too.”

Best Targets Possible

Another way he’ll improve his passing game is throwing to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin on a consistent basis. This offseason has been the most he’s thrown to them in three years in Tampa Bay and he’s reveling in the opportunity.

“Its awesome,” Trask said. “Obviously I wasn’t getting many reps with them the first two years. I’ll be honest, I was a little rusty throwing to them here in the spring when we first got started because I had no idea what the timing was with them. Now that we got that timing down, they’re really fun to throw to.

“They’ve been in the league this long for a reason. They’re really receptive and great even off the field and sideline in what they’re seeing and relaying, they’re great communicators. You can definitely tell why they’re true NFL veterans.”