It may be called the third phase of the game of football, after offense and defense, but special teams are the first thing that two teams engage in after the whistle blows.

Sometimes the special teams crews are right back on the field four plays later. Heck, if the opening kickoff is returned for a touchdown, then the afternoon's second play is going to be part of the kicking game, too.

While the offense and defense may commonly operate in discrete units - three, eight or 12-play drives, for instance - the special teams are often called out a moment's notice, asked to strike quickly and then sent back to the sideline.

And that's very much what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 70-minute practice was like on Tuesday afternoon, on the fourth day of the team's three-week training camp. This was the first camp workout devoted solely to special teams, and while it may have been shorter it rivaled anything else the Bucs have done this summer in terms of tempo.

In fact, Special Teams Coordinator Richard Bisaccia, who is considered one of the NFL's top kicking-and-return game gurus, routinely harangues his players if they do not take the field with the proper tempo. The players are broken down into specific 11-person units that they are supposed to know well - "blue punt team," "green cat team," etc. - and when one of those units is called it is expected to get in place with extreme urgency.

By rotating quickly through the various aspects of special teams during his 70 minutes - two quick field goal tries might follow a short backed-up-to-the-goal-line punt session, for instance - Bisaccia both emulates the sudden nature of special teams on game day and also emphasizes individual responsibility to the team.

"We're broken up into three teams so you've got to realize who you're playing next to," said Bisaccia. "I'm not responsible for just myself but [also] the guy next to me. I don't want to play without a guard if I'm a tackle and vice versa. Part of it is things happen in a game from one to another. There could be a penalty and we have to re-punt. There could be an offside and we have to kickoff again. For all of that, we try to create as many game-like situations as we can. No coaches on the field; those guys have to do the communication, see how it works. The first day was some parts good, some parts bad."

Bisaccia is exceedingly detail-oriented, so his evaluation of the goods and bads of Tuesday's practice would probably run very specific and deep. Some positives were certainly evident to the naked eye, however.

The Bucs are loaded with good return men. Even beyond the obvious three of Clifton Smith, Sammie Stroughter and Micheal Spurlock, the likes of wide receiver Reggie Brown and running back Kareem Huggins looked like interesting return options on Tuesday. Connor Barth was on the money with his field goals all afternoon, finishing practice with a 51-yarder while all of his teammates crowded around him and yelled. Mike Williams put a move on two potential blockers during a two-on-one gunner drill that had everyone hollering. And rookie punter Brent Bowden certainly knows how to angle a kick to the right spot near the sideline.

The most important pieces of information from Tuesday's special teams workout, however, were probably hidden in the flying scrum of bodies and will have to be teased out by film study. The Bucs are always looking for young newcomers to emerge as forces on coverage units, and in fact had that in mind this spring when drafting such players as Florida State's Dekoda Watson and Virginia Tech's Cody Grimm. And for those young players, it may have been written ad infinitum, but it's true: Special teams is their best avenue to making the 53-man roster and being active on game day.

That's why practices such as the one on Tuesday afternoon are so important for young players.

"Most definitely," confirmed Watson. "That's all I want to do, make a mark. I've got plenty of opportunities and I want to make the most of them. I love special teams. They can really change a game and I just want to be a part of something special."

Drills such as the aforementioned two-on-one gunner period are good indicators of which players have the right attitude for special teams work. A gunner, or flyer, is a player who lines up wide on a punt team and has to get off the blockers in front of him and get to the return man as quickly as possible. Sometimes, the return team puts two blockers in front of each gunner, hoping to slow them down and give their return man room to operate. If a gunner can get past two blockers quickly, the punt coverage team is at a huge advantage.

Size and strength obviously helps in this battle, but so does desire.

"Hard work and determination [are keys to special teams play] - I really believe in that," said Watson. "You've got to go hard but you've got to be determined that you're going to make the play, determined that you're going to stay mentally focused and determined that if it comes your way you're going to blow it up. I feel like that's very vital when it comes to special teams."

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Bowden Living Up to Expectations

Brent Bowden's aforementioned directional punting on Tuesday was certainly a planned part of the proceedings. That sort of kicking was a strength of Bowden's at Virginia Tech and the Bucs plan to make it work for them in the NFL.

By blasting his punts on an angle towards the sideline, a punter can severely limit the amount of open field a return man has at his disposal and help funnel his 10 cover men to one tight spot. The risk of such a strategy, of course, is that an improper angle can cause the ball to go out of bounds before it has traveled too far downfield, hurting the net gain of the kick.

Bowden has a good leg, as he averaged 42.2 yards per punt in college with a 36.4-yard net, but he enhances his overall value by directing his punts very well. On Tuesday, he routinely landed the ball just a few feet from the sideline, well downfield. Buccaneer return men got good practice trying to catch such kicks and stay inbounds in order to get a few yards.

"We worked a little bit on directional punting today," said Bisaccia. "He was a directional punter in college so we're going to try to keep doing what he's good at."

Added Bowden: "Coach Bisaccia is big on direction. He's about placement and getting good lanes for the cover teams. That's easy for me; that's kind of my biggest strength."

Much has been made of Bowden's singular status on the Bucs' roster; that is, the team released all of its veteran punters and, since the draft, have handed the job completely to the rookie. Bowden says he was told the team wants him to relax and focus on getting ready for the season rather than worrying about any veteran competition. However, as Bisaccia points out and Bowden surely knows, there is always potential competition on the waiver wire.

"He's very aware that we went through three punters last year," said Bisaccia. "If he does good, he's the punter. If he does bad, we get another punter. It's pretty easy."

There is very little concern in the Bucs' camp that this second option will be necessary. Bowden has looked just as good as expected and Bisaccia agrees that the young punter has the skills to be a long-term factor in the NFL.

"I think inside he knows he's competing," said Bisaccia. "Unfortunately we went through three punters last year and we don't want to do that anymore. We drafted him because we thought he had enough talent to be the punter for a long time.

"We're excited about him. He's a big athlete, extremely talented, a tireless worker. He's done a great job since he's been here. So we'll have high expectations for him and I'm sure he'll live up to them."

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Follow Bucs Camp on Twitter

The Buccaneers' open-to-the-public practices during the first week of training camp have been heavily attended and, despite the stifling heat, a raucous good time. Obviously, though, some Buccaneer fans are unable to make it out to camp due to geography, work or other commitments.

If you fall into that category but want to stay plugged in as the Buccaneers go through their day-to-day preparations for the 2010 season, you may want to check out the team's official Twitter feed. Click here to check out the team's page and catch up on the action from the last few days.

During training camp, the Buccaneers' Twitter feed is updated directly from the sideline. You'll find notes about specific plays and performers, information as to who is practicing and who isn't and much more. We also report from Head Coach Raheem Morris's press conferences, sharing his words and information immediately.

To give you an idea of what you will be privy to if you follow the Bucs on Twitter, here are the tweets from Tuesday's practice, Monday's evening workout and Morris's Monday press conference.

Keep in mind that these tweets are restricted to 140 characters and thus sometimes have to include unusual abbreviations. Also, they appear on the page in reverse chronological order.

From Tuesday's Special Teams Practice:

· Now Connor Barth has to make a 51-yard FG with the whole team around him screaming to end practice and...it's good!

· Speaking of that gunner drill, WR Mike Williams just impressively split a double team to break free almost instantly.

· The potential punt-team gunners are proving their grit in 1-on-2 drills right now. This has to be one of the most tiring exercises of camp.

· Now a couple field goal reps right in the middle of practice. Connor Barth hit his one try, a 45-yarder into a pretty strong crosswind.

· This practice is a little harder to follow bc the players are split into white & red jerseys, but not by OFF & DEF. That's new.

· Clifton Smith may be a Pro Bwl returner but that isn't all he does on "We-fense." On the 1st punt tm today, he's playing the key FB position.

· Gerald McCoy may not be on special teams, but he's out here with his fellow rookies and he's taken it upon himself to run some gassers.

· All special teams today, starting with kickoff. In addition to C.Smith and M.Spurlock, Kareem Huggins is fielding kicks.

From Monday's P.M. Practice:

· A fun post-practice drill for the returners: Each guy fields 3 balls from the Jugs gun in rapid succession, holding on to all 3 if he can.

· Splash! "Nuk" Mack just made a diving pick by the sideline & found a puddle as he hit the ground and slid.

· Bucs are doing a punt drill right now and 4 guys are taking turns catching them: C.Smith, S.Stroughter, M.Spurlock and R.Brown.

· Brian Price just zipped right past a backup center during the OL/DL 1-on-1s, getting off the ball incredibly fast.

· Josh Johnson just caught the defense during team run with a play-action pass, hitting Mario Urrutia deep over the middle.

· Caddy is back at practice tonight, as promised. Just got the first carry in the team run period.

· The rain has slowed and the Bucs are now on the field. The pre-practice drills before stretch were cut but the rest of the sked's intact.

· Well, practice #2 was supposed to start about five minutes ago, but One Buc is getting hammered by a storm. Will this one be rained out?

From Monday's Mid-Afternoon Press Conference:

· Coach says the distribution of carries this year will hinge on who has the hot hand.

· Coach says J.Freeman made some really big plays in the red zone today and even better had no big negative plays, no turnovers.

· Coach says he thinks Caddy and Winslow will return to practice this afternoon. Caddy has a slight ankle sprain, Winslow is just normal rest.