LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Five observations on the 2003 Tampa Bay Bucs gleaned from training camp practices on July 19-20:

	Derrick Brooks was the NFL's defensive player of the year last season.

1. What jumps out most immediately about the Bucs, particularly the veteran players on the roster, is how hungry a team this is, and how no one seems content with one Super Bowl ring. Coach Jon Gruden has done a tremendous job stoking the flames -- not all that surprising, given his own level of self-motivation -- and general manager Rich McKay and his front office staff, in the face of a challenging salary cap situation, found a way to hold the roster together for the most part. It is not unusual in the league to see a championship team quickly disintegrate following its Super Bowl season. Players on title teams often exit for more lucrative contracts and there is typically some degree of attrition. The Bucs, however, lost only two starters from last season (strongside linebacker Al Singleton and free safety Dexter Jackson), and have been able to compensate for those defections. From all accounts, attendance at the offseason workouts was excellent and Gruden pointed out that the team reached record levels in the weight room. Players with contract issues, like defensive tackle Warren Sapp, aren't allowing those elements to become a distraction. One graphic illustration that this is not a team that grew fat and lazy in the offseason: When Sapp took the field for Saturday morning's initial workout, and elicited a rousing ovation, he looked as svelte as he has in years. The Bucs work hard, play even harder, and are desperate to demonstrate they are not a one-year wonder team. Particularly noteworthy is how many of the defensive players acknowledge they need to repeat to be adjudged one of the top units in the history of the league. "You do it twice," said weakside linebacker Derrick Brooks, "and no one can say you're a fluke." Gruden acknowledged his team's diligence during the offseason, allowing the Bucs could be even better, but cautioned: "You've got to keep pounding the rock, though. That's what everybody says." Uh, no, Jon. That's what you keep saying. And clearly, the Bucs players have listened, as demonstrated over the weekend with equal parts enthusiasm and businesslike demeanor. In a division that will be one of the NFL's most competitive, and with a more difficult schedule than they faced in 2002, the Bucs will certainly be challenged. But if the first couple days of camp were any indication, they are well girded for what lies ahead, and maybe even looking forward to it.

2. The Bucs captured Super Bowl XXXVII, in part, because a much-criticized offensive line improved dramatically over the second half of the regular season and in the playoffs. The line used as incentive several critiques that rated them as the league's worst unit and, after their Super Bowl victory, rubbed the media's noses in those assessments. But once again, assistant coach Bill Muir, one of the premier offensive line mentors in the league, has his work cut out for him. It is not by happenstance that Tampa Bay invested three of its six draft choices in April on offensive linemen. The Bucs are thin on the line and, despite the progress late last season, the quality of the starters is being closely scrutinized. The Bucs signed a pair of veteran free agents, former Jacksonville center John Wade and onetime Giants starting right guard Jason Whittle, and the former will start in the middle. Whittle suffered a broken leg in the offseason and likely will miss the first two weeks of camp. In terms of veteran depth (or lack thereof), the top backup might be journeyman Cornell Green, who has been released by four other teams. Muir wasn't in love last year with the rightside combination of tackle Kenyatta Walker and guard Cosey Coleman but there are no replacements. Where does Walker, the club's first-round pick in the 2001 draft, stand with the staff? Hey, just two hours after the Super Bowl win, one Bucs staffer took time out from the post-game celebration to berate Walker, using a manhood-challenging euphemism that essentially translates into "sissy," to describe his play. The coaches weren't overly pleased either with left guard Kerry Jenkins a year ago, although left tackle Roman Oben showed remarkable improvement, and might be the unit's most consistent player. There is a reason Gruden, at the March league meetings, bemoaned his team's failure to acquire former Saints tackle Kyle Turley in a trade. Dealt to St. Louis instead, Turley represents the kind of tough-guy mentality Gruden and Muir desperately want. Since the early practices we saw were not in pads, it is difficult to judge the line, but the suspicion is that it will remain an area of concern.

3. Gruden bristles at times when his offense is criticized but, even with its sophistication and precise design, it still lacks a home run hitter in the passing game. For all the success of quarterback Brad Johnson in 2002, the Bucs still averaged just 10.53 yards per pass completion, the fifth-lowest mark in the league. The average of 5.67 yards per pass play was below the NFL standard. Watch the Tampa Bay receivers in practice and they run painstakingly surgical routes, making sharp cuts and good adjustments, and creating just enough inside separation because of the intricate nature of Gruden's paradigm. In many ways, the Bucs' passing game is like the Bobby Knight "motion" offense in basketball, with players rubbing off picks, creating so-called "voids" in the secondary into which teammates can settle, getting open as much because of the design as their individual skills. But even in seven-on-seven drills, this observation jumps out: This team rarely throws the deep ball. As was demonstrated in the playoffs, when No. 3 wide receiver Joe Jurevicius authored some huge plays, Gruden's superb greaseboard doodlings will provide the potential for some long catch-and-run plays. What you almost never see from the Bucs, though, is the classic "nine" route, with a receiver bursting past a flat-footed corner and hauling in a bomb over his shoulder. The wideout trio of Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell and Jurevicius is as collectively cagey as they come, but none is a burner, and none has opposition cornerbacks backpedaling when they break the huddle. At some point, one would think the lack of speed might catch up to the Bucs, but they compensated for it last year, and might again. Gruden is so good at emphasizing the little details, perhaps the Bucs can survive in '03 without a deep-ball threat.

4. Getting nose tackle Anthony McFarland back from two injuries (a fractured arm and broken foot) that limited him to just 10 games in 2002 dramatically upgrades a line that still was good enough to win a Super Bowl in his absence. Unheralded role players such as Chartric Darby and Ellis Wyms, who stepped in when McFarland was out, performed admirably. But those players, while more than pulling their weight, were surrounded by a galaxy of stars who helped bolster their performances. They weren't really playmakers -- certainly not difference-makers, like McFarland can be. There are a lot of coaches around the league who feel that McFarland has supplanted Sapp as the dominant interior player for the Bucs. Certainly his presence enhances the somewhat eroding skills of Sapp and, the two of them together still comprise one of the NFL's top tackle tandems. McFarland's quickness can be devastating and, if he remains healthy, he should step up to the next level of excellence. If there was any positive to his injuries last year, it's that it enabled some younger veterans to log playing time, and that will serve the Bucs well at some point. Depth is a difficult thing to develop on the defensive line and Tampa Bay seems to have it now that McFarland has returned.

5. It hasn't gotten much publicity yet, but perhaps the most compelling competition in camp, and one that will affect overall plans in the secondary, is the battle for the "nickel" corner spot. The key position was formerly manned by third-year veteran Dwight Smith, whose outside skills enabled cornerback Ronde Barber to move inside to the slot on third down, where he is a superb defender. But Smith has been moved to free safety to replace the departed Dexter Jackson, and the Bucs need to uncover a cornerback to supplant him in the nickel package. Here's the guy to watch: Second-year veteran Corey Ivy, who had bounced around among three different professional leagues before earning a roster spot in 2002, and who was named the Bucs' most valuable player on special teams in the Super Bowl season. Just like Smith, he is undersized (5-feet-8 and 183 pounds), but very tenacious and has some explosiveness to the ball. The staff is excited by the progress Ivy has made in the offseason and he probably has an edge over another young corner, Tim Wansley, for the nickel job. If neither player can handle the third-down chores, it might force coordinator Monte Kiffin and secondary coach Mike Tomlin into a third-down shuffle. They would have to move Smith from free safety to the nickel spot and insert Jermaine Phillips at safety. That maneuver is viewed as a last resort, and the staff would prefer that someone claim the nickel job outright.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.