TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The NFL offseason has looked drastically different this year due to the coronavirus pandemic but the players are still preparing for the regular start of training camp in July.

Rakeem Nunez-Roches, a defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a student of The Trench Academy. It is located inside the D1 Training facility in Tampa.

“You have to push yourself to the limit you have never been if you want to be somewhere you never went,” he said.

Nunez-Roches is entering his sixth season in the league and his third season with the Buccaneers. He believes the changes within the organization, specifically the new additions to the team, have sparked a sense of hope.

“With Tom Brady, with the winning expectations and all of the accolades he comes with,” said Nunez-Roches, “it is a whole change of mindset. You cannot say, ‘We got him and it is going to be the same.’”

He does not want to be the same player either so he is training with Taylor Scott, the founder of The Trench Academy, Monday through Friday.

“I want to be somewhere where the team depends on me,” he said, “so when I get ready to train, I am like, ‘Don’t be the guy that slacks! Don’t be the reason that we lose! Don’t be the reason we get a penalty!’ So when I come in here that is what I put into my preparation.”

He does it alongside his teammates, William Gholston and Aaron Stinnie, and a handful of other NFL and CFL players.

“The only guys that did not give up were the Tampa Bay Bucs,” said Nunez-Roches near the end of the workout on Monday. “We push each other. We are relentless and we know, if you can count on me, I need to be able to count on you. Everybody else will drop but we kept motivating each other.”

The Buccaneers watched the other players leave the facility before them. They seemingly outlasted them and Nunez-Roches blamed it on the shared mentality of the entire team.

“Expectations are rising,” he said, “but your level of play has to rise with it.”

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