Emotional ending to Episode 3 of ‘Hard Knocks’ with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

HBO's ‘Hard Knocks’ returned Tuesday for the third of five episodes detailing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp.

This week's episode touched on franchise quarterback Jameis Winston's leadership skills, which is an ongoing storyline this season.

His early morning workout was used as a parallel for rookie defensive back Maurice Fleming's inclusion as the player this week's episode was zeroing in on. That parallel came from Fleming's desire to wake up at the same time as Winston and the other quarterbacks to get a jump on working out early.

Head coach Dirk Koetter and general manager Jason Licht were impressed with his dedication and performance in practice.

Ultimately, the NFL's cruel nature reared its head with an injury that sent Fleming away from Bucs' camp following a heroic performance in a preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Aside from Fleming's journey, here are some noteworthy highlights from Tuesday's episode:

Off-day pursuits

During an off day, several players were spotlighted with quick glimpses into what they do away from the field. Running back Doug Martin rides a skateboard, while center Ali Marpet plays a ukulele in some tranquil spot near the ocean. Cameron Lynch participated as a radio intern, Kwon Alexander was topping his hair in some Bucs' red coloring and Mike Evans ate a meal with his wife.

Martin's life lessons and Gruden's Jameis praise

Violating the NFL's drug policy taught Martin some life lessons, and now he's going to act like a veteran.

Former Bucs head coach Jon Gruden and Rex Ryan received some air time in prepping for the Bucs-Jags game broadcast.

Ryan, who joined ESPN as an analyst in April following stints as the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach, was involved with Gruden in talking to the Big Three of this year's Tampa Bay passing attack: Winston and wide receivers Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson.

Gruden, especially, was pretty enamored with Winston's game, though limiting mistakes such as ill-advised turnovers is key to his continued improvement.

"My three kids are wearing Jameis Winston jerseys," said Gruden, who still resides in the Tampa Bay area.

Winston's leadership

A poor practice in Jacksonville meant a scolding from Koetter on offensive players hitting the playbooks. Winston was front and center during Koetter's speech and his eyes were fixated on what his head coach was saying.

Taking it to heart, Winston hit the playbook in a hotel room with Jackson and rookie running back Jeremy McNichols.

Missed opportunity

The reported altercation between Bucs and Jags players from the second day the teams held a joint practice session wasn't shown. It was a missed opportunity for HBO to highlight the tense session.

Food truck and a personalized palm tree

Gerald McCoy is quite nice. Last year's food options were limited to chicken wings, so he went ahead and brought in additional food trucks at the team hotel during the Jacksonville trip.

He paid for them all, so it didn't cost any of his teammates - including the low salary guys trying to make the roster - a cent.

However, that social gathering in front of the food trucks also produced a memorable moment for Chris Baker.

Taking a cue from some slow music, Baker got his groove on by slow dancing with a palm tree. Yes, you read that correctly.

Fleming's drive

Fleming's injury came during the Jags game, where he got rolled up a bit on a tackle. However, he fought through the pain to finish the game and Koetter remarked how tough he was to do that after seeing the injury on film. Nonetheless, he was waived and that was a fitting fade to black on this week's episode.

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 7:48 AM with the headline "Emotional ending to Episode 3 of ‘Hard Knocks’ with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ."