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Former Penn football wide receiver Justin Watson caught his first NFL touchdown in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' second preseason game.

Credit: Zach Sheldon

Last season at Penn, wide receiver Justin Watson caught a touchdown pass in every game he pulled on the jersey.

Now in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie has just found the end zone for the first time in his young career. 

In the Bucs' second of four preseason games, Watson beat zone coverage down the right sideline to haul in a well-placed throw from quarterback Jameis Winston. Watson did a nice job of keeping his feet inbounds as he made the catch, capping a 10 play, 72 yard two-minute drill with only 13 seconds left in the first half. 

Winston, who is the franchise quarterback, had high praise for the rookie receiver after the game.

"For him to go up there and make a great catch like that, man, I know it makes him feel good," Winston said. "It makes me feel good to be able to execute down in the red zone and get him a touchdown."

Watson finished the game with four catches for 54 yards on five targets, the most receptions on the team.

The fifth-round pick is in the midst of a competition for the fifth wide receiver job and a spot on the 53-man roster. Despite an injury that forced him to miss time earlier in the preseason, the extra time Watson has been spending with Winston after practice has already paid dividends.

"[Winston's] done a great job of grabbing me after practice and getting a lot of those reps in and making up for all those reps I missed in the spring, so i think that had to have something to do with it," Watson said in an interview after the game. "That timing ... developing that throughout the preseason and staying after practice and continuing to work on that."

Watson's roster spot still isn't secure, but a play like that certainly helps his case as he continues his first NFL preseason.