TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent their bye week attempting to make changes, and some of them will be obvious as soon as the coin flip Sunday.

In an effort to correct a history of slow starts — the Bucs scored a combined 27 points in the first half this season — coach Lovie Smith said he won’t defer to taking the ball until the second half if the Bucs win the coin toss Sunday when they host the Minnesota Vikings at Raymond James Stadium.

And if that happens, the Bucs will have a new kickoff return man, former New York Giants and Denver Broncos wide receiver Trindon Holliday.

The self-evaluation began during the Bucs’ recently completed bye week. Smith doesn’t anticipate many lineup changes other than Holliday, but the return of several injured players such as safety Dashon Goldson and cornerback Johnthan Banks will make a huge difference.

The Bucs trailed the visiting Ravens 28-0 in the second quarter in their last game. Tampa Bay allowed Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco to throw five touchdown passes in the first 20 minutes of the game.

The Bucs should have an easier go of it against Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who returns to his home state for the first time as a pro.

Through four games, Bridgewater has one touchdown pass and five interceptions. He also lost a fumble. The Vikings’ offensive line has been porous, allowing their quarterback to be sacked 15 times.

Offensively, the Bucs have scored just 27 points in the first half of their six games this season. Some of that can be blamed on quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, who was thrust into the limelight to take over from ailing offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford.

“It’s been a topic of discussion with us since Week 1,” quarterback Mike Glennon said of the first-half woes. “We’re still searching for that answer. If we knew what it was, it would’ve been fixed by now. We’re going to continue to try to find that answer, and I know the coaches probably spent a lot of time during that bye week trying to figure it out, what’s causing it and what we can do going forward. So we’ll follow the coaches’ direction on that and try to get things better in the first half and follow their direction on it, but we need to just execute better is what it really all comes down to.”

Even though Josh McCown returned to practice despite a torn ligament on his right thumb, the Bucs will stick with Glennon at quarterback. However, the line must to do a better job of protecting him against a Minnesota defense that is second in the NFL in sacks under coach Mike Zimmer.

No one will doubt Zimmer’s toughness. He coached last Sunday despite needing to pass a kidney stone.

“I told the team today that I was going to have a video of my procedure and show it to them this morning, but I didn’t do that,” Zimmer said.

While the Bucs used the bye week to study themselves and figure out areas for improvement, rookie wide receiver Mike Evans came up with one main goal.

“Be more physical,” said Evans, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 draft. “I try to be one of the most physical receivers in the league. I can be more physical, especially in the run game, and tighten up on my assignments.”

Evans ranks eighth among rookies with 258 receiving yards. He has two touchdown catches among his 21 receptions.

NOTES: LB Jonathan Casillas (hamstring) returned to practice on a limited basis Wednesday. … OT Anthony Collins (knee), WR Vincent Jackson (rib), S Keith Tandy (hamstring) also were limited in practice. … S Dashon Goldson returned to practice after missing two games with an ankle sprain. … QB Josh McCown (thumb) took reps as the No. 2 passer on a limited basis.