Buccaneers cornerbacks must step up with Jacob Parrish out vs. Browns

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without their starting outside cornerback Jacob Parrish when they take on the Cleveland Browns this afternoon.

Parrish suffered a back injury in last week’s season opener, and was listed as questionable. It’s now confirmed he’ll be held out for the home opener.

It leaves the Buccaneers in a bind at cornerback — the depth is thin, so they’ll need their other cornerback options to both step up and stay healthy.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers CB Jacob Parrish is OUT vs. Cleveland Browns 

With Parrish sidelined, Benjamin Morrison will take his spot opposite Zyon McCollum.

But with undrafted rookie Ayden Garnes also inactive today, there aren’t many options behind the starting group. If McCollum or Morrison were to go down, the Bucs would either have to move rookie nickel Keionte Scott outside, or rely on special teams ace Kevin Knowles. The Bucs simply can’t afford anymore cornerback injuries.

While the Browns offense doesn’t exactly strike fear into opponents, this isn’t the best team to have cornerback questions against. Cleveland has a talented wide receiver group with Jerry Jeudy and rookies KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston.

This is a significant opportunity for Morrison to earn the trust of his teammates and coaches. He was supposed to compete for the starting job this offseason, but a hamstring injury kept him sidelined throughout training camp and relegated him to a backup role. Still, the team remains high on their former second-round pick, and he played very well in relief of Parrish last week.

Parrish’s absence also puts more pressure on the pass rush after they were nonexistent in the season opener. If they can get in the backfield and make life difficult for Watson, it would mean less time for the Bucs cornerbacks to have to hold up in coverage.

They’ll take any boost they can get. Tampa Bay is in for a real challenge against this wide receiver group.

Parrish might just be the team’s best cornerback, and they’ll miss him against the Browns. Still, they’re wise not to rush him back and risk losing him for an extended period. The remaining cornerbacks need to step up against the Browns.

On the bright side, Parrish is the only starter ruled out for today's game. Wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who missed the season opener with a knee injury, will return against Cleveland. The Buccaneers remain in a good spot injury-wise early in the season. *Knock on wood.

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