Last season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving missed time with a shoulder injury.
He eventually returned and finished the season, but underwent a cleanup procedure earlier this offseason on that shoulder.
The expectation was that he’d be good to go, but Todd Bowles' latest injury update suddenly has Bucs fans concerned.
Todd Bowles gives concerning timetable for Bucky Irving
Irving was present at OTAs, but he was off to the side working with a trainer rather than participating in team drills.
“He’s coming along fine,” said Bowles at his press conference following the first day of OTAs. ““We expect him sometime back in the summer or fall, and we’ll look forward to him when he gets back.”
Summer or fall is quite the range, and it continues a trend of Bowles not giving out much useful information regarding injuries.
Summer could mean he’s back in time for minicamp, while fall could mean he misses the start of the regular season.
After playing all 17 games as a rookie, Irving was limited to just 10 games last year, and is starting off his third season with injury questions once again. The Bucs need to find a way to keep him healthy, because he’s one of the league’s best running backs when on the field.
It’s a good thing Tampa Bay signed Kenny Gainwell away from Pittsburgh, who was named by his teammates as Steelers MVP last season.
Gainwell has a very similar playstyle to Irving, and is coming off a season where he had over 1,000 scrimmage yards and eight total touchdowns, including a whopping 73 receptions. He can help share some of the workload and prevent Irving from being overused.
Hopefully, Irving can get cleared on the earlier side of Bowles’ timeline without missing any regular season time. Tampa Bay’s backfield has the potential to be dangerous with the trio of Irving, Gainwell, and Sean Tucker.
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