Todd Bowles reveals Bucs are getting two key players back for Week 6 vs. Saints

There's no way to sugarcoat how last Thursday went for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. An embarassing loss that saw the team snatch defeat from the jaws of victory will hopefully have them fired up to bounce back in a big way against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

When they take the field with that goal in mind, the Bucs are expected to have two key players back in the lineup.

While speaking with the media and giving a final injury update, Bowles revealed that Luke Goedeke would be making his return to the lineup on Sunday. Additionally, the Bucs are expected to have Calijah Kancey back and might also have Antoine Winfield Jr. for the first time since Week 1.

This is absolutely massive and seems to further push things in Tampa Bay's direction exactly when it needs it most.

Buccaneers final injury report for Week 6 is much-needed good news

The stakes are naturally high whenever the Bucs take on New Orleans, but it's hard not to feel some extra pressure, given how things went last week. Tampa Bay played well against the Falcons but came up short thanks to a few mental mistakes piling up -- and the missed facemask on Bucky Irving didn't help.

Meanwhile, the Saints lost more than just the game on Monday night to the Chiefs, with Derek Carr suffering an oblique injury that will sideline him for multiple weeks. That means Spencer Rattler will be starting instead, which has re-ignited anxiety over how poorly the Bucs have played against rookie quarterbacks.

It's something that has been blown a little out of proportion, as Tampa Bay is near league average against rookie quarterbacks despite how bad the defense looked against C.J. Stroud and Bo Nix. There are justified reasons to be nervous about Rattler having a good game, but if Kancey and Winfield Jr. are back, the chances that happens dramatically drop.

If either of those guys had been available last Thursday there's a decent chance the game plays out differently. They're both game changing players, specifically Winfield, and getting them back will be huge.

The same goes for Goedeke, who frees Bucs fans from having to watch Justin Skule try to replace him on the offensive line. One bit of bad news is that rookie Graham Barton is out, but getting three key players back at other positions might be enough to boost an already motivated Bucs team to get a much-needed win over the Saints.

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