Injuries have defined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season so far, but they haven’t yet managed to throw things off course. Coming out of the bye week, Tampa Bay is 6-2 and didn’t even need to play a snap in Week 9 to move back into the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
The hardest test of the season lies ahead over the next three weeks, though, as the Bucs have a gauntlet of games against Super Bowl contending teams. Thankfully it appears that offensive tackle Luke Goedeke will be returning to the lineup just in time to help.
Goedeke returning to practice is a big first step as he returns from a September foot injury. Has three weeks to be activated but could be back on the 53 at any point.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 3, 2025
It’s going to be a brutal stretch upcoming for the Bucs. This Sunday sees Drake Maye and the Patriots come to Tampa, before the Bucs head up to Buffalo to play Josh Allen and the Bills in Week 11. After that the team has to fly cross country to Los Angeles for a Sunday Night Football matchup with the Rams.
Not exactly a cushy schedule, which makes Goedeke’s potential return an even bigger deal than it already would have been.
Luke Goedeke takes a major step toward returning to Buccaneers lineup
On Monday the Bucs opened the 21-day window to activate Goedeke from IR and put him back on the active roster. He’s been out since Week 2 when he left the win over Houston in the first half with an injury that has sidelined him for most of the season.
In his stead the Bucs have tried — and failed — to figure things out. Charlie Heck was called upon to step up and couldn’t do it, and neither could Luke Haggard. Offensive line shuffling has been a theme this season for Tampa Bay but it’s been a disaster for the most part.
Somehow it hasn’t cost them games yet, but the Bucs won’t wiggle off the hook as easily as they did against the Jets when it’s teams like the Patriots, Bills, and Rams.
Getting Goedeke back is going to be massive for making sure Baker Mayfield gets proper protection against some tough defenses. The hope is that he stays healthy, too, as the other trend in Tampa Bay this year has been players coming back from injury only to re-injure themselves and miss more time.
Hopefully that’s not another bridge we cross with Goedeke, because the Bucs will need him now more than ever.