It's news that Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans had hoped they wouldn't hear, even though everything had been trending toward it all week. Despite hopes that Bucky Irving would be healthy enough to play in Sunday's game in Seattle, the Bucs made the move everyone was bracing for and have officially ruled him out.
There's no way around it, this simply stinks.
Irving seems to have injured himself in third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Eagles. The injury occurred on his fumble, where it appears he hurt his foot, which is why he's been in a boot all week. The Bucs also listed a shoulder injury as something Irving is dealing with, which makes resting him for Week 5 make even more sense.
As expected, Todd Bowles rules out five players for Sunday in Seattle: Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Jamel Dean, Benjamin Morrison and Christian Izien.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) October 3, 2025
While Irving is a central piece of Tampa Bay's offense and has been integral to the team mounting comebacks in each of its first four games -- three of which were successful -- losing him for Sunday is not the fatal blow it otherwise might be.
Bucky Irving is officially out for Week 5 vs. Seahawks
The good news is that the Bucs are in a tremendous position of strength when it comes to running back depth. Not having Bucky on the field is obviously bad, but the fact that he's being replaced with Rachaad White takes a lot of the sting off.
Not every team is as lucky as Tampa Bay to have such a solid stable of running backs. Beyond White, the Bucs will elevate the usage of Sean Tucker, and there's a chance we see the regular season debut of rookie Joshua Williams as well.
White was a key piece of the offense leading up to the Bucs drafting Irving and while he's been bumped back to an RB2 role on the depth chart, it's felt a lot more like a 1A/1B situation for most of the season.
It was White who helped the Bucs in their massive Monday night comeback in Houston, going as far as to score the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of the game. That was the version of him Bucs fans fell in love with over the first few years of his career, and now he's set up to remind everyone just how good he can be.
The opportunity comes at a perfect time, too. White is in a contract year and is in a position to set himself up for a pretty decent payday in March. Being passed up by Bucky on the depth chart might have given the impression that his value could be hurt, but he's already demonstrated that this year in the role he was in and now he gets a chance to shine.
Tampa Bay will need him to step up. Seattle is a tough test and to come away with a huge road win and a 4-1 record would be a big time confidence builder for a team that is trying to navigate this season while being held together with duct tape and bubble gum.
White is an example of the next-man-up mentality the team has had, and can remind everyone that even if they're banged up the Bucs won't be going away quietly.
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