One thing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers couldn't afford to do on Monday night was shoot themselves in the foot. It took less than a half for that exact thing to happen, as the Bucs played some of the worst football we've seen from them through the first two weeks of the season.
To be fair, the Bucs had their hands full with vastly superior talent than what they saw from the Vikings and Bears, but that wasn't an excuse to take their foot off the gas. Coming into Monday night Baker Mayfield had only been sacked once and hadn't turned the ball over at all -- two things that changed pretty quickly against the Eagles.
Mayfield was sacked twice in the first half and threw a brutal interception that halted what could have been a drive that saw the Bucs punch Philly back. It wasn't just Baker making mistakes, as Rachaad White cancelled out a Devin White interception when he fumbled just a few plays after Tampa Bay got the ball.
It was things like that that held the Bucs back and reminded us all of how far this team has to go, but that interception by White proved to be one of the more bizarre sequences of the night.
Devin White runs out of bounds instead of returning Jalen Hurts INT
With under a minute left in the first half, Devin White stepped in front of a pass from Jalen Hurts and looked to be off to the races. Instead, he slowly ran out of bounds after only 25 yards when it appeared he had plenty of room in front of him to keep going.
It was pretty weird to watch in real time:
Devin White with the Red Zone INT! 💪
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 26, 2023
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/b8nMFgUq65
Jalen Hurts was in White's path and it looked like the Eagles were going to close in after that and cut his return off. It was still strange to see him give up on the return and not fight for extra years the Bucs could have used, which caused everyone to ask the same question: why?
Devin just…. ran out of bounds?? pic.twitter.com/nPNxvMmtuV
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) September 26, 2023
As it turns out, an injury might have been the reason for White making a business decision and not fighting for more yards on his interception return. NFL insider Greg Auman broke with the rest of the bickering on Twitter about White running out of bounds to note that the linebacker has been dealing with a groin injury.
Devin White is dealing with a groin injury, so wasn't running full speed after intercepting the Hurts pass, was only able to return it 25 yards or so.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 26, 2023
More troublesome than White coming up lame on the interception return was the fact that he wasn't on the field when the Bucs defense took the field again.
Awaiting injury update on Devin White, who did not return on defense after slowing up during his interception return late in the first half. He's been dealing with a groin injury.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 26, 2023