The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won't play for another few days, but the injury clock is ticking for several players who didn't practice on Wednesday. That includes first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr.
The edge rusher missed practice on Wednesday with a groin injury, and it apparently was bad enough that they held him out of practice again on Thursday. The Buccaneers need their top rookie on the field when they face an electric Vikings offense.
Bain isn't the only player who is banged up. Tampa will enter this week's home game with three players who are not practicing, but they did have several others who should be good to go for Sunday.
Rueben Bain Jr. leads the Tampa Bay Buccaneers injury list heading into Week 3
Losing Bain this week will sting, but it's Josiah Trotter that fans need to keep a closer eye on. Trotter landed on the injury report this week with a shoulder injury and did not practice on Wednesday.
Trotter is one of the top rookie tacklers in the NFL through two weeks of the season. He would present a much bigger problem for the Buccaneers' defense if he were unable to go this week.
Baker Mayfield, Jacob Parrish, and Jalen McMillan were all full participants in practice. It makes you wonder why NFL teams need to report players who are actually practicing.
The only other Buccaneers player who did not practice was OLB Anthony Nelson. He has a shin issue. With three days to go before the game, it's unclear if any of the three who didn't practice will be ruled out.
For the Vikings, LB Jake Golday (ankle), RB Aaron Jones Sr. (knee), and punter Brett Thorson (hamstring) didn't practice. 5 players were listed as limited. Teams won't designate a player's status until Friday at the earliest.
It would be an absolute disaster for the Bucs to lose both Trotter and Bain this week. Despite the rookie edge rusher's struggles, Bain has to be accounted for. He needs to get his first tackle and sack to get his career moving in the right direction.
The biggest issue is that if one or both of them are out, more pressure will be put on the shoulders of Alex Anzalone, who has not had a good start to his Buccaneers career. There were a lot of expectations for the former Lions impact linebacker.
The Buccaneers will release an additional/final injury report on Friday that will provide more clarity.
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