For the first time since 2005 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are trying to begin the season 3-0. Getting there is already hard enough, but the uphill battle got even steeper this past week with a slew of injuries that have eaten into the team's already thin depth.
We already knew the Bucs would be without Chris Godwin and Tristan Wirfs, despite growing hope over the last two weeks that they might be ready to return sooner than expected. The smart move is to avoid rushing them back, though, which seems to be exactly what Tampa Bay is doing.
Getting those guys back will be an even bigger relief than was already the case. Over the course of a few days last week the Bucs offensive line turned into a MASH unit, with both Luke Goedeke and Cody Mauch getting ruled out.
Mauch suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2's win over the Texans, and he's joined on IR by Calijah Kancey. The Bucs star pass rusher will miss the rest of the season with a pectoral tear, and in what felt like a flash the team lost two of its key starters for the year.
Full inactives list for Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 vs. Texans
Losing Kancey and Mauch is absolutely brutal, but more granularly the Bucs are being set up for a classic trap game thanks to all of the injuries.
While Goedeke is going to return at some point this season, Tampa Bay won't have him on Sunday against the Jets. That means a patchwork crew is going to try and stop a Jets pass rush that has a lot to prove and is hungry to get Aaron Glenn his first signature win of his head coaching career.
We've seen the Bucs navigate out of tough spots over the first two weeks of the season, but they'll need another Houdini act to escape the clutches of what has become a pretty dire injury situation.
Here's everyone who will be out for today's home opener against the Jets:
Player | Position | Injury |
|---|---|---|
Chris Godwin | WR | Ankle |
Tristan Wirfs | OT | Knee |
Devin Culp | TE | Healthy Scratch |
Kindle Vildor | CB | Healthy Scratch |
Rashad Wisdom | S | Healthy Scratch |
Josh Williams | RB | Healthy Scratch |
Some good news is that Tez Johnson is active this week. He was a surprise healthy scratch last Monday in Houston, which was a bit of a surprise given how much hype there is around him. We'll see of Josh Grizzard can get him more involved, especially since we saw a heavy dose of Sterling Shepard on offense against the Texans.
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