The Bucs defeated the Tennessee Titans in a blowout win by a score of 29-7 on Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium. There was a lot to enjoy about the victory for Tampa Bay, but also some concern as well with an injury to backup running back Rachaad White in the first quarter on their second offensive possession in the game. Right after running the ball, White to went to the sideline, then to the blue medical tent and was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a groin injury.
Head coach Todd Bowles didn’t have an update after the game and there wasn’t much of an update on Sunday morning via Zoom when he was asked about White’s status other than confirming it was a groin injury. Monday will be the big day for a further injury update for White and several other injured players.
Bucs Injury Updates At RB And WR
“He does have a groin (injury),” head coach Todd Bowles said about Rachaad White’s injury. “We’re going to run some tests today so I’ll be able to tell you probably more tomorrow.”
The Bucs also have to quickly turn the page and get ready for a new week that sees them travel to Pittsburgh for a joint training camp practice with the Steelers on Thursday. First up, Tampa Bay needs to know who might be returning to the lineup after missing several days. Sticking with the topic at running back, there’s been a lot of buzz over Josh Williams, the underrated free agent out of LSU. But Williams has been sidelines for the last week with a hamstring injury.
This gave an opportunity for newcomer Owen Wright, who dazzled leading the Bucs with 87 rushing yards and a touchdown. Wright and Williams are competing on two fronts. They could play well enough to make the team consider keeping four running backs, or at least earn a spot on the practice squad and continue their careers. The problem is for the time being that if White is going to be out, the Bucs will be dependent on Williams returning or else they have to bring in someone else as they are down to just three healthy backs – Bucky Irving, Sean Tucker and Williams – until White returns.
Bucs RB Josh Williams – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
“We’ll find out tomorrow morning,” Bowles said. “Josh has been working out. We need him to get back because we’re very short in that area. If he can’t, we may have to sign somebody.”
Arguably the biggest position that’s still going on is a battle for the last couple of spots at wide receiver. While Ryan Miller and Garrett Greene had a great showing on Saturday night, it’s been well over a week since we saw backups Kameron Johnson, Tez Johnson and Trey Palmer suit up and practice. When they are able to return remains a mystery.
“I don’t know yet for sure,” Bowles said. “We’d like to see them all this week. We’ll see how their injuries show up.”
With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan slotted in as the top four, the Bucs have to decide if they want to keep five, six or potentially even seven receivers. Considering that the Bucs are very likely to cut Sterling Shepard during the waive of roster cuts and re-sign him to the practice strictly for contract reasons, it’s pretty much come down to the three aforementioned injured players along with Miller, Greene, Dennis Houston, Rakim Jarrett, Jaden Evans and Rakim Jarrett.
While Houston has looked good in practice, he suffered a groin injury on Saturday night and might be out a while, which will hurt his chances of making the team. Miller and Greene separated themselves from the pack after Saturday. While Miller showed what he was capable of last year with two touchdowns in reserve duty it was Greene who was compelling on Saturday night. Greene was a quarterback at West Virginia who is now trying to make it in the NFL as a receiver and a punt returner.
Bucs WR Garrett Greene – Photo by: USA Today
“I think the transition has been really [good] for him,” Bowles said of Greene. “He’s got a lot of things to learn from a fundamental technique standpoint for the position, but he’s very fast, very quick, very tough, and he has very good hands. He’s somebody we love working with and that we’d like to keep around if we could. He showed very good skill as a punt returner, which we didn’t know he had. We knew he could catch it, we knew he could run with it, but he’s a guy that’s growing every day and can do some things that we really like.”
A Couple Of Bucs Could Be Practicing Soon
Although Todd Bowles has given a lot of uncertainty to the status of several players, it looks like there could be an defensive player returning soon.
“(Anthony) Walker is close,” Bowles said of the team’s veteran linebacker.
Bucs ILB Anthony Walker Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Walker hasn’t participated at all during training camp and has been on the NFI (non-football injury) list. We also found out that it’s a leg injury that has kept him out of practicing this summer.
The last update isn’t about injury but more of when will he start playing. Veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater arrived at camp last week, but besides throwing to receivers and tight ends during warmups, he hasn’t participated in any 7-on-7 drills or 11-on-11 periods in practice and didn’t play in Saturday’s game as he gets up to speed with the offensive playbook.
Bucs QB Teddy Bridgewater – Photo by: USA Today
Will we see Bridgewater practice on Monday or in Pittsburgh? The good news is we’ll definitely see him in a preseason game. It’s just a matter of whether it’s this upcoming week versus the Steelers or the following week against the Buffalo Bills in the preseason finale.
“We’ll see by the practice reps and the reps he gets against the Steelers, how much he grasps,” Bowles said. “We’d like to get him in game two. If not, we’d like to have him ready to play a lot of game three.”