The defining factor of a bye week for an NFL team is, of course, no game to play at the end of it. Beyond that, there is a little bit of leeway in how a team can structure the game-less week for its players. For instance, teams may have players at the facility for one or more practices from Monday through Wednesday, after which they are required to give them the following four days off. One common approach is to have a "bonus" practice on Wednesday focusing on fundamentals rather than a game plan, before the long weekend of rest and recuperation.
This year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bye week on focus is getting healthy. As the Buccaneers began their bye on Monday, with the players in the building for a round of day-after-game meetings, Head Coach Todd Bowles said they would then be off from Tuesday through Sunday.
"[We're] trying to get everybody healthy, going to recalibrate, we need time off," said Bowles. "They're off after Wednesday anyway, they're going to have four days off – practicing one day is not going to help that so they'll get the rest of the week off after Tuesday. We'll get some guys healthy, hopefully."
Given the string of injuries the Buccaneers have endured this season, a bye would have been well-timed in nearly any week. But it's here now, and the Bucs hope to make the most of it to so they can go on the same sort of late-season win streak they did a year ago en route to a third straight division title. Tampa Bay's remaining seven opponents after the bye comprise the NFL's easiest schedule down the stretch, based on those opponents' current records.
Among the players the Bucs have been hoping could return from injuries after the bye week are wide receiver Mike Evans and cornerback Jamel Dean. Evans got hurt in the same Week Seven game that felled Chris Godwin for the remainder of the regular season, at least, and the Bucs have had a very hard time generating explosive plays in their absences. On defense, the team has had to roll with inexperienced cornerbacks opposite Zyon McCollum and the team's pass defense has dipped to 31st in the league.
Evans noted late last week that he was hopeful of returning in Week 12 against the Giants, but Bowles said he would need to wait until the Bucs return to the practice field to find out if that will actually happen.
"Again, I'll have to see where he is next week," said the coach. "He's getting better and better. With the week off, hopefully he'll be able to do something next week."
In addition to the team's existing injury concerns, some new ones developed just before the bye in Sunday's game against San Francisco. Most troubling was the knee injury that knocked Pro Bowl left tackle Tristan Wirfs out of action in the second quarter and caused him to need assistance limping off the field. Bowles delivered good news on that front on Monday, and even if Wirfs does miss some time the bye week will reduce his absence by at least one game. McCollum (hamstring) and rookie outside linebacker Chris Braswell (oblique) also left the San Francisco game late with injuries.
"Some guys that are playing are banged up, hopefully they get healthy, get to recalibrate, step back and look and everything," continued Bowles. "Coaches will self-scout, we'll come up with better plans and we'll do some things to get ready for the stretch run."
