September 13 Updates
The rash of injuries the Buccaneers suffered leading up to and during their season-opening win over Washington was mostly concentrated on the defensive side of the ball. However, the offense will also be missing a key starter on Sunday in Detroit.
Right tackle Luke Goedeke was diagnosed with a concussion on Wednesday and will not clear the NFL's protocol in time to play this weekend. Head Coach Todd Bowles indicated that fifth-year lineman Justin Skule will start in his place. With a healthy starting five on the line against the Commanders, the Buccaneers racked up 37 points, 392 yards and 22 first downs.
Skule was one of four players Bowles positively ruled out after Friday's practice. The other Buccaneer recovering from a concussion is starting cornerback Zyon McCollum, who has been able to practice this week but still needs to clear the protocol by Saturday in order to be available against the Lions.
"[Calijah] Kancey will be out, obviously," he said. "[Antoine] Winfield will be out, Goedeke will be out as well, and [Josh] Hayes will be out. Everybody else is questionable. Zyon has some tests to pass. We'll see how he is and we'll see how Logan [Hall] feels tomorrow."
A sixth-round pick out of Vanderbilt by the 49ers in 2019, Skule started 12 games over his first two seasons. He first joined the Buccaneers as a member of the practice squad in 2022, then made the active roster last season and was the active "swing tackle" in every game. However, this will be his first start with the Buccaneers.
Skule is the only reserve listed for the tackle spots on the Buccaneers' depth chart. Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen indicated on Thursday that the Bucs have several options to fill in if needed, specifically mentioning Robert Hainsey, who played tackle at Notre Dame.
CLICK HERE for a comprehensive preview of Sunday's game in Detroit.
September 11 Updates
Christian Izien understands that game situations can change fast. If that wasn't clear before last weekend it is now after a rash of injuries forced him to play half the game against Washington at outside corner, a position he hadn't manned since high school.
So while Izien is being told that his current assignment is free safety, he's aware that the situation in the Buccaneers' banged-up secondary could be fluid.
"They told me I could either play nickel or safety last week and I ended up playing corner, so you never know, in all honesty," he said. "But I've heard primarily free safety to start."
Izien was pressed into service at a new position in the Bucs' win over the Commanders after injuries sidelined Zyon McCollum, Bryce Hall and Josh Hayes. Hall is now on injured reserve and McCollum and Hayes are currently question marks to suit up this coming Sunday in Detroit. However, Izien appears to have a new task this week because in addition to those mishaps at corner, All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield suffered a foot injury near the end of the Week One outing. Izien worked at both nickel and safety during the offseason.
The Bucs initially eyed Izien as an undrafted free agent in 2023 with the thought that he could compete for the starting job in the slot. He ended up winning that job, but the Bucs drafted Georgia's Tykee Smith in the third round of this year's draft largely due to his talents in the slot, and that job now belongs to him. But Izien only played that spot for one of his five seasons at Rutgers.
"Yeah, so I played safety four years in college prior to playing nickel my senior year, so it's something familiar to me," he said. "I repped it entirely this whole offseason and training camp, so I feel real comfortable back there going into this weekend."
So Izien expects to be at a new spot this weekend, but he's getting prepared for any possibility.
"It's a week grind, just going home and watching film of other positions as well as mine own," he said. "I got a chance to be in a room with the corners last year and I learned their stuff. Now I'm at free safety and still doing nickel, so I have to have the versatility to learn and understand both positions."
CLICK HERE to hear more from Izien in advance of Sunday's game against the Lions.
September 9 Updates
Tampa Bay held Washington to 299 yards of offense in Sunday's 37-20 win, but injuries suffered during that game will test the defense's depth in Week Two, particularly in the secondary.
On Monday, Head Coach Todd Bowles confirmed that cornerback Bryce Hall will miss next Sunday's game in Detroit due to an ankle injury that forced him to be taken off the field on a cart. Bowles also said that Hall's injury is likely to end his season.
Hall was in the game because starter Zyon McCollum suffered a concussion in the first half. In addition, the Bucs' depth at the corner position was stretched thin by an ankle injury that reserve Josh Hayes sustained while playing special teams. That forced the team to put safety Christian Izien in the game at outside cornerback, a position he hadn't played since high school.
While Hall's status is certain, Bowles likely won't know until later in the week if he will have McCollum or Hayes at his disposal in Detroit. He also revealed that All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is another question mark for the secondary this week.
"We'll see about Hayes, we'll see about Zyon," said Bowles. "And obviously 'Win' was in a boot; we'll see about him later on in the week as well."
Bowles said Winfield got hurt on one of the last two defensive plays of the game, which prevented him from going out with the 'hands team' against Washington's onside kick attempt. Winfield's injury also complicates the way in which Izien will prepare for the game in Detroit. He proved himself to be a reasonable option at outside cornerback but if Winfield were unavailable Bowles would want Izien on the field at safety.
Rookie cornerback Tyrek Funderburk could factor into the cornerback lineup on Sunday. He was inactive for the opener in large part because he had been getting over a minor injury at the end of the preseason.
"I thought he needed a week to get back into shape, to get back into football shape," said Bowles. "But if he has to play this week I'm very comfortable with him playing. We think he's a very good football player; he just hasn't been out there yet."
Bowles also allowed for the possibility that the Buccaneers will add some new players to the roster if the injured members of the secondary don't make enough progress during the week.
"We'll see how these guys do and eventually we'll work something out," said Bowles. "If we need to get somebody, we'll get somebody."
CLICK HERE for a recap of Sunday's win over Washington.
September 6 Updates
Defensive lineman Logan Hall will not play in the Buccaneers' season-opening game against the Commanders on Sunday, Head Coach Todd Bowles confirmed on Friday. Hall did not practice all week due to a foot injury suffered during practice last week.
The Buccaneers also placed defensive lineman Earnest Brown on injured reserve on Friday, which means they are beginning the season a bit thin at that position. The Bucs did add second-year defensive lineman Ben Still on Friday, signing him off Arizona's practice squad, which gives them five healthy players on the line. They could also choose to elevate either C.J. Brewer or Mike Greene from the practcie squad for the game. Bowles said a decision on that potential move has not yet been made.
"We're still going through that process right now, seeing if we can elevate six or keep five [and] bring up another position," he said.
Stille would be mostly unfamiliar with the Buccaneers' defensive playbook if he got into the game on Sunday.
"He's tough, we know that," said Bowles of the former Nebraska standout. "We've seen him on tape. He's tough, he's a good run stopper, he's very strong that way. I didn't get to see much of him in person in practice because he just got here, so we'll see how much he can learn before Sunday."
CLICK HERE to watch Coach Bowles' post-practice press conference on Friday.
September 5 Updates
Yaya Diaby, the Buccaneers' second-year outside linebacker, missed most of training camp and all three preseason games due to a high ankle sprain suffered in the first couple days of practice. Now he's fully recovered and practicing without limits as the Buccaneers prepare for their season opener against Washington on Sunday. To say Diaby is eager to get the season started would be an understatement.
"I'm super excited," he said on Thursday. "I learned a lot from Year One to Year Two and what I have to do to attack these tackles now. It just takes reps and I had a lot of reps. So I'm doing great and I'm ready for Week One."
The Buccaneers drafted the Louisville product in the third round last year, and that's not where teams commonly find impact pass rushers. In fact, Tampa Bay's talent evaluators really honed in on Diaby during draft prep because they thought he would be good at setting the edge against the run right from the get-go. They weren't as sure about how his pass-rushing ability would translate.
That made Diaby's rookie season a very pleasant surprise for the team. He flashed enough as an edge rusher in the first half of the season to ascend to the starting lineup by midseason. By the end of the season, he had collected 7.5 sacks, which led all Buccaneer defenders, and 12 tackles for loss, which led all NFL rookies. He also recorded 26 quarterback pressures, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and his average time to pressures (TTP) of 2.87 was better than league average.
Having scratched the surface of that nascent pass-rushing ability, Diaby spent the offseason working to hone it and be an even bigger menace to quarterbacks in 2024.
"I was already a great run-stopper," he said. "What we really focused on was the pass-rush part and just adding more tools to my package. I think I've done a great job of that and I'm ready to showcase my abilities. Now it's not a lot of thinking. It's more of just getting off and reacting to what the tackle does."
CLICK HERE for a preview of the Buccaneers' season-opener against the Commanders.
September 4 Updates
Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles celebrated his first Wednesday press conference of the 2024 season by transforming himself into an instant meme.
The prompt was a question about the emotions of taking the field in Week One that started by describing Bowles as stoic. Before the reporter could quite finish the question, Bowles pounded the podium and yelled, "IT'S EXCITING!" Multiple attendees of the press conference jumped in surprise as Bowles followed with a long bout of laughter.
The moment had gone viral on social media before Bowles' media session was even over. Quarterback Baker Mayfield followed Bowles into the press studio and did his own riff on the coach's surprise exclamation. Mayfield later added a more serious answer to the question.
"Not to steal Coach Bowles' line, but it is exciting, because of all the prep work" he said. "The long months waiting for it, you finally get into game week, dialed in on what you want to attack, how you want to scheme it up. You prep all year, and then obviously each week you prep all week, just for that 60 minutes of game time. So you've got to go out and you've got to relax and have fun. You've prepared for this moment. Our guys are going to be ready by that time, so just have fun and enjoy that. But it's a really exciting moment. Week One energy is always really special."
CLICK HERE to watch Coach Bowles' Wednesday press conference.
September 3 Updates
Raiqwon O'Neal's young NFL career has seen him go from one corner of the NFL to the other, and now back again.
On Tuesday, the Buccaneers signed O'Neal, a second-year offensive tackle out of UCLA, to its practice squad. To make room on that 17-man unit, the team released rookie center Avery Jones.
O'Neal first entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Buccaneers last year. He earned a spot on Tampa Bay's practice squad to start the season but was then signed off that unit by the Seahawks to be on their active roster. He appeared in three regular-season games for Seattle and went back to training camp with the Seahawks this summer, but was waived during the league-wide cutdown to 53-man rosters last week. Seattle originally signed him to their practice squad, but then released him on August 30.
O'Neal started his college career at Rutgers, where he spent four seasons (2018-21) before transferring to UCLA in 2022. He started all 13 games for the Bruins in 2022, helping the team record nine games with 200-plus rushing yards.
Jones signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn in May.
CLICK HERE for a look at the Bucs' season-opening roster for 2024.
September 2 Updates
When rookies and free agents join a new team in the offseason, they often have a limited number of jersey number options because the roster is eventually expanded to hold 91 players. In fact, with some positional-range restrictions plus a handful of numbers that are officially or unofficially retired, a couple players often have to wear the same numbers for a few months. That was the case, for instance, for Buccaneers undrafted rookie wideout Kameron Johnson, who wore the number 9 on offense throughout training camp, the same number outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was wearing on defense.
Once rosters are trimmed down to 53 players (plus 16 or 17 on the practice squad and a handful on injured reserve), some more options are created. Three Buccaneers have chosen to adopt new numbers for the regular season, including Johnson, who is now in the 19 jersey. Undrafted free agent quarterback Zack Annexstad had that number to start training camp, and it then went to punter Nolan Cooney for a short while after Annexstad was released. The most prominent player in team history to wear the 19 jersey prior to this season was wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson from 2000-03.
Defensive lineman Earnest Brown, who was given the number 74 jersey upon his arrival in May, also chose to switch after making the 53-man roster, adopting number 97 instead. Long-snapper Zach Triner had owned that number the last five seasons but he was cut in favor of Eric Deckers in the cutdown to 53. The most prominent number 97 in Bucs history to date was defensive end Simeon Rice, who wore it from 2001-06.
Wide receiver Sterling Shepard landed on the practice squad after missing most of training camp with a leg injury. Shepard didn't sign with the team until June, so there weren't a lot of available options and he took the number 25 into camp. He was always a likely candidate to switch after cuts as receivers rarely take numbers in the 20s. He has moved to 17, which had belonged to first-year wide receiver Raleigh Webb during the preseason. This is Shepard's third jersey number as a pro, as he wore 87 for five years and 3 for three seasons with the Giants.
CLICK HERE to see the Bucs' updated roster.
