Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy announced that QB Eric Zeier will not play against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Zeier, who has missed the last two days of practice with a left rib contusion, had previously been downgraded from questionable to doubtful for Sunday's game prior to Dungy's announcement that he would not play after missing Friday's practice. Zeier sustained the injury late in the first quarter during last Sunday's 20-3 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Trent Dilfer will start at quarterback in place of Zeier against the Saints. Shaun King, a rookie out of Tulane who has been inactive the first seven games, will be the No. 2 quarterback at New Orleans.
"Eric's condition is the same as yesterday, so we're going to follow through with our plan," Dungy said. "Trent will be our No. 1 quarterback and we feel excellent about that. Shaun King will be his backup."
BUCCANEERS NAME FRIDAY INACTIVES The Buccaneers announced that the following four players will be inactive for Sunday's game against the Saints: WR Bert Emanuel, FB Kevin McLeod, T Jason Odom and WR Karl Williams.
Four additional players will be named to the inactive list 90 minutes prior to kickoff, which is slated for 4:05 p.m. EST.
BUCCANEERS INJURY REPORT T Jason Odom (low back strain) is the third Buccaneer to be ruled out of Sunday's game against the Saints, joining WRs Bert Emanuel (right hamstring strain) and Karl Williams (right foot sprain). Odom will miss his fifth consecutive game of the season. T Jerry Wunsch will take his place in the starting lineup.
C Tony Mayberry (low back strain) DE Marcus Jones (left elbow sprain), S Eric Vance (right foot sprain) and DE Steve White (right ankle sprain) were listed as probable.
