Safety Jordan Whitehead will miss at least the next four games after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed him on injured reserve on Friday due to a pectoral injury suffered on Sunday in a game against the New York Giants. Players put on injured reserve must miss at least four games before being eligible to return to the active roster. The Buccaneers have six games remaining in the regular season.
With the roster spot created by Whitehead's move to I.R., the signed linebacker Vi Jones to the 53-man roster from their own practice squad. Jones has played in the Buccaneers' last three contests but was out of practice squad elevation options and thus had to be moved to the active roster in order to be available for any more games in the regular season.
Whitehead suffered his injury while making a tackle of Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito at the Buccaneers' one-yard line in the fourth quarter. That was his fifth tackle of the game, one of which went for a loss. He was replaced in the lineup by Mike Edwards, who previously played four seasons (2019-22) in Todd Bowles' Buccaneers defense.
On the season, Whitehead has tallied 76 tackles, one behind team leader Lavonte David, along with two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit and three passes defensed.
Jones has played 13 snaps on defense and 43 on special teams over the past three games. He has one tackle assist on defense. Jones also played three games for the Seattle Seahawks in 2022.
