The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting some well-time reinforcements to their depth chart as their 2022 playoff journey begins. The Buccaneers held nine players out of their regular-season finale due to varying levels of injury but all nine are active for Monday Night's Wild Card Round game against the Dallas Cowboys. That includes such defensive regulars as cornerback Carlton Davis, safety Mike Edwards, outside linebacker Carl Nassib, safety Logan Ryan and nose tackle Vita Vea.
On offense, the Buccaneers get left tackle Donovan Smith back in the mix and also made a significant addition to the offensive line on Monday morning by activating Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen from injured reserve. Jensen missed the entire regular season due to a knee injury suffered on the second day of training camp but is active for the game and expected to play on Monday. However, the Buccaneers will be without Nick Leverett, who has started the last 10 games at left guard, thanks to the knee and shoulder injuries he sustained in Week 18.
The Buccaneers and Cowboys submitted their list of inactives at 6:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, 90 minutes before the scheduled kickoff of their Wild Card Round matchup at Raymond James Stadium. The Buccaneers did not elevate any players from the practice squad this week and thus had to name only five players inactive to get down to the game-day limit of 48.
The Cowboys will be without cornerback Trayvon Mullen, who has played in just one game for Dallas since being claimed off waivers in mid-December. Mullen was ruled out for the game on Saturday due to illness.
Countering the return of Jensen in the trenches, the Cowboys activated nose tackle Johnathan Hankins from injured reserve after he missed the minimum number of four games due to a pectoral injury. Center Tyler Biadasz and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch are also active for Monday's game after missing one and two games, respectively, due to injury.
Dallas also elevated tackle Aviante Collins and cornerback Xavier Rhodes from the practice, meaning they had to name seven players inactive for the game.
BUCCANEERS INACTIVES
· WR Breshad Perriman
· G Nick Leverett
· S Keanu Neal
· TE Kyle Rudolph
· QB Kyle Trask
Leverett, Neal and Rudolph are out due to injury.
COWBOYS INACTIVES
· DT Quinton Bohanna
· LB Jabril Cox
· DT Neville Gallimore
· QB Will Grier
· CB Trayvon Mullen
· WR Jalen Tolbert
· CB Nahshon Wright
Mullen is out due to illness.
