Bucs’ Latest Injuries Concern Todd Bowles

The Bucs can’t play a quarter without a player of theirs getting injured. Or at least that’s what it feels like.

Tampa Bay lost starting cornerback Jamel Dean early in the team’s latest game due to hip and groin injuries. Then his backup, second-round pick Benjamin Morrison, exited due to a hamstring injury.

“I’m a little concerned,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “They both went down and didn’t come back. So, those are two [players] also getting MRIs.” 

Bucs Have Several Injuries

This was only the beginning of the Bucs’ injury issues from the 31-25 loss to the Eagles. Outside linebacker Haason Reddick exited with a stinger and was being evaluated for a concussion. This was a problem for the Bucs, too, because they don’t have much depth behind Yaya Diaby with Anthony Nelson and Chris Braswell Jr.

Defensive tackle is a position that the Bucs were already down some players without starter Calijah Kancey and practice squader Jayson Jones for the season. Logan Hall had to scratch and claw his way to practice on Friday so he could go on Sunday with a groin injury, but it appears they could be without Greg Gaines for a bit, as he exited the game with a pectoral injury.

Todd Bowles once again hit the concern button.

“It’s concerning,” he said. “I mean, we’re running out of bodies, but we’ll find somebody to play.”

Tampa Bay would be down to Hall, Vita Vea, Elijah Roberts, Elijah Simmons and C.J. Brewer on the active roster at defensive tackle. But the team still has Adam Gotsis, Nash Hutmacher and Desmond Watson on the practice squad that it could call up.

Bucs DTs Logan Hall and Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs might not even need to go the practice squad route if they continue to get good contributions from their newcomers in the Elijahs. Rookie fifth-round Elijah Roberts has looked comfortable with more playing time and had a tackle for loss last game. And Elijah Simmons has played around 25% of the snaps in the last two games and also had a tackle for loss against Philadelphia.

“Elijah [Roberts] is coming on – he’s coming on [really] well,” Bowles said. “Obviously, with the pass rush he’s coming along, but he’s coming along in the run game and he’s playing fast. [Elijah] Simmons is a powerful guy. We thought he did some really good things in the game yesterday and, we’ve got to give him some more time. As he gets the system down, you’ll probably see more of them.”

Too Many Injuries To Count

And if there wasn’t enough concern on the defensive side, star running back Bucky Irving was injured right before halftime. Bucs fans were worried, but could exhale when he came out for the second half and eventually scored an exhilarating touchdown on a 72-yard catch and run reception.

We’ll find out if Irving will be available for the next game at Seattle. Bowles confirmed that Irving is getting an MRI, but there was so many players injured that Bowles didn’t even know everyone that was getting treated.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Quite a few,” Bowles said. “Quite a couple of them got to get MRIs. I can’t even name them all.”

How Will Bucs Change Their Secondary?

The cornersback and safeties have played fantastic for the Bucs through the first four games. Todd Bowles might need to reconfigure the group if Jamel Dean and/or Benjamin Morrison are out. Greg Auman of Fox Sports’ reported that Morrison has avoided any long-term damage, but that doesn’t mean he’s good to go for this week at Seattle.

Some options the Bucs can go with if each corner is out would be to move nickel corner Jacob Parrish to outside corner, which he’s also familiar with after starting there for three years at Kansas State. If Christian Izien returns he can move into the slot, or if he can’t go, the Bucs could put safety Tykee Smith at nickelback and start Kaevon Merriweather at strong safety.

Bucs LB Lavonte David and CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: USA Today

“That’s an option,” Bowles said. “We’re still early in the process on that. We’re going to wait till everything comes back and then we’ll start moving pieces around.”

Another choice would be to keep Parrish in the slot and start Kindle Vildor to outside cornerback. He’s been inactive for three of the four games. The team also has Bryce Hall on the practice squad who can be a game day elevation. We’ll see how the Bucs deal with their injuries this week leading up to the Week 5 matchup in Seattle.