The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are tied for the best record in the league. Standing at 5-1, Todd Bowles’ team has rallied behind Baker Mayfield’s elite play to keep the offense afloat despite a plethora of injuries.
Notably, that will have to be the case again on Monday night, as the Bucs will travel to Motor City to face the 5-1 Detroit Lions without starting running back Bucky Irving. Irving has missed the past two games with a sprained foot, and, according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, it will be a while longer before he returns, as he’s also dealing with a shoulder injury now.
What Happened to Bucky Irving?
“Turns out that Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving’s shoulder injury, which he did not report to the team until Tuesday last week, is more of an issue than his sprained foot, per sources. Irving is dealing with a shoulder subluxation that is expected to sideline him at least two weeks. Irving will not play today vs. the Seahawks, and he’s not expected back for next week’s game vs. the 49ers, either,” wrote Schefter.
Irving initially sprained his foot in the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4. He played through it and finished the contest with 63 rushing yards on 15 carries to go along with five receptions on as many targets for 102 receiving yards and one touchdown.
For the season, he’s up to 71 carries for 237 rushing yards (3.3 yards per attempt) and 19 receptions on 19 targets for 192 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
At this point, his absence for Monday night shouldn’t be much of a surprise, considering that he was listed as a non-participant in practice all week, and the Bucs might not expect him to practice next week, either.
In his absence, Bowles will have to continue relying on Rachaad White. So far, he’s logged 54 carries for 214 yards (4.0 yards per carry) and four touchdowns to go along with 15 receptions for 85 yards, ranking 17th in PFSN’s RB Impact metric.
At least, the Bucs’ passing game might get some reinforcements, as star wide receivers Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka, who are both dealing with hamstring injuries, are expected to suit up against the Lions. That won’t be the case with Chris Godwin Jr., who’s out with an injured fibula.
Despite his banged-up supporting cast, Baker Mayfield has played the best football of his career, completing 66.2% of his passes for 1,539 yards, 12 touchdowns, and one interception through the first six games of the season.
