Coming off an extremely impressive Week 1 victory, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw their fortunes turn in a hurry. The excitement and jubilation that followed the team’s 37-20 drubbing of the Washington Commanders at home was then immediately followed by a plethora of players popping up on the injury report.
Heading into their divisional round playoff rematch in Detroit vs. the Lions, the Bucs have already ruled out Antoine Winfield Jr., Luke Goedeke, Calijah Kancey and Bryce Hall (season-ending). To complicate matters further, multiple starters, including Zyon McCollum, Tykee Smith and Logan Hall are all questionable.
This is the NFL, after all. So it’s not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’ injuries will strike. And unfortunately for the Buccaneers, those injuries have struck early and often this season.
Does Tampa Bay’s smorgasbord of injuries increase the team’s chances of losing their Week 2 matchup vs. an extremely talented Detroit Lions team? Yes. Do these injuries guarantee such an outcome? Absolutely not.
And although expectations outside of the building seem to be dissipating just as quickly as the health of their starting roster — at least in regards to this particular game — that doesn’t seem to be the case inside the building.
On Friday, shortly after announcing that both Calijah Kancey and Luke Goedeke would be out of the lineup, Todd Bowles fielded a series of questions about how his team can manage such a frustrating situation.
"I don't know. Guys make this team for a reason. Everybody is going to go through their lumps at some point – better now than mid-season," Bowles said. "It gives some young guys and some other guys some experience that can help us later on. We're going to go with what we've got."
Bowles also indicated that the starting secondary has the potential to be organized in a variety of different ways depending on the final health status of starters Tykee Smith and Zyon McCollum. If Smith can’t go, “Either Tavierre or ‘Izzy’ (Christian Izien). [Kaevon] Merriweather can go to safety.”
Bowles didn’t seem to be too worried either way. As it’s obvious that he has a ton of confidence in his young defensive backs and expects them to be fully prepared to step into whatever role is required of them on game day.
When asked about his confidence in unproven cornerbacks Tyrek Funderburk and Keenan Isaac, Bowles didn’t hesitate. “[I am] extremely confident. They know the system, they’ve been through all of training camp and everything. I’m confident they will play the calls and do what they’re supposed to do.”
The Bucs head coach and defensive coordinator went on to suggest that, despite spending some time with Panthers prior to rejoining the Bucs just a few days ago, CB Keenan Isaac has looked good in practice. “It doesn’t feel like he’s been gone long. He has a lot of recall – it’s up to par. He’s up to date on everything.”
Although many Bucs fans are surely gritting their teeth at the thought of facing a potent Detroit Lions roster with a starting lineup that’s being held together by scotch tape, the same can’t be said for their team’s head coach.
Todd Bowles has put countless hours into preparing for moments just like this. And based on his confidence in players like Tyrek Funderburk, Keenan Isaac, and Christian Izien, it’s fair to assume that they have too.
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