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Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Donovan Smith is playing the best football of his career this season.
The 28-year-old left tackle continued his stellar play with a dominant performance against Chicago Bears defensive end Trevis Gipson in Week 7. As the Buccaneers trounced the Bears by a score of 38-3, Smith and the offensive line allowed zero sacks.
Gipson was starting in place of veteran defensive end Robert Quinn, who was sidelined due to being on the COVID list. While the 24-year-old was starting the first game of his career, he did have two sacks coming into the game.
However, by the end of Week 7, he didn’t have much to show for it. Gipson posted just one tackle and zero sacks while matched up against Smith.
Needless to say, Smith didn’t mince words when it came to one-upping Gipson on Sunday, October 24.
The seventh-year lineman has allowed just one sack and 13 pressures as Tom Brady’s blindside tackle this season, according to Pro Football Focus. His 83.6 pass blocking grade is the best of his career and currently ranks sixth among all offensive lineman in pass blocking.
Simply put, one could argue that Smith makes defensive ends his sons on a week-to-week basis.
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Buccaneers Injury Update
While the Buccaneers haven’t suffered as a result of their many injuries, they’ll still need these key players back as the team gears up for another postseason run.
The Buccaneers played their Week 7 victory over the Bears without Rob Gronkowski (ribs), Lavonte David (ankle), Richard Sherman (hamstring) and Antonio Brown (ankle).
Head coach Bruce Arians provided a bit of an update on Gronkowski, David and Sherman during his media availability on Monday. The Buccaneers head coach stated that he hopes all three of them can return for Sunday’s matchup against the New Orleans Saints.
Gronkowski has been sidelined since suffering his rib injuries in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams. In the case of David, he’s been out since exiting the team’s Week 5 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
No definite timetable has been revealed so far for either Gronkowski or David.
As far as Sherman is concerned, the veteran cornerback initially suffered his hamstring injury during the team’s Week 6 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, October 14. He was expected to be out for a couple of weeks. Based upon Arians’ comments, Sherman may only end up being sidelined for just one game.
Brady Eventually Gets 600th TD Pass Back
The Bucs’ blowout victory over the Bears clearly lacked in drama. But there was one notable moment during the course of the game.
Towards the end of the first quarter, Brady threw the 600th touchdown pass of his career to Mike Evans. However, Evans didn’t realize the significance of the ball and tossed it to a Buccaneers fan in the stands.
That fan turned out to be Byron Kennedy. After Kennedy returned the football back, the Buccaneers rewarded him with a $1,000 gift card to the team store and a replacement game ball.
However, he may have one more request — to play a round of golf with Brady.
It’s a small request considering the magnitude of the touchdown pass.
Not a bad negotiation tactic at all, Byron.
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