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Give Buccaneers linebacker Devin White some credit. He did nothing on the field on Sunday against the Packers, when he claimed an injured foot forced him to sit out of what became the biggest win of the season for Tampa Bay. He said nothing to the media after the game, either, which led the media to put together a sourced narrative about the alleged Devin White injury.
But he was pretty loud on social media.
White had missed the two previous games with the foot injury but was a full participant in practice last week. As the narrative went, White was told that K.J. Britt would retain the starting spot on his return and that White would go to the bench. Sulking, White supposedly told Buccaneers coaches he would simply not play at all.
White seemed to refute that narrative, though, with a cryptic Instagram post on Tuesday, in which he wrote, “& just like that!! We back. Built a story but didn’t ask the main character any information… where they do that at.”
Todd Bowles Cryptic on Devin White
It has been obvious since the White saga began this weekend that it is not something Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles wants to explain in very much depth. On Monday, after what might have been the biggest win of his tenure as Buccaneers head coach, the mild-mannered Bowles sparred with reporters over White’s status.
Bowles claimed he did not tell Britt he was going to start over White. When he was asked about it, he said, “Did I?”
When the response came that it was believed he did, Bowles said, “No, I didn’t.”
He also claimed that White told him “Saturday or Friday” that he would not be able to play because of a foot injury, contradicting and NFL Network report that White’s absence was not injury-related.
He added that when and if White does decide to play again, he would be in the linebacker rotation. Bowles did not say he would start again.
“When Devin gets healthy, we’ll rotate the players and see how it goes,” Bowles said.
Buccaneers Could Be Investigated by the NFL
As for not asking “the main character” about the story, Fox Sports’ NFC South reporter Greg Auman wrote on Twitter/X that he had, in fact, reached out to White’s agent for an explanation of what was going on with his injury.
“This is Bucs LB Devin White on Instagram today. For what it’s worth, we reached out to his agent Sunday morning asking for insights on him being inactive and got no response,” Auman wrote.
Elsewhere, the White situation has left the Buccaneers open to an NFL investigation on the reporting of the foot injury. If Bowles is being truthful and White did tell him before Sunday that he was not able to play, the Buccaneers would be required to report that fact.
As the site Pro Football Talk pointed out, “White was officially questionable for Sunday’s game at Green Bay. He did not play. After Friday’s designation was applied, he had not been downgraded to out. With the explanation he provided on Monday, coach Todd Bowles might have walked right into an injury-reporting issue.”
Just as the Buccaneers have won three straight, and just as Britt has clearly passed White on the depth chart, this is a headache the team does not need.
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