The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will at least have two starters back in their lineup against the Chicago Bears.
After being designated as “questionable” entering Week 7, both Jason Pierre-Paul and O.J. Howard will suit up for the Buccaneers on Sunday, according to Greg Auman of The Athletic.
Both questionable Bucs from the injury report will play today — OLB Jason Pierre-Paul and TE O.J. Howard are active. JPP didn’t practice all week, so curious to see if he plays less than his usual snaps with more going to rookie Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.
As mentioned by Auman, Pierre-Paul did not participate in any of the three practice sessions due to lingering shoulder and hand injuries. However, he did play in the Buccaneers’ Week 6 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on October 14.
In the case of Howard, the Buccaneers’ fill-in starting tight end (due to Rob Gronkowski’s injury) did not engage in a full practice session until Friday due to an ankle injury. He did not practice in Wednesday’s session and had limited participation in Thursday’s practice. Similar to Pierre-Paul, Howard did play in the Buccaneers’ Week 6 game.
As expected, the Buccaneers will be without key starters Gronkowski (ribs), Antonio Brown (ankle), Lavonte David (ankle) and Richard Sherman (hamstring). They are all designated as inactive entering kickoff versus the Bears.
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Richard Sherman Helps Out as a Coach
While Sherman will be out for this week’s game against the Bears, he did make his contributions felt in other ways.
With cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross out the entire week due to COVID-19, the 33-year-old veteran helped out in coaching the cornerbacks.
Via Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times:
“Well, he brought a lot of intelligence and experience,” defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said of Sherman.
“It’s different when players hear it from other players,” Bowles continued. “To see somebody of that caliber come in here and learn what he did in those amount of days, it’s unfortunate he got hurt, but he’s been a big help on the sidelines as far as coaching in practice and in games, helping Dee (Delaney), helping Pierre (Desir) and helping all the corners and safeties from that aspect to see things differently and give them little tops that way. I think that has been worth in weight in gold.”
Sherman will be out for the next two or three games due to a hamstring injury. The veteran corner sustained the injury early on in Week 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles after attempting to play in three games in 12 days. It’s worth mentioning the former All-Pro cornerback did not participate in training camp or preseason as he was signed by the Buccaneers on Sep. 29.
Tom Brady on Being a ‘Mobile’ Quarterback
Although Tom Brady is the second-least pressured quarterback in the NFL, he’s finding himself more on the run in years — despite being 44 years old.
The 22-year NFL veteran has rushed for 37 yards on 2.8 yards per carry through six games this season. That’s already the most rushing yards Brady has ran for since the 2016 season and its his highest yards per carry since the 2005 season.
“I think that’s something that I want to even improve as we kind of move through the season,” Brady said on Thursday, October 21.
“We’re trying to stay extra and do a lot of footwork stuff,” Brady continued. “We don’t run that much, so I think it’s really important to keep your legs in shape and keep your bend. You never know when that one or two plays ultimately [come when] you’re going to have to be out of the pocket and make that scramble play. I think you just have to be ready. That’s not probably the most natural thing for me, as we know, but at the same time I think it’s – you know we made a play out of the pocket on third down the other night that was a big part of the game. We’re going to need to make those plays.
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Bucs Make Final Call on Jason Pierre-Paul and O.J. Howard vs. Bears