In Week 8, ahead of a matchup with the division rival New Orleans Saints, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers once again left no doubt about whether or not running back Bucky Irving and wide receiver Chris Godwin would return in time for the game. They will not.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles delivered the bad news on Wednesday, October 22, ruling out both Irving and Godwin immediately (per FOX Sports reporter Greg Auman).
With a bye week upcoming in Week 9, it’s certainly not a shocker that both Irving and Godwin will get another game to recover, but what is concerning is how quickly Bowles has been ruling them out. Last week, the news came on Monday — ahead of a Monday night showdown a full seven days away.
In Week 8, the news comes on a Wednesday, which is a slight improvement, but certainly nothing to write home about.
Clearly, Irving and Godwin are not close enough to returning where Bowles feels a few extra days could be the difference. They are a long way away from retaking the field.
With that in mind, it’s fair to wonder if Irving and Godwin will even be ready to play following the Week 9 bye.
Tampa Bay’s Week 10 matchup with the New England Patriots is a full 18 days from today (October 22). The assumption was that Irving would be back by then, at the latest, but the lack of clarity from Bowles and the Buccaneers leaves room for doubt.
Why Didn’t the Buccaneers Place RB Bucky Irving on the Injured Reserve?
The nature of Irving’s recovery timeline has been strange. When he first suffered his injuries, only a foot sprain was reported, and the estimated absence was maybe one week.
A few days later, it was revealed that Irving also suffered a shoulder injury, and after a long cryptic social media message from the running back, we have not really seen or heard much from him since.
That was back on October 5, and at that point, it was reported that Irving could miss several weeks.
If the Bucs had transferred Irving to the injured reserve before their October 5 matchup, the Saints game would be absence number four. Meaning he’d be eligible to return from IR after the bye.
However, Tampa Bay chose not to place Irving on IR, and now every week that they wait is another four weeks that he’d be forced to miss. Basically, at this point, it’s far too late to place the RB on the injured reserve.
Why the Bucs chose not to do it when they initially found out about his shoulder injury is a mystery, but there are two likely reasons. One, the training staff was unsure how long Irving would miss, or two, he suffered some sort of unexpected setback.
Hopefully, Irving can retake the field for the Buccaneers in Week 10.
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