If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are truly going to be NFC contenders this season, they’re almost certainly going to need running back Bucky Irving to do so.
Whether Irving comes back from a 6-game absence to face the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 is still up in the air, but the process to Irving getting back on the field seems to be moving in the right direction with a second consecutive day of positive injury updates on Irving.
“Bucs RB Bucky Irving was working at the walk thru practice,” Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on Wednesday, November 19. “No WR Chris Godwin during portion open to media but he arrived later. No OLB Haason Reddick. G Ben Bredeson and Jamel Dean were not working.”
“It’s a walkthrough for Bucs today,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote on his official X account. “Bucky Irving looks like he did last week. Ben Bredeson still an observer with sleeve on, Jamel Dean standing on sideline. Didn’t see Godwin but we didn’t on this day last week.”
With wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan on injured reserve, if Irving, Bredeson and Godwin all don’t play that’s almost half of their starters on offense who could be out against the Rams.
Irving Called ‘Most Disappointing’ Player on Roster
Irving’s absence has been one of the more talked about topics with the Buccaneers week-to-week, and have only ramped up over the last 2 weeks with consecutive losses to the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills dropped the Buccaneers to 6-4 overall.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon called Irving, who ran for over 1,000 yards as a rookie in 2024, as the “Most Disappointing Player” on Tampa Bay’s roster this season.
“After averaging 5.4 yards per rush as a rookie, Irving has seen that number decline to 3.3 in 2025,” Gagnon wrote. “Only one qualified back is below that. He’s also yet to score a rushing touchdown.”
Backup RB Brilliant Against Bills in Week 11
One of the few bright spots that came out of Tampa Bay’s 44-32 loss to the Bills in Week 11 was the play of backup running back Sean Tucker, who went off for 163 yards of total offense and 2 touchdowns — 1 rushing touchdown and 1 receiving touchdown.
Tucker entered the game with just 32 carries for 106 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns through the first 9 games. In 2024, Tucker had 192 yards of total offense and 2 touchdowns in a Week 6 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Tucker made the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent out of Syracuse in 2023 and rushed for just 23 yards in 11 games as a rookie. He had 50 carries for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2024.
At Syracuse, he had 3,801 yards of total offense and 31 total touchdowns in 3 seasons. He was a 2-time All-ACC pick and was named All-American in 2021 after he rushed for 1,496 yards.
What will be interesting to watch with Tucker in Week 12 is if head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard continue to feed him the ball. The week after Tucker’s breakout game in 2024 he only had 5 carries in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens and never had more than 8 carries in a game the rest of the season.
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