The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might get an unexpected boost for their Week 2 Monday Night Football matchup against the Houston Texans.
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles intimated there was a chance 3-time NFL All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs might play in Week 2 after he practiced for the first time since injuring his knee in July.
Initial reports on Wirfs’ injury projected he could miss the first 4 games.
“Bucs coach Todd Bowles said Chris Godwin and Tristan Wirfs could be in play this week,” Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on September 11. “They ran around and did some things in practice Thurs. Realistically, I think the plan is for them to practice twice this week as part of their conditioning to play down the road.”
Godwin hasn’t played since Week 7 of the 2024 regular season, when he dislocated his left ankle in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Buccaneers pulled out a thrilling, 23-20 road win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 without either Wirfs or Godwin, who was third in the NFL in receiving yards at the time of his injury and earned NFL All-Pro honors in 2019.
Fellow First Round Pick Filled In For Wirfs
The Buccaneers got a huge boost from 2024 first round pick Graham Barton in the win over the Falcons as he slid over to Wirfs’ spot at left offensive tackle after started 16 games at center as a rookie.
Barton, who will move back to center when Wirfs returns, was a 2-time All-ACC pick at left offensive tackle for Duke his final 2 seasons after starting at center as a freshman.
“Switching from center to left tackle on almost no notice, Graham Barton looked like a seasoned vet in Week 1!” The Loose Cannons podcast wrote on its official X account.
“Graham Barton one of the best players in the NFL,” X user T3Jab wrote. “How many Cs can kick out to LT for a game and pitch a shutout?”
Barton was on the field for all 58 offensive snaps for the Buccaneers against the Falcons and didn’t allow a sack.
Wirfs Named NFL’s Top Offensive Tackle
It’s not hyperbole to say the Buccaneers have one of the few offensive linemen in the NFL who can single-handedly change the outcome of a game in Wirfs, who they made the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history with a 5-year, $140.6 million contract extension before last season.
Wirfs was also named the NFL’s No. 1 offensive tackle in ESPN’s preseason position rankings as voted on by NFL executives, scouts and coaches.
“Wirfs earning first-team All-Pro honors at left and right tackle is an incredible feat,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on July 13. “No other player in NFL history has done that. Perhaps even more impressive: Wirfs did so in his second NFL season of playing each position (2021, 2024), showing a Doogie Howser level of quick learning. ESPN Research attributed two sacks to Wirfs, an impressive number for a left tackle. His 95.9 pass block win rate led all tackles.”
Wirfs, who is also a 4-time Pro Bowler, was selected in the first round (No. 13 overall) out of the University of Iowa in the 2020 NFL draft and helped lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win as a rookie.
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