Bucs make a huge move – literally – but one that likely won’t give them a boost against the Eagles’ signature play on Sunday
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face a tough, physical challenge from their Week 4 opponent – the Philadelphia Eagles. The defending Super Bowl champions invade Raymond James Stadium this Sunday for a battle between two 3-0 teams and top NFC contenders. The Eagles have continued to bully opponents in short yardage situations with the “Tush […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face a tough, physical challenge from their Week 4 opponent – the Philadelphia Eagles. The defending Super Bowl champions invade Raymond James Stadium this Sunday for a battle between two 3-0 teams and top NFC contenders.
The Eagles have continued to bully opponents in short yardage situations with the “Tush Push”, which the league refused to make illegal last offseason. However, the Bucs are bringing back the perfect player in theory to stop that kind of play. Per Fox Sports’ Greg Auman, Tampa Bay is bringing back rookie DT Desmond Watson, signing him to them practice squad.
Bucs are signing rookie DT Desmond Watson to their practice squad
Watson signed with the Bucs after going unselected in the 2025 NFL Draft. The mammoth defensive tackle from Florida topped the scales at a whopping 464 pounds in the offseason.
That’s been something that Tampa Bay has been working hard with Watson about. Watson was on the non-football injury list during the preseason to try to bring his weight down. However, it never reached a level the team was satisfied with, and they let him go him as part of cuts to get down to their initial 53-man roster.
Now, after working out for the team, he’s heading back to One Buc Place. But as far as whether he would be a “Tush Push” specialist against the Eagles, that’s something that Todd Bowles shot down on Monday.
Bowles says Watson would be unlikely to play against the Eagles
“He had a good workout,” Bowles said. “We’ll see where he is for signing him from that standpoint, but we’ll never bring him in just to stop a tush push. If we’ve got to bring in a guy to stop one play and the tush push never comes up, you’re wasting your time. If we bring him in, we think he can play, not just for a Philadelphia thing. It’s very unlikely he’d be ready to play, once we bring him in, for Philadelphia right now anyway. It’s just a matter of us making room and seeing if we have a place for him, and then what we see for him in the future.”
The Bucs took a hit on their defensive line with the loss of Calijah Kancey to pectoral injury, and they added Tennessee rookie Elijah Simmons to address the position. So, opportunity is certainly there for Watson to eventually force his way into the rotation and make an impact.
But that’s if he’s put himself physically into position to do that. He’s basically gone without a training camp and preseason, so being game ready is likely doubtful for Watson as Bowles alluded to.
We’ll find out if he gets the nod by Saturday, when the Bucs elevate any practice squad members for the game.
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