Tampa Bay Buccaneers got in some trouble with the NFL and it resulted in a cancelled practice earlier in the week
The NFL came down on the Buccaneers because their practices were deemed too physical for this current period of the offseason.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got in a little bit of trouble with the NFL this week after the league cancelled one of the Bucs’ OTA sessions. It’s because Bucs players were being too physical, ultimately.
“Tuesday was their day off,” Bowles explained after Thursday’s OTA session. “Wednesday was by the league, because at the first practice we had too many guys on the ground, so they took a practice from us. So Wednesday was by their doing [and] Tuesday was already set in motion by our doing. And they cleaned it up after that. We understand. We aren’t trying to get anybody hurt. That was the basis of it.”
Obviously, no one wants to see a player get hurt at this time of year and that’s why the offseason is set up the way it is. The Buccaneers are dealing with at least one notable injury, however, in the form of Benjamin Morrison’s leg injury. Bowles said he’s currently “nicked up” and head coaches don’t have to talk about injuries during the offseason, so it remains to be seen if he’ll participate in next week’s mandatory minicamp.
This is a crucial offseason for Morrison and the last thing he needs is to miss more time after dealing with injuries throughout his rookie year.
Bucky Irving and DeMonte Capehart return to Buccaneers practice
There was some good news on Thursday, as well. Star running back Bucky Irving made his practice debut and rookie defensive lineman DeMonte Capehart was practicing, as well.
The Irving news is obviously huge. Not only is one of the Buccaneers’ best players back on the practice field, but it’s a lot earlier than anticipated. Both Bowles and Jason Licht said he could miss OTAs and minicamp, with the former even saying Fall could be when Irving returns.
His status will certainly be a top storyline to monitor during minicamp.
The Buccaneers are past the NFL issue, but we’ll see if Morrison is out there next week when the team starts minicamp on Tuesday.