Buccaneers are breathing a lot easier after latest injury news involving key player that was hurt during loss to Bengals
The Buccaneers lost one of their top cornerbacks in Jacob Parrish during Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, but the latest injury update has quelled most concerns about his future availability.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw one of their top cornerbacks in Jacob Parrish go down during the 33-27 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but the latest injury update involving the second-year player has cooled most concerns about his availability in both Week 2 and beyond.
“He just has a back sprain,” Todd Bowles told reporters Monday. “Both (the) X-ray and MRI came back negative, so it’s just a matter of him getting over soreness.”
Parrish was playing pretty well before he got hurt in the second quarter. He had a nice tackle on the first play of the Bengals’ opening drive and later broke up a pass intended for Ja’Marr Chase inside the Buccaneers’ five-yard line.
It was a very promising showing for Jacob Parrish before the injury and that’s exactly why the Buccaneers are breathing a major sigh of relief regarding the update.
And it’s not just what he did on Sunday, either. Parrish is expected to play a very big and very important role in the Buccaneers defense this year, so the defense needs him on the field as much as possible.
At the same time, Parrish’s unfortunate injury opened the door for another young cornerback to make some noise and he did just that.
Benjamin Morrison’s own performance gives the Buccaneers secondary additional hope
Morrison stepped in and stepped up after Parrish went down and looked good. He did have a bad play where he didn’t apply the proper leverage to Tee Higgins and the veteran wideout was able to break inside, get open, and then catch the ball for a 29-yard gain on 3rd and 10. However, everything else outside of that play is easily considered solid-to-great play.
“I thought he played very well,” Bowles told reporters. “He prepared well. He practiced like that all week. When he got in the game, he didn’t miss a beat. He tackled well. He covered well. So he did a heck of a job.”
Morrison’s development would be a major boon to the Buccaneers secondary and would give them a legit three-man rotation when adding Zyon McCollum into the mix. He’s a physical, sticky corner that can match up well with just about any receiver in the league. He just has to stay healthy.
“I mean, we’ve all known that he’s a player, and I think it’s kind of just been in-house us seeing how good he can be and what he’s been shown just because he has missed a lot of time,” McCollum said Monday. “But it was really just him getting back into shape. He’s always been able to play football.
“But him getting his body right, getting his mind right, and then getting into playing shape went out there and did amazing. He got kind of thrown into the fire, and he handled it like a pro, and that’s what we expect from him, you know, and that’s what he expects from himself. He knows that he’s a top corner in this league, and that’s his mindset and what he wants to grow into.”
So, it’s a bit twofold when it comes to the Parrish update. If he’s healthy and ready to go on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns will have trouble moving the ball through the air thanks to his presence and Morrison’s latest display.
