The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in New York to take on the Giants Sunday. Unfortunately they’ll do so without a few key players, including All Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Via the team’s communications department,
Buccaneers Players Inactive vs. NYG (11/24):
DB Tykee Smith
CB Tyrek Funderburk
OLB Jose Ramirez
T Tristan Wirfs
TE Devin Culp
DL Earnest Brown IV
Elevated from Practice Squad:
#53 LB Vi Jones
The loss of Wirfs is obviously a big deal, but expected. Not to be overlooked, being without rookie defensive back Tykee Smith is not ideal. But the Pewter Pirates are getting Jamel Dean back and now have newly acquired safety Mike Edwards so things are looking up in the secondary.
More on Wirfs
Our very own Devin Sanguinett recently wrote about whether or not the Buccaneers should play Tristan Wirfs in today’s game against the Giants.
So, despite Tristan Wirfs seeming to suffer a somewhat serious injury in the Buccaneers last Sunday game, there seems to be a pretty good chance that he can play Sunday. Many people have championed his toughness, but I want to preach a little caution here. The team of course is better when Wirfs is on the field, that’s a given. However, that doesn’t mean he should be rushed back.
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To look at a somewhat similar circumstance, Mike Evans seems to have been rushed back into the lineup against the Ravens. It was a different injury than Wirfs MCL sprain, but even still, he was very obviously limited, but the team thought he was good enough to go. Instead, we lost him for significant time and while the offense still moved the ball fairly well with the two backs and Cade Otton’s emergence. However, I would argue games like the 49ers may have a different result if Evans wasn’t rushed back. Me being the negative Nancy I am, I worry that a similar thing may happen with Wirfs.
And, at the risk of this coming back to biting me in the ass, him being out of the Giants game is probably not going to be the most important thing. The Giants have been good at getting sacks, so missing Wirfs would likely result in an uptick in that. However, their defense is ranked really bad in every other department. This does feel like the pot calling the kettle black now that I’m looking that sentence over, but it is still true.
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The Bucs defense is worse from a statistical standpoint at this point, but the Giants aren’t terribly far behind. The Giants are also just a mess generally speaking, what with The Gabagool Gunslinger stepping in for Danny Dimes.
Based on how Wirfs has been talking about it, it sounds like he will be careful with what his body can handle. He knows that he will do the Bucs more harm should he rush back onto the field when he’s not ready. The last injury the Bucs can sustain is Wirfs. Especially considering they have to face yet another Bosa, Maxx Crosby, and other talented pass rushers. I am not Wirfs, so I really couldn’t say how close he is to playing. But because it seems like a game time decision, I do kinda lean toward giving him another week just because I think the Buccaneers can win without him and the chance of re-aggravating that injury is too high for my liking. With that said, Wirfs is a football player. If he feels he can go out, he probably will.
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