Buccaneers' Winfield out 2-4 Weeks, HC Bowles Says

We knew that Tampa Bay Buccaneers' star safety, Antoine Winfield Jr., was hurt, and now we have an idea of how badly.

Winfield reportedly "could barely walk" following Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers at Raymond James Stadium, and coach Todd Bowles said after the game that he was dealing with an oblique injury.

Bowles met with reporters again Monday and said that Winfield has a rib fracture and will likely be out 2-4 weeks.

Bowles didn't confirm whether the team would put Winfield on injured reserve, which would mean he'd have to miss at least four games before being eligible to return.

Winfield is second on the team in tackles so far with 24, and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. He's forced 13 fumbles in his career, which ranks behind only Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens, who has forced 15.

Winfield has also recovered 10 fumbles, picked off nine passes and sacked the quarterback 18 times in his career.

Every time we think this season can't get worse, it finds a way to get worse. Things were bad enough two weeks ago when the Bucs lost to the Cleveland Browns at home to fall to 0-2.

Things got worse the next week, when the Bucs lost to the Minnesota Vikings and lost their quarterback, Baker Mayfield, to a dislocated thumb that could cost him up to six weeks.

Now, they've lost a multi-time Pro Bowler and former first-team All-Pro for up to a month, and by the time Winfield gets back, the Bucs could be out of the playoff picture entirely.

On the surface, that sounds crazy to say.

We're only four weeks into the season, and the NFC South, which failed to produce a winning team last year, isn't looking like anything special.

But when you're 0-4, your back is to the wall no matter what division you're in.

When your quarterback could miss a month and a half, and your best defensive player could miss a month, well, that's tough for teams that are 4-0, let alone 0-4.

The Bucs turned to young Jalon Daniels after Mayfield got hurt. It looks like the Bucs will turn to Ifeatu Melifonwu, who played the first four defensive snaps after Winfield's injury. The Bucs called Melifonwu up from the practice squad last week. Melifonwu is in his sixth NFL season, having started 22 games.