With their roster starting to resemble the lobby of an urgent care clinic, you might think the Tampa Bay Bucs would be in a world of hurt six weeks into the season.
But as the injuries continue to pile up, the Bucs’ wins are doing the same – the latest being Sunday’s 30-19 decisions over the San Francisco 49ers to raise their record to 5-1. And notably, it was the first time they closed out with a victory formation, rather than the last minute, one-score outcomes in their prior four triumphs.
Despite his depleted personnel, head coach Todd Bowles doesn’t view the Bucs’ success to date as the old “next-man-up” football mentality. Instead, he describes it as an expectation that everyone on the roster – no matter how far down on the depth chart – should be able to contribute effectively at any time.
“I don’t think we look at it as wide receivers six and seven and guards four and five and all that stuff,” he said. “I think we look at it as guys made this team for a reason. When somebody goes down, somebody has got to step up and has a job to do. It’s up to them to do it, but it’s also up to the coaches to know exactly what they can do well and how they fit in the scheme, and to work it that way and give them the best chance possible to succeed.”
That’s certainly been the case thus far. And the Bucs will need to continue that mindset with red-hot rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka’s status up in the air, pending an MRI on Tuesday for his injured hamstring. Neither fellow wideout Chris Godwin (fibula) nor starting tailback Bucky Irving (foot and shoulder) will practice this week, while All-Pro receiver Mike Evans (hamstring) may return to practice but his playing status isn’t clear.
With the three starting receivers hurt, the Bucs have had to dip into depth chart and the backups didn’t miss a beat. Second-year pro Kameron Johnson caught four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown, and seventh-round pick Tez Johnson made the most of his opportunity to contribute.
“Kam had great athleticism when we got him out of Barton (College),” Bowles said. “He had great athleticism and he had a skill set that you could see – he could catch the ball, he could run. He had all the intangibles, but he kept getting hurt, so we didn’t know exactly what we had or if he could stay healthy. He came back this year and he was healthy the whole time. We played him the first game [and] he dropped a few balls in preseason to get the jitters out and after that he’s been great.”
And by now you probably have seen or read about how 5-10, 154-pound receiver Tez Johnson rose to the occasion: with his extraordinary, over-the-shoulder catch of a Baker Mayfield deep pass down the middle for a 45-yard touchdown. That gave the Bucs a 27-19 lead and changed the tone of the entire game, punctuated by one of the best celebratory double flips you’ll see on a football field amid “MVP!!” chants for Mayfield.
Asked about what he saw in Johnson’s ability and NFL potential prior to the draft, he replied, “General Manager) Jason (Licht) came down and asked me to watch this kid and told me to take a peek at him. I know he really liked him, and when we like somebody, we go down and ask the other one to take a look at it. I took a look at this guy, and he was not just a small guy. He was a true receiver – he could run routes, he can catch the ball, he could return punts, he competed in the blocking game. I said, ‘He might not be bad.’ Then he was hanging around at a time where we could grab him, and we grabbed him.”
That play, by the way, also provided a humorous post-game interview with Johnson, a self-deprecating anecdote he relayed to reporters around his locker.
“I’m gonna tell you all a funny story …,” he said, smiling. “When I scored, and I heard the MVP chant, I’m thinking they’re talking about me. So I ask Shep (wide receiver Sterling Shepard), ‘They were chanting MVP?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ And I was like, ‘But I didn’t do anything this year.’ And he (goes), ‘They’re talking about Baker, Tez. And I said, ‘Well, that explains it.’ But he is the MVP.”
Without question, Baker’s performance has been the dominant factor in Tampa Bay’s success so far this season. But the team’s ability to keep winning with so many key players sidelined is a big part of the story, too.
Meanwhile, here are topics Bowles touched upon Monday:
On if there are any injury updates, specifically for wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Mike Evans)
“’Mek’ (Emeka Egbuka) is going to get an MRI tomorrow, so we’ll find out more then. We will hope to see Mike or Zyon (McCollum) and (Benjamin) Morrison do something this week, and then we’ll see how much they do to determine if they can play and what they can do.”
On if any other players, like WR Chris Godwin Jr., could return this week
“Chris is not in play to practice, so I’m sure he probably won’t be back.”
On clarifying that Godwin Jr. will not practice at all this week
“Right.”
On if RB Bucky Irving will also not practice at all this week
“Yes.”
On limiting San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey on Sunday, particularly from the perspective of linebacker SirVocea Dennis
“’Voss’ (SirVocea Dennis) did a great job. Our number one thing we had on our list to stop was the YAC (yards after catch) yards by (No.) 23 (Christian McCaffrey), because he can catch the ball and he can hurt you in so many ways. We knew he was going to catch the checkdowns, but we needed to have him bracketed inside and out. I thought those guys did a great job limiting the yards per catch.”
On if the defense was more fundamentally sound in Week 6 compared to Week 5
“I thought they did a very good job. They got two plays [where] we fell down that we’ve got to keep our balance, but fundamentally I thought they were in the right place doing the right things and they competed.”
On generating six sacks in Week 6 and what enabled the Buccaneers to generate so much pressure
“(They were) just determined to get off the ball. It all starts up front for us. If we can get off the ball and you don’t have to blitz and you can go with four (rushers) and they work together, we’re a pretty good defense. They did that yesterday and they did a good job.”
On if he ever senses whether or not he is coaching a ‘special team’ and if he has that feeling about this year’s team
“I have a gut feeling off the field that it’s a special team, but football is week to week and you’ve got to go out and prove that, and that’s one week after another week after another week. You can feel as good as you want and this league will bring you down and make you feel terrible. You can feel terrible and they can bring you up to feel great. That gut feeling has not hit me since I’ve been coaching. But, week to week, you have a confidence of trusting your guys and knowing they can go out there and do a good job as long as everybody is on the same page.”
On OL Mike Jordan potentially returning to practice this week
“We would hope to see him do something this week, as well.”
On if he has a sense for guard Luke Haggard’s timeline
“I don’t know how long he’ll be out. I just know he’d be doubtful, maybe, this week.”
On his early impressions of the next Monday’s opponent, the Detroit Lions
“No different than last year – tons of talent, very well-coached, a very tough team. They’ve got talent at every position. (It is) always a tough place to go play up there. They’re going to be battle-tested. They’re tough on both fronts, offensively and defensively. They make plays on the back end in the secondary. They’ve got big-play (wide] receivers). They’ve got two-headed monsters at running back. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
On Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell’s culture and fourth-down aggressiveness
“The team definitely takes on his personality. Dan is very tough, but he’s very smart. He’s very smart, he’s very tough, he’s always going to be disciplined and well-coached. (He is) a very good friend, I consider him a very good friend from that standpoint. So, it’s going to be a battle.”