The Buccaneers have now had two preseason games and both of them have resulted in Tampa Bay Ws. While the final results in these games don’t really matter all that much, anytime the score is being kept, it’s nice to come out on the winning side of things.
With every game though, there are questions following it. Let’s get right into those.
Question #1: Will Jalen McMillan miss any time?
Tampa Bay chose to play their starters on Saturday night and with that they risked some of them getting a bit banged up and unfortunately, that appears to be what
happened. Wide receiver Jalen McMillan went up for a ball in the first quarter and came down with it but fell on the ground hard around the head/neck area. After that his night was done and while he was able to walk off on his own power, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times he was seen leaving the stadium in a neck brace.
That could of course be precautionary, but it still begs the question of if McMillan’s status for week one is up in the air. With the season opener less than a month away, we will have to keep an eye on McMillan’s status in practice over the next few weeks. With Chris Godwin still out and seemingly going to miss the first game, being down McMillan as well would not be ideal for a Bucs team that could really use a win against Atlanta to start the year.
Question #2: Who will be the Bucs QB2?
Veteran quarterback Teddy Bridgewater started the game for Tampa Bay and made a strong first impression. He was 6/11 for 85 yards and threw two touchdowns. The Bucs offense was able to move the ball with Bridgewater at the helm, then Kyle Trask came in and struggled a bit after having a solid performance last week. Trask was 3/10 for just 19 passing yards. In all fairness, Bridgewater was playing behind the first-string offensive line and had most of the other first stringers with him, but I think the Bucs still would have liked to have seen him have a bit more success in Pittsburgh.
So, what will the Bucs decide to do at the backup quarterback position? Could they roll with the veteran who just joined a few weeks ago or stick with Trask who has been around the system and the players? Even when the Bucs signed Bridgewater, it still felt like the job was Trask’s to lose and that still may be the case, but Bridgewater’s success may make the decision a tad more difficult for Tampa Bay.
Question #3: What will the Bucs do at safety?
Over the past few days, the Bucs safety depth has taken a hit. Undrafted free agent J.J. Roberts, who had a good shot of making the team after having a strong camp, was put on injured reserve with a season ending knee injury before the game. Then during the game, Christian Izien went down with an oblique injury and did not return. If Izien misses any time, it is fair to wonder if the Bucs decide to add a veteran for some depth. A guy like Marcus Maye might make some sense. He played for Bowles for two years in New York and Bowles was the head coach when Maye was drafted in 2017.
If they decide to roll with what they have though, it definitely increases the chances of guys like Kaevon Merriweather, Rashad Wisdom and Shilo Sanders making the team as depth pieces. Time will tell what the team decides to do and also if Izien will miss any time but the depth in the secondary is certainly a lot thinner than it was just a few days ago.
With one preseason game left, we will maybe have some answers to these questions and perhaps even have some more questions arise. With the Bucs playing the Bills in the regular season also, it would be a surprise if Tampa played many, if any of their starters to close out the preseason.
