The Buccaneers got left tackle Tristan Wirfs back at practice on Thursday, but they were missing the other bookend of their offensive line.
Right tackle Luke Goedeke did not take part in practice. Head coach Todd Bowles told reporters after practice that Goedeke played through a foot injury in last Sunday’s win over the Falcons and they will monitor his status over the next couple of days before making any call about Monday night’s game against the Texans.
The Bucs moved Graham Barton to left tackle in place of Wirfs in Week 1 and Charlie Heck took Goedeke’s reps on the right side during Thursday’s practice. With Wirfs likely out of game action a little longer, that could be the way things look against Houston.
Bowles also said that cornerback Benjamin Morrison is on track to play this week. The rookie did not play in Week 1 due to a quad injury.
The Texans won’t have tight end Cade Stover for at least the next four games.
Stover was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday. Stover suffered a foot injury during the Week 1 loss to the Rams. He had four catches for 22 yards in the game.
The Texans filled the open roster spot by signing tight end Harrison Bryant off of their practice squad. Bryant joined the Texans in a trade with the Eagles involving wide receiver John Metchie this summer and signed to the practice squad after failing to make the cut to 53 players.
Dalton Schultz is the top tight end on the depth chart for the Texans.
After the Texans failed to score a touchdown in their 14-9 loss to the Rams in Week 1, quarterback C.J. Stroud said that teams can’t win “when you come out in the NFL lollygagging and going through the motions.”
Stroud added that he thought the Texans “could have practiced better” in the days leading up to the game and those comments led to a chance for head coach DeMeco Ryans to respond at his Tuesday press conference.
“It’s never an entire group, that’s the one thing about it,” Ryans said. “There are individuals that have their moments throughout the week, and lollygagging — which is the term everybody wants to use — for me, it’s just our tempo in and out of the huddle. We’ve got to get in and out of the huddle quicker, so we can get to the line of scrimmage, so we can operate and make sure we’ve got checks, and things you have to make at the line of scrimmage. To make those checks in a proper manner, we’ve got to get out with some urgency. The urgency piece from everybody has to pick up from the offensive side of the ball. Once the urgency picks up, we’ll be able to operate cleaner when it comes to pre-snap and post-snap.”
Ryans said it “comes back to me” when asked who is responsible for picking up the tempo and that the Texans will “get it fixed” as they move toward their Week 2 Monday night game against the Buccaneers. If that’s the case, the lollygagging era will be a short one in Houston.
The Buccaneers visit the Texans next Monday night, on the front end of a non-overlapping doubleheader.
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield would rather not.
“I’m personally not a fan of later games,” Mayfield said on the Buccaneers Radio Network, via JoeBucsFan.com. “I just, by the end of the work week, you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve seen enough tape. I can’t watch any more of this defense. I’m not going to learn anything new at this point. Because if I learn something new I obviously didn’t do my job throughout the week.’ It’s just that long waiting game on game day. I’d rather wake up [and] go play because you’re just so amped up and ready for it.”
Monday’s start will be earlier than usual, since the first game starts at 7:00 p.m. ET. (Chargers-Raiders kicks off at 10:00 p.m. ET.) And it’ll be 6:00 p.m. ET in Houston, so maybe it’s not really a night game, technically?
Under coach Todd Bowles, the Buccaneers are 3-9 in night games.
The irony is that Mayfield made his NFL debut seven years ago this month, on a Thursday night against the Jets. After Tyrod Taylor suffered a concussion, Mayfield entered the game — and he led the Browns to a victory.
The Texans have agreed to terms with defensive tackle Tommy Togiai on a one-year extension through through the 2026 season, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports. The deal has a maximum value of $3.3 million.
Togiai signed an extension during the 2024 season through 2025, and he will make a $1.170 million base salary this season.
He was inactive for the season opener against the Rams.
Togiai played eight games for the team last season, seeing action on 249 defensive snaps and 17 on special teams.
The Browns made Togiai a fourth-round pick in 2021, and he played 18 games with two starts for them in 2021-22.
