Running back Doug Martin was reinstated to the Buccaneers’ active roster on Monday and he won’t have much time to ease himself back into the mix before the team’s next game.
Martin, who finished serving a four-game suspension handed down late last season, will have his only one real practice of the week on Tuesday as the Bucs play the Patriots on Thursday night. Given the short week, that practice isn’t likely to be a particularly intense one and that left Martin to joke that he’ll “run into the wall a couple times” to prepare himself for his first action of the 2017 season.
“I’m gonna go out there and just do the best that I can do, be as ready as I can be, just play for these guys,” Martin said, via ESPN.com. “I’m not sure [how many snaps]. I’m just going to go out there and play to the best of my ability. Whatever that is, it’s coach [Dirk Koetter’s] decision, it’s what he decides to do. I’m for it.”
Jacquizz Rodgers had a good outing against the Giants last Sunday and has done a solid job in Martin’s place, so there’s no undue urgency to turn the entire backfield workload over to Martin right away and Koetter hasn’t made any promises about how things will shake out with Martin back in the mix.
