The Buccaneers announced a contract extension for right tackle Demar Dotson on Monday and, barring injury, Dotson will be in the starting lineup for the first week of the regular season.
Left guard J.R. Sweezy may not be joining him for that game. Sweezy has not practiced with the Buccaneers at all since signing a five-year, $32.5 million contract as a free agent because of a back injury that required surgery and remains on the physically unable to perform list.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Sweezy is likely to remain on that list through the rest of the preseason and then transfer to the regular season version. That would bar Sweezy from returning to practice or play with the team through the first six weeks of the year, which would mean five games as the Bucs have their bye in Week Six.
Sweezy recently visited with a specialist got get a sense of how his back is responding. He said this weekend that “everything is good” and that he remains “on track,” although there wasn’t a mention of when he expects that track to lead him back into the lineup.
