Bucs Clips
The Buccaneers added kicker Chase McLaughlin to their injury report on Tuesday. McLaughlin did not participate due to a right groin/hip injury.
McLaughlin has made all nine field goal attempts, with a long of 59, and all seven PATs this season.
The Bucs don’t have a practice squad kicker, so they will have to sign a kicker for Thursday night if McLaughlin can’t play.
The Bucs made two other changes to their injury report after Tuesday’s walkthrough: They added outside linebacker Anthony Nelson (illness) to the report as a non-participant, and they upgraded linebacker Josiah Trotter (knee) to a full participant after being listed as limited Monday.
Linebacker SirVocea Dennis (ankle/foot), quarterback Baker Mayfield (right thumb), cornerback Benjamin Morrison (quad) and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (rib) remained out of practice.
Tight end Ko Kieft (elbow) was limited a second day, and rookie outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. (groin/shoulder) was a full participant again.
The Cowboys practice report did not change on Tuesday. It was the same as on Monday when the team estimated their injury report based on a walkthrough.
Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (thigh) and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (ankle) remained full participants, a sign that both are on track to play in Thursday’s game against the Bucs. Both players were injured in Sunday’s victory over the Texans.
Cornerback Cobie Durant (hamstring), linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring) and offensive tackle Drew Shelton (hamstring) were again non-participants.
Offensive guard Tyler Smith (thumb) was limited again after the Cowboys opened his 21-day return-to-practice window on Monday.
Safety Alijah Clark (ankle), running back Tyler Goodson (ankle), safety Malik Hooker (forearm) and outside linebacker James Houston (shoulder) remained full participants.
Hope that the Cowboys will get linebacker DeMarvion Overshown back in the lineup on Thursday night are fading.
Overshown has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury and he was listed as a non-participant in practice on Monday’s estimated injury report. On Tuesday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said, via multiple reporters, that Overshown is a “long shot” to play against the Buccaneers.
Jaishawn Barham has taken over as a starter in Overshown’s absence. He has 21 tackles and a forced fumble over the last three weeks.
Cornerback Cobie Durant and offensive tackle Drew Shelton were also listed as out of practice Monday. They are also dealing with hamstring injuries.
Cowboys guard Tyler Smith was designated for return from injured reserve on Monday and he addressed whether he thinks he’ll be ready to play against the Buccaneers on Thursday.
Smith had thumb surgery ahead of Week 1, so he’s been out of action for a month and the short week before the game against Tampa doesn’t provide him with much time to practice before a decision will be made about his availability. Smith said on Monday that he “feels fine” from a conditioning standpoint, which he thinks gives him a shot of playing right away.
“I think it’s possible,” Smith said, via the team’s website. “We’re not ruling anything out. Obviously, there’s limited reps this week with just with a quick turnaround on Thursday. But we’re going to do some work tomorrow, kind of see how it feels and then ultimately when I feel ready, when the coaches feel like I’m ready, it’s boots on the ground and we’re rolling.”
T.J. Bass has been starting at left guard in Smith’s absence and we’ll find out if that will remain the case when the Cowboys make their call about activating Smith for this week.
The Cowboys did not practice Monday, but they had to release an estimated injury report with Thursday’s game against the Bucs looming.
Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (thigh) and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (ankle) were on the report as full participants. Both injuries came out of Sunday’s victory over the Texans.
The Cowboys listed cornerback Cobie Durant (hamstring), linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring) and offensive tackle Drew Shelton (hamstring) as non-participants.
Offensive guard Tyler Smith (thumb) was estimated as a limited participant as the team opened his 21-day return-to-practice window on Monday.
Safety Alijah Clark (ankle), running back Tyler Goodson (ankle), safety Malik Hooker (forearm) and outside linebacker James Houston (shoulder) were full participants.
The Cowboys are getting closer to welcoming left guard Tyler Smith back to the lineup.
Smith was designated for return from injured reserve on Monday. The move opens a 21-day window for him to practice with the team and he can be activated at any point in that window.
Smith had thumb surgery before Week 1 and word at the time was that he’d miss 4-6 weeks while recovering.
The Cowboys have a short week ahead of Thursday’s game against the Buccaneers and head coach Brian Schottenheimer said at his press conference that it is too soon to tell if Smith will be able to play in that game.
Already facing the challenge of a short week, the Buccaneers have yet another injury to a key player entering Week 5.
Head coach Todd Bowles told reporters in his Monday press conference that safety Antoine Winfield Jr. has a fractured rib that will keep him out for 2-to-4 weeks.
A Pro Bowler last season, Winfield has registered 24 total tackles and one QB hit so far in 2026. He finished last season with eight passes defensed, two interceptions, a sack, and four tackles for loss.
Bowles also noted that linebacker SirVocea Dennis is still undergoing tests on his ankle injury to determine its severity.
Tampa Bay will be on the road to face Dallas on Thursday night. The team’s first injury report will be released later on Monday.
After the Steelers traded Joey Porter Jr. to the Cowboys, help is on the way for Pittsburgh’s secondary.
Per Tom Pelissero of Netflix, the Steelers are signing cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting off of the Buccaneers’ practice squad.
Murphy-Bunting, 29, missed the 2025 season with a torn ACL. He had returned to the Buccaneers after he was released by the Cardinals at roster cuts in August.
A second-round pick in 2019, Murphy-Bunting has appeared in 82 career games with 65 starts. In 2024, he registered 52 total tackles with three interceptions, five passes defensed, and two forced fumbles in 15 games for the Cardinals.
He has 34 career passes defensed with 11 career interceptions.
The Buccaneers started the 2025 season at 6-2. Since then, they’re now 2-11.
Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Packers has dropped the Bucs to 0-4. After the game, coach Todd Bowles was asked whether he’s the right coach to lead the Buccaneers moving forward, and what he can do to change the recent trend.
“I’m the head coach,” Bowles told reporters. “I can do more. I can always do more. I’ll always take the blame on that.”
He was then again asked what he can do to change things.
“We’re gonna fight, we’re gonna stick together, and we’re gonna figure this thing out, and I’ll lead them to that,” Bowles said. “That’s my job.”
The good news is that every loss in 2026 has come in a one-score game. The bad news is they’ve won none of them.
“We know what the problem is,” Bowles said. “It’s on us. We can’t keep getting close to not winning. That’s not good enough. Our record says what we are. We’re 0-and-4, until we acknowledge that and we correct our own mistakes, you know, it’s gonna keep happening. We talked about it as a team. We’re gonna be a team, and we got to play tougher in the end and we got to execute the end. And that’s the only way you can win the ball game.”
It won’t get any easier on Thursday night, with a short-week trip to Dallas. The Cowboys are not easy to beat at home, and Tampa Bay will have an undrafted rookie at quarterback against Dak Prescott and company.
Then comes the mini-bye, which provides an opportunity for the Bucs to make a coaching change.
There’s a benefit to an in-season termination; it gives the team a longer runway to search for the next coach. Working in Bowles’s benefit is the fact that there’s no clear candidate on his staff to serve as the interim head coach. There’s no defensive coordinator. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is in his first year with the team, after being fired by the Falcons. The special-teams coordinator is Danny Smith.
The Bucs could go outside the organization for an interim hire, like the Colts did in 2022 when Jeff Saturday replaced Frank Reich. Or the Bucs could just ride it out, quietly planning for a new direction in 2027 while allowing the balance of 2026 to play itself out.
However it goes, it’s not going well in Tampa. After playing the Cowboys, the Bucs face the Steelers, Panthers, Falcons, and Bears before the Week 10 bye. For now, they need to start digging out of the early-season hole. And they’ll need to get used to plenty of empty seats for the six remaining home games — unless those otherwise empty seats are filled by fans of the visiting team.
Sunday started with five 0-3 teams in the NFL. It will end with five 0-4 teams in the NFL.
Each of the winless teams lost again on Sunday — the Dolphins, the Titans, the Texans, the Chargers, and the Buccaneers.
Only one team has ever recovered from 0-4 to make the playoffs. The Chargers did it in 1992.
The good news is that one of the 0-4 teams is destined to not fall to 0-5. The Titans host the Texans next weekend, in the Something’s Gotta Give Bowl.
It’s a deep hole, for all five winless teams. It helps to have a 17th game and seven playoff spots per conference.
For the Chargers and Texans, it’s a stunning slide. Both made the playoffs last year, and both were expected to do it again.
They still could. Getting that first win would be nice.
