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TAMPA — The Bucs’ Antoine Winfield Jr. was the best safety in the NFL two years ago, an All-Pro who manifested the richest contract of any defensive back in league history.
He filled up the stat sheet, amassing 122 tackles, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, six sacks and three interceptions.
But Winfield injured a foot in the 2024 opener against Washington then later hurt a knee, leading to a disastrous season in which he missed eight games and was mostly invisible in the other nine. Two sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown were his only highlights.
“I just think he’ll be healthy. He’s been training his butt off,” head coach Todd Bowles said recently. “Win is a guy who is going to train, he’s not going to say much, he’s going to get back to himself. He always has a chip on his shoulder. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to be the same guy.”
Injuries are part of the NFL, little assassins behind every door that can kill a season.
The Bucs tied for seventh in the league last season in games missed due to injury with 201, according to Rotowire. Of the top 10 most injured teams, five qualified for the postseason, including the Lions, who earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC despite an NFL-most 254 games missed. But none of them survived past the division round.
The Bucs appeared particularly snakebit by hamstring injuries: to receiver Mike Evans, who missed parts of four games; as well as running back Bucky Irving; center Graham Barton; defensive backs Jamel Dean, Zyon McCollum, Mike Edwards and Josh Hayes; receiver Sterling Shepard; linebacker JJ Russell; and long snapper Evan Deckers.
As a result, the Bucs have been looking closely at what, if anything, they can do to change how they practice during the week to cut down on injuries.
“Some of them were just freak injuries, and we’re trying to find ways to be better practice-wise,” Bowles said. “I don’t know how we can get any better than we were the last two years, but we’re going to tweak some things and we’re all looking into it, from the training staff, to the strength staff, nutritionists and everything else.
“We’re looking into it, trying to tweak whether we need to warm up more, whether we need to warm up separately, whether we need to run certain things and change the drills around. We’re all looking at all that stuff now.”
The most difficult situation for a team is when injuries attack a particular position group, such as the Bucs secondary last season.
“We don’t have a lot of depth,” Bowles said. “That’s crystal clear. We don’t have a lot of depth, but we hope to address that at some point in the draft as well.”
A year ago, the Bucs traded cornerback Carlton Davis to the Lions, primarily because he couldn’t stay healthy. He missed 23 games in six seasons with the Bucs, and his luck didn’t improve much in Detroit, where he missed four games in 2024.
Dean, who has one year left on his contract, has followed a similar pattern, which is why one of the Bucs’ top needs in the draft is cornerback, a position they could address with the 19th overall pick.
No player was missed more than Winfield, who is not only the team’s best playmaker on defense, he also is responsible for making sure players line up correctly.
The Bucs signed Edwards, but he quickly succumbed to a hamstring injury. Jordan Whitehead, signed as a free agent after spending two years with the Jets, produced very little and suffered a neck injury in a car accident while racing to practice before the regular season finale against the Saints. He was released after the season.
Bowles said Winfield was frustrated last year, and it showed.
“He could never get his feet on the ground, and the season kind of ended that way," Bowles said. “But he’s very determined to come back and be what he was.”
One theory for the injuries is that the offense installed by coordinator Liam Coen included a lot of players in motion on every snap. The defense has to respond in turn. Multiply the amount of extra running in practice by receivers and defensive backs, and you could increase the chance of injury.
But then, that’s only a theory. Sometimes, it just comes down to luck.
• • •
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He filled up the stat sheet, amassing 122 tackles, six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, six sacks and three interceptions.
But Winfield injured a foot in the 2024 opener against Washington then later hurt a knee, leading to a disastrous season in which he missed eight games and was mostly invisible in the other nine. Two sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown were his only highlights.
“I just think he’ll be healthy. He’s been training his butt off,” head coach Todd Bowles said recently. “Win is a guy who is going to train, he’s not going to say much, he’s going to get back to himself. He always has a chip on his shoulder. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to be the same guy.”
Injuries are part of the NFL, little assassins behind every door that can kill a season.
The Bucs tied for seventh in the league last season in games missed due to injury with 201, according to Rotowire. Of the top 10 most injured teams, five qualified for the postseason, including the Lions, who earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC despite an NFL-most 254 games missed. But none of them survived past the division round.
The Bucs appeared particularly snakebit by hamstring injuries: to receiver Mike Evans, who missed parts of four games; as well as running back Bucky Irving; center Graham Barton; defensive backs Jamel Dean, Zyon McCollum, Mike Edwards and Josh Hayes; receiver Sterling Shepard; linebacker JJ Russell; and long snapper Evan Deckers.
As a result, the Bucs have been looking closely at what, if anything, they can do to change how they practice during the week to cut down on injuries.
“Some of them were just freak injuries, and we’re trying to find ways to be better practice-wise,” Bowles said. “I don’t know how we can get any better than we were the last two years, but we’re going to tweak some things and we’re all looking into it, from the training staff, to the strength staff, nutritionists and everything else.
“We’re looking into it, trying to tweak whether we need to warm up more, whether we need to warm up separately, whether we need to run certain things and change the drills around. We’re all looking at all that stuff now.”
The most difficult situation for a team is when injuries attack a particular position group, such as the Bucs secondary last season.
“We don’t have a lot of depth,” Bowles said. “That’s crystal clear. We don’t have a lot of depth, but we hope to address that at some point in the draft as well.”
A year ago, the Bucs traded cornerback Carlton Davis to the Lions, primarily because he couldn’t stay healthy. He missed 23 games in six seasons with the Bucs, and his luck didn’t improve much in Detroit, where he missed four games in 2024.
Dean, who has one year left on his contract, has followed a similar pattern, which is why one of the Bucs’ top needs in the draft is cornerback, a position they could address with the 19th overall pick.
No player was missed more than Winfield, who is not only the team’s best playmaker on defense, he also is responsible for making sure players line up correctly.
The Bucs signed Edwards, but he quickly succumbed to a hamstring injury. Jordan Whitehead, signed as a free agent after spending two years with the Jets, produced very little and suffered a neck injury in a car accident while racing to practice before the regular season finale against the Saints. He was released after the season.
Bowles said Winfield was frustrated last year, and it showed.
“He could never get his feet on the ground, and the season kind of ended that way," Bowles said. “But he’s very determined to come back and be what he was.”
One theory for the injuries is that the offense installed by coordinator Liam Coen included a lot of players in motion on every snap. The defense has to respond in turn. Multiply the amount of extra running in practice by receivers and defensive backs, and you could increase the chance of injury.
But then, that’s only a theory. Sometimes, it just comes down to luck.
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.
Continue reading...
