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The Buccaneers have placed 27-year old linebacker Jon Alston on the Injured Reserve List with an undisclosed injury. Alston played in 9 games for the Raiders (4 starts) last season and he finished up with 23 tackles. Alston has now played in 39 games (8 starts) in his four years in the NFL and he has 66 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 2 forced fumbles. This might hurt the special teams a little bit for the Bucs but that’s about it.
The Buccaneers will be without starting QB Josh Freeman for at least the rest of the pre-season due to a fractured tip of his right thumb. Freeman was looking good in the pre-season for the Bucs. In the Bucs first two pre-season games, Freeman completed 6 of 8 passes (75%) for 74 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (142.7 QB Rating). The Bucs hope that Freeman is ready to go on Opening Day against the Cleveland Browns in Tampa. They think he will improve on the numbers he put up as a rookie in 2009. Freeman played in 10 games (9 starts) for the Bucs last year and he completed 158 of 290 passes (54.5%) for 1,855 yards with 10 TD passes and 18 INTs (59.8 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 30 times for 161 yards (5.4 ypc) as a rookie last year. The Bucs need Freeman to have a speedy recovery because the dropoff to the backups appears pretty big.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost 28-year old DE Jimmy Wilkerson for the season due to a torn ACL. Wilkerson played in 15 games for the Bucs this season and he made 46 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he forced 2 fumbles, defensed 2 passes and he had 6 sacks which was second on the team. The Buccaneers will miss Wilkerson against the Falcons this weekend as he is one of the best pass rushers on the team.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have placed RB Earnest Graham on I.R. ending his season due to a torn ligament in his right big toe. Graham played in 13 games for the Bucs this season and he carried the ball 14 times for 66 yards (4.7 ypc) and he also caught 14 passes for 109 yards (7.8 avg). The Buccaneers simply don’t use Graham right and he would be smart to leave in free agency.
The Buccaneers have lost 23-year old WR/KR/PR Sammie Stroughter for the rest of the season due to a broken foot. Stroughter was a 7th round pick out of Oregon State last April and he looks like a keeper for the Bucs. He played in 13 games for the Buccaneers this year and he caught 31 passes for 334 yards (10.8 avg) with 1 TD grab. Stroughter was also a huge help on special teams this season. He returned 11 kickoffs for 324 yards (29.5 avg) with 1 TD return and he also returned 12 punts for 119 yards (9.9 avg) this year. He pitched in with 3 tackles on the year too. This injury will really hurt the Bucs as Stroughter is a player who was wearing many hats on the team.
