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The Buccaneers will be without 21-year old rookie DT Brian Price for the next several weeks due to inflammation in his hip. Price has played in 5 games for the Buccaneers and he has a whopping 3 tackles so far this year. He has been a huge disappointment for the Buccaneers who drafted him in the second round last April using the #35 overall pick on him.
The Buccaneers have lost 24-year old running back Kareem Huggins for the rest of the year due to a torn right ACL. Huggins played in 3 games for the Bucs this year and he carried the ball 4 times for 11 yards (2.8 ypc). He also caught 1 pass for 7 yards this year. Huggins was likely going to see a bump in P.T. soon with the Buccaneers struggling to run the football so this was a really bad break for him.
The Buccaneers will be without starting center Jeff Faine for the next 4-6 weeks with a quad injury. Faine started the first four games of the year for the Bucs. He has now played in 32 games (32 starts) for the Bucs as he is now starting to prove a tad injury prone. Jeremy Zuttah will replace Faine in the starting lineup while he is out of action. Zuttah has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Bucs this year. He has played in 32 games (21 starts) in his first three years with the Bucs so he has a lot of playing experience. He also is much bigger than Jeff Faine at 6’4″, 308 pounds so maybe he can help the Bucs’ running game going forward.
The Buccaneers have placed 24-year old OT Demar Dotson on the Injured Reserve List with a knee injury. Dotson played in 9 games (0 starts) as a rookie for the Bucs last year. He is a monster at 6’9″, 315 pounds but he has a ways to go before he gets a lot of P.T. Still, Dotson’s injury will hurt the depth of the Bucs’ O-Line in 2010.
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.
The Bucs have lost special teams ace Clifton Smith for the rest of the season after he suffered his second concussion of the year last Sunday. Smith played in 11 games for the Bucs this year and he returned 31 kickoffs for 902 yards (29.1 avg) and 23 punts for 232 yards (10.1 avg). He also carried the ball 4 times for 7 yards (1.8 ypc) and he caught 2 passes for 4 yards (2.0 avg). The Bucs will miss Smith who usually helped give the offense good starting position.