Buccaneers at Panthers: Week 16 inactives

The Buccaneers are missing a lot of key players ahead of another divisional matchup

The list seems to grow and grow by the day for the Buccaneers when it comes to key players injured and missing time. Heading into another game where they can clinch the divisional against a fellow member of the NFC South, the Buccaneers’ injury list is looking more like a full roster than it is just a group of players dealing with injury.

We knew coming in that Chris Godwin was done for 2021, no matter what, having torn his ACL against the Saints. Leonard Fournette and Lavonte David are done for the regular season with hamstring and foot injuries respectfully. Mike Evans is week to week with a hamstring injury. Antoine Winfield Jr. had missed practice all week following missing last week’s game against the Saints then Jason Pierre-Paul joined him in missing practice this week with the litany of injuries he has.

All that said, there is a little good news. Richard Sherman is back and expected to play today against the Panthers, but the question is in what role? We saw him take some snaps at safety against the Bills a few weeks ago and with Winfield Jr. being out, we may see him there again.

For the Panthers, they don’t have nearly the injury issues the Bucs do, they just have issues at the quarterback position. Cam Newton came out on fire when he rejoined Carolina but has struggled mightily the last three weeks. Now, he may be playing in front of a Panthers home crowd for the final time and he could summon some vintage Newton to try and give the fans one final show.

Here are the inactive players for the Buccaneers and Panthers ahead of their week sixteen matchup;

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Carolina Panthers:

Buccaneers will have running back Kenjon Barner returning kicks and punts today in the absence of Jaelon Darden who was placed on the reserve/Covid list while Sterling Hofrichter will step in at punter for the injured Bradley Pinion.

The Buccaneers will also see the debut of newly acquired running back Le’Veon Bell, but it’s a question of how much time will he get after spending just a week at practice and trying to learn the playbook.

The Bucs and Panthers kick off inside Bank of America Stadium at 1:00 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on FOX with Kevin Kugler on play-by-play and Mark Sanchez as the color commentator.