The Bucs injury-reporting case involving linebacker Devin White is under review by the NFL, according to a league official. "We will review the matter with the club,'' NFL VP of Communications Brian McCarthy told the Tampa Bay Times in a text message.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) December 20, 2023
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have to deal with its recent [autotag]Devin White[/autotag] controversy just a bit longer.
Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud reported Wednesday that the NFL will review Tampa Bay’s handling of linebacker Devin White’s inactive status in Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers. White and head coach Todd Bowles claim White was inactive due to a foot injury, but White wasn’t downgraded to out before being listed as inactive.
The main thing that makes the scenario curious is that safety Ryan Neal was downgraded to out and Vita Vea was upgraded to questionable on Saturday, when both Bowles and White would have already known his foot was too injured to play based on their own timelines. In fact, White told media on Wednesday that they both knew as early as Friday.
“I don’t know, shoot, I guess you could say Friday? We had a practice – fast Friday – I had a little more explosiveness then I’ve been [having] but I just still felt a little bit of discomfort,” White told reporters Wednesday. “I knew I wasn’t all the way there yet. I didn’t want to jeopardize all the work we’ve put in when we sat the previous two weeks – trying to get my foot back right. I want to come back and I want to be full-go.”
The NFL has done this sort of investigation twice already (that we know of). The first time was when the Atlanta Falcons barely played running back Bijan Robinson against the Bucs in Week 7 due to an illness he had suffered, and the second came when Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was seen with tape around his wrist before his game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11, during which he severely injured that same throwing hand.
Both players weren’t designated on the injury report, but investigations by the NFL did not result in punishment by any kind — as such, it’s unlikely the Bucs will be punished either.
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