Tag: vita vea

The top defensive players in Tampa Bay’s win over Tennessee, per PFF

Five of Tampa Bay’s six active edge rushers appeared in PFF’s top 10 against the Titans.

It took a bit, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were back to their dominant ways on the defensive side of the ball Sunday.

Tampa Bay held the Tennessee Titans to just six points across the board, severely limiting both the run game and the passing game and not allowing the Titans to score a single touchdown in Raymond James Stadium. It was a particularly good day for the pass rushers in the eyes of Pro Football Focus, as five of the six EDGE players who got reps in the game appeared in the top 10 of their defensive rankings.

Here are the 10 highest-graded defensive players for the Bucs in the team’s win over the Titans, per PFF:

Bucs midseason grades: Defense

How do you think the Bucs defense has been?

Since the arrival of Todd Bowles, the Buccaneers defense has been a consistently strong group powered by a stout run defense and aggressive blitz packages. This year, the consistency of the unit has not been as evident, as the Bucs have allowed the fifth-most pass yards (2235) in the league at the halfway point, despite already having their bye in Week 5.

Tampa Bay’s defense has largely survived off high leverage plays, forcing 15 turnovers, and being one of the best red zone defenses in the league. Much of their struggles have stemmed from soft zone coverage, leading to more big plays than are typical with a Bowles defense.

The talent from the Bucs’ Super Bowl run is still mostly on the roster, but the consistency is not. With an offense diminished by roster attrition and a rookie playcaller, the defense has so far been unsuccessful in keeping the team afloat in a winnable NFC South.

Here are the midseason grades for the Bucs’ 2023 defense:

Bucs inactives list for Week 8 at Bills

DT Vita Vea is inactive and thus will not play against the Buffalo Bills — a huge blow to Tampa Bay’s defense.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were fortunate to have no injured players on their Week 7 inactives list, but playing football on Thursday night doesn’t usually lend to luck like that.

The Bucs have three players out due to injury, with the biggest one being defensive tackle Vita Vea — Vea won’t play due to a groin injury, which is a massive hit to Tampa Bay’s defense. Safety Kaevon Merriweather and guard Matt Feiler are also inactive due to injury, and DT Deadrin Senat and S Richard LeCounte III have both been elevated to the active roster to fill in the holes left by Vea and Merriweather. G Aaron Stinnie will step in for Feiler.

Here is Tampa Bay’s inactives list:

  • #26 S Kaevon Merriweather
  • #44 RB Sean Tucker
  • #50 NT Vita Vea
  • #58 OLB Markees Watts
  • #71 OL Matt Feiler
  • #79 DL Patrick O’Connor
  • #89 TE David Wells

3 causes for concern as the Bills face the Buccaneers in Week 8

3 causes for concern as the #Bills face the #Buccaneers in Week 8:

The Buffalo Bills are looking to get back into the win column as they welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home to Highmark Stadium to start off Week 8 of the 2023 NFL season.

Buffalo will be looking to make a statement after a disappointing loss to a division rival last week, the New England Patriots. While this can be an opportunity for Buffalo to win, there are never any easy games in the NFL and Thursday will not be easy.

Here are three causes for concern for the Bills (4-3) against the Buccaneers (3-3):

Bucs Week 8 Final Injury Report: Two players out, three questionable

Here’s the Bucs’ final injury report after Wednesday’s walkthrough practice:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had two weeks with virtually no players out, but fortune like that doesn’t last long in the NFL.

The Bucs will have two players out when they face off against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday. Guard Matt Feiler is out with a knee injury and is set to be replaced by Aaron Stinnie, while special teams player and safety Kaevon Merriweather is out with an ankle injury. Quarterback Baker Mayfield (knee), wideout Chris Godwin (neck) and defensive tackle Vita Vea (groin) are listed as questionable, but Mayfield and Godwin are almost certainly playing — Vea, who has missed three straight practices, is probably doubtful to play given his lack of participation.

Here is Tampa Bay’s full injury report. As a reminder, all three practices were walkthroughs and designations are just an estimation:

On Buffalo’s side, tight ends Dawson Knox (wrist) and Quintin Morris (ankle) are out, so it will be Dalton Kincaid as Buffalo’s TE1. Linebacker Baylon Spector is out with a hamstring injury and defensive tackle Ed Oliver is questionable with a toe injury.

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Bucs Week 8 Tuesday Injury Report: Vita Vea, Matt Feiler listed as non-participants

The Bucs conducted another walkthrough on Tuesday, so designations on this injury report are once again estimations.

It’s a short week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it could mean that some of their starting players will be out for Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills.

The Bucs released another injury report Tuesday, but it should be noted that the team conducted a walkthrough practice — this means that any player’s status is an estimation, as the team didn’t truly practice. That being said, Bucs defensive tackle Vita Vea was once again listed as a non-participant with a groin injury, which leaves his status for Thursday in doubt. Bucs guard Matt Feiler is dealing with a knee injury and is unlikely to play on Thursday, paving the way for either Aaron Stinnie or Nick Leverett to take his place.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield told reporters Tuesday that his knee injury is simply a pain tolerance issue moving forward and that he’s fine to play. He was listed as a limited participant in practice.

Here’s what Tampa Bay’s injury report looks like for Tuesday:

On Buffalo’s side, tight ends Dawson Knox and Quintin Morris and linebacker Baylor Spector were the only players listed as non-participants. Knox is set to have surgery on his wrist which will keep him out for quite some time.

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Bucs Monday Week 7 Injury Report: Baker Mayfield, Chris Godwin and Vita Vea named

While some notable players are listed as not participating, it’s important to note this injury report is an just an estimation — teams do not practice the day after games.

The Monday injury report for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is out, and while it features some interesting names, it’s important to keep things in perspective for a Thursday Night Football week.

No NFL team will practice the day after the game, so this injury report is simply an estimation of how the team would have treated players in theory if a practice did go on. As such, if players are listed as “did not participate”, it’s just an estimation on the team’s part — if this were a real practice, things might have turned out differently.

On the Bucs side, five players did not participate — quarterback Baker Mayfield (knee), offensive guard Matt Feiler (knee), wideout Chris Godwin (neck), safety Kaevon Merriweather (ankle) and defensive tackle Vita Vea (groin). Running back Chase Edmonds was listed as a full participant coming off of injured reserve.

There are quite a few players on the Buffalo Bills report, but most were either listed as participants or limited participants. The Bucs won’t have to face off against tight end Dawson Knox, as he’s set to have surgery on his wrist and miss some time.

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Bucs inactives list for Week 7 vs. Falcons

DT Vita Vea and OLB Anthony Nelson are both set to play on Sunday, leaving the Bucs’ inactives made up only of healthy scratches.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers inactives list for their Week 7 matchup against the Falcons has been released, and it’s another short one with no injured players.

Defensive tackle Vita Vea and outside linebacker Anthony Nelson were both questionable heading into the game, but both of them are active and expected to play versus the Atlanta Falcons. The only players inactive are healthy scratches, which is a great sign for the Bucs against a stout Falcons run defense. The Falcons are also very healthy, though, so it could be an aggressive game on both sides of the ball.

Here is Tampa Bay’s inactives list:

  • CB Derrek Pitts
  • TE David Wells
  • OL Brandon Walton
  • DL Pat O’Connor
  • OLB Markees Watts

Bucs Week 7 Final Injury Report: Two Tampa Bay players listed as questionable

No player between the Bucs and the Falcons are ruled out for Sunday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain healthy heading into Week 7’s matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, and the injuries they do have don’t appear to be too serious.

The biggest question after Thursday’s report was the absence of defensive tackle [autotag]Vita Vea[/autotag], who seemed to take a setback after having limited practice on Wednesday. He was back to limited practice on Friday, however, and head coach Todd Bowles seemed to imply after practice Friday that his foot is simply sore and that giving it 48 hours likely has him playing on Sunday. The other questionable player is outside linebacker [autotag]Anthony Nelson[/autotag], who has had two weeks of full practice but now needs to clear concussion protocol to play.

Here is what the small injury report looks like:

After Falcons DT Calais Campbell took a rest day on Monday, no player has been on Atlanta’s injury report.

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Bucs Week 7 Thursday Injury Report: A key defensive lineman missing

DT Vita Vea appeared to take a step backwards in recovery for a foot injury Thursday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to have few complaints in the injury department heading into their Week 7 divisional matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. They have just two players on the Thursday injury report, but one happens to be a rather large concern:

Defensive tackle Vita Vea (foot) is the only player who missed practice. The main concern is that he is trending the wrong way, after he was a limited participant on Wednesday. As one the Bucs’ best and most important defenders, his injury status on Friday will bear significant scrutiny from both teams.

The Falcons continue to be the picture of health, listing no players on the injury report for a second consecutive day. The only other player on the Bucs’ injury report is linebacker Anthony Nelson (concussion), but as a full participant two days in a row, he is on the right path to play on Sunday.

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