After ruling three key players out for Sunday’s Week 3 contest against the Broncos at Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs followed up with more bad news on Saturday afternoon.
With right tackle Luke Goedeke (concussion), defensive lineman Calijah Kancey (calf) and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot) already out , Tampa Bay downgraded two more players from doubtful to out for Sunday’s matchup with Denver. Nose tackle Vita Vea (knee) and wide receiver Kameron Johnson (ankle) will now miss out as the Bucs look to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2005.
Vea left last week’s win over the Lions with a knee injury that looked to be serious, but it quickly became clear that the Bucs had avoided the worst-case scenario. The veteran has a Grade 2 MCL sprain, and head coach Todd Bowles referred to him as “day-to-day” rather than week-to-week. In fact, after missing practice Wednesday and Thursday, Vea was a limited participant on Friday. Still, he was listed as “doubtful” heading into the weekend and is now officially out.
Johnson, meanwhile, practiced in a limited capacity Wednesday before missing practice both Thursday and Friday. He was also tagged with a “doubtful” status on Friday’s injury report, but like Vea, he will now officially be sidelined on Sunday.
Bucs Elevate Two From The Practice Squad For Sunday’s Game
With Vea and Johnson now ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Broncos, the Bucs have elevated two players from their practice squad to the gameday roster. After promoting defensive lineman C.J. Brewer to the active roster and waiving cornerback Keenan Isaac on Friday, Tampa Bay is bringing defensive lineman Mike Greene and wide receiver Sterling Shepard up for its Week 3 game.
Greene is being elevated from the practice squad for the third time in three weeks to start this season. He had a tackle in each of his appearances in Weeks 1 and 2. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of James Madison after coming in as a tryout player in 2022, the 6-foot-3, 293-pound 25-year-old has appeared in 12 games for the Bucs, starting two games and racking up eight tackles.
Shepard, on the other hand, is far more experienced but will be making his Buccaneer debut in Sunday’s game against the Broncos. Signed this summer as a free agent, the veteran wide receiver has 372 catches, 4,095 yards and 23 touchdowns to his name over 90 career games with the New York Giants between 2016 and 2023.
Much was initially made of Shepard’s signing, as he was teammates with Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma. There’s obviously a preestablished rapport and friendship between the two, so that paired with the 31-year-old’s success in New York created some excitement for a wide receiving corps that lacked experience outside of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Yet Shepard was inconsistent in training camp, largely due to the fact that he was banged up on a couple of occasions. Nonetheless, he signed with Tampa Bay’s practice squad out of camp and will now suit up for the team on Sunday afternoon.
