Darius Slay dodged the injury bullet last Sunday when 325-pound New Orleans offensive tackle Trevor Penning locked onto the six-time Pro Bowl cornerback and kept pushing.
Slay’s knee seemed to buckle a bit as Penning kept churning, pushing the veteran past the sideline and through the white strip that should be a warning sign, and into the Saints bench where the O-Lineman took out one of his own assistants, more than earning the 15-yard penalty that was assessed.
“Hey, I don’t know who got taken out. I just know that I got taken out,” Slay said on Thursday before practice. “Of course. I don’t want nobody hurt at all, but at that time, I was thinking that I was the only one down on the ground. I don’t know what was going on.”
What was going on was a hyperextended knee that has ultimately calmed down pointing Slay on track to regular-season game No. 166 in his stellar career in Tampa this Sunday.
At the moment, though, Slay thought he might be missing more time than the nine snaps he surrendered to second-year CB Kelee Ringo in a hard-fought 15-12 win for Philadelphia.
“Hell yeah, I felt bad, Slay said when asked if he thought the injury was bad. “That’s a big dude, so it felt bad. Thankfully, I’m OK, and I’ll continue to keep working with this amazing training room staff that’s been doing a great job getting me ready to go.”
Next up for Slay, who was a full-go at practice Thursday, is the Bucs’ dynamic duo at receiver: the venerable Mike Evans and the always-productive Chris Godwin.
“He’s just amazing, always been a great deep threat, a great guy,” Slay said of Evans who is 10 for 10 in his NFL career when it comes to 1,000-yard seasons. “We’ve been competing for a long time, since college. Shoot, we’ve been playing each other … for like 14 years.”
Godwin, meanwhile, is in a groove, according to Slay.
“He’s great, man. He’s a guy who can run routes, make physical catches,” the veteran CB said of Godwin. “He’s a real good safety blanket for (Tampa QB Baker Mayfield). He’s a guy that really works hard at his craft.
“Every year, since I’ve known Godwin, he’s gotten better every year. He’s going into Year 8, he’s only continuing to keep getting better. Now he’s starting off really hot, playing back to 2019 year (had 1,333 receiving yards), had that Pro Bowl, All-Pro kind of year. He’s in that groove.”
