The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a vacancy at safety with the both Jordan Whitehead and Mike Edwards out of action on Sunday. With that, they'll need to find a player to fill in alongside Antoine Winfield Jr. — and according to Todd Bowles, it may not be just one player.
Bowles spoke to media on Friday, and when he was asked which player would take the place of Whitehead and Edwards, he seemed to insinuate that there would be multiple players to fill the role.
"They’ve got packages for both, so depending on how they start the game is how we’ll start the game, but all of them will play.”
There are a few options in that regard. Defensive back Christian Izien, who played safety at Rutgers and is cross-trained there, would be perhaps the best option, but the Buccaneers also brought back Kaevon Merriweather and Ryan Neal to the team this week. Merriweather is already on the 53-man roster and Neal could be elevated from the practice squad, so both players remain an option.
Additionally, defensive back Tykee Smith is set to be healthy for this game. He normally plays nickel, and while it's likely he'll continue to fill that role, Bowles said that they'd see how much of the gameplan from the safety position and figure out where to place him from there.
“We’re going to work him out before the game and see where he’s at as far as what he knows gameplan-wise and we’ll go from there.”
It seems as if Bowles is keeping this a little close to the vest, so we'll know for sure when the Buccaneers face off against the Raiders at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
