Buccaneers Not Pressing Chris Godwin to Play Week 1

While the team would love to have their star receiver on the field to open the season, there's no priority bigger than his health.

TAMPA, Fl. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers losing both wide receiver Chris Godwin and right tackle Tristan Wirfs late in the 2021 NFL Season can be directly blamed for why the team likely isn't celebrating back-to-back Super Bowl Championships. 

Wirfs is back, on the field for training camp, and a full go looking no worse than the last time he was healthy. 

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Godwin, in the meantime, is on the practice field after not being placed on the preseason physically unable to participate (PUP) list. 

While he's not fully participating, anything is something good, and the more he does the better the odds are he'll have a full recovery much sooner than most expected. 

But, the question now is, will he be ready for Week 1 when the Bucs travel to face the Dallas Cowboys to start the new season?

He might, but he might not, and according to head coach Todd Bowles, the team isn't prioritizing their want for No. 14 to be in the game in Week 1, over the player and team's long-term needs. 

"He doesn't have to be ready," Bowles said about his star receiver. "We want him for the long haul. We don't want him running around, looking good, and then getting hurt...We're not rushing him by no means."

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Godwin was on pace to finish the 2021 season with over 1,330 yards receiving and six touchdowns when he was injured against the New Orleans Saints in mid-December. 

On top of those, he would have easily surpassed 100 receptions had he not gotten hurt. 

Early signs are good, and given that the team and player are taking the smarter route instead of the faster one, the news should continue getting better as they go.

For more on this and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!