Tampa Bay Buccaneers Looking Healthier Coming Out of Bye Week

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the dreaded first bye week of the season, but it turns out that curse may have been a blessing.

Remember when we were all super mad about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bye week coming in the first possible opportunity for the NFL to put them on break?

That attitude quickly shifted to almost a relieved feeling when the Buccaneers entered the bye in Week 5 with a laundry list of injuries including ones suffered by cornerback Jamel Dean, receiver Mike Evans, and rookie defenders Calijah Kancey and SirVocea Dennis.

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All of a sudden the mood around Tampa Bay's early bye went from 'forget you' - only not that f-word - to 'yes, please, NFL and thank you'.

It looks like that break is doing the Bucs some good as well as Dean (neck/shoulder) has been a full participant through two days of practice this week as has Dennis (hamstring), and Kancey (calf).

Evans (hamstring) started the week not practicing but was a limited participant on Thursday which is a step in the right direction.

Depending on how he feels after the day of practice and on Friday, it's entirely possible he'll be ready to go for the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Of course, for purely selfish reasons we all want to see No. 13 rocking the creamsicles, right?

Offensive tackle Luke Goedeke (calf), safety Ryan Neal (concussion), linebacker Anthony Nelson (concussion), cornerback Derrek Pitts (hamstring), and linebacker Devin White (foot) were all full participants Thursday as well.

The only downgraded player was outside linebacker and pass-rush extraordinaire Shaquil Barrett who was listed as a DNP with an illness.

Hopefully a 24-hour bug, or even a two-dayer, because the Buccaneers are going to need Barrett on the field Sunday to get pressure on Lions quarterback Jared Goff who pass game coordinator and inside linebacker coach Larry Foote recently compared- slightly - to Tom Brady.

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Tampa Bay has one more practice on Friday with game designations coming with it, so make sure you check back to find out who will play, might play, and won't when your orange-clad gridiron greats take the field against the 4-1 Lions from that state way up north.

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