Bucs Rookie RB's Absence in Practice a 'Challenge'

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie running back Bucky Irving is dealing with a toe injury that has left him limited in the practice time he gets during the week.

Oct 27, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) runs with the ball against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Don't look now, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a run game. After finishing dead last in rushing the past two seasons, the Buccaneers have the league's 10th-best rushing attack, averaging 130.9 yards per game.

The Bucs' success on the ground nearly hit a roadblock in Week 8 when Irving appeared on the injury report with a toe injury. After speculation on whether or not he would be able to play, the rookie runner played through the injury and led the team in rushing with 44 yards. When it came to practice on Wednesday, Irving was again out of practice and listed as a non-participant. Head Coach Todd Bowles was asked after practice if there were any updates to the status of Irving's health and he said the trend of Irving missing practice early in the week would likely become a trend throughout the rest of the season.

“Bucky [Irving] will be the same as last week," Bowles said. "He’ll probably practice towards the end of the week, but he’ll have this problem all year long, probably.”

As well as Irving has performed as a rookie rusher, he still needs valuable reps as he grows into his role throughout the season. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen was asked what difficulties not having the breakout running back presented when it comes to game planning and preparing for an opponent and was transparent on how challenging it was.

"It's challenging, for sure," Coen said. "Do I trust him? He's in here at 5 o'clock every day doing what he needs to get done, but he’s still a rookie that needs reps, that needs the muscle memory, the way we do things, your track, your read, your everything goes into that. So that's definitely been a little bit of a challenge, not being able to have him, and it's not necessarily just for some of the ‘21’ [personnel] stuff; it's more just the regular offense. He's not getting those reps, so [it is] definitely a challenge. He’s been trying to take the necessary steps to make sure he's ahead of the game plan, but I wouldn't say that it's easy."

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To accommodate Irving's injury, Coen has installed secondary walkthroughs with the team to try and get him up to speed before game day.

"That's what we did last week before our Saturday practice in there," Coen said. "We had another walkthrough prior to that as a unit, and it was really a Bucky walkthrough. So, we’re going to continue to have to do that and catch him up to speed."

For as long as Irving continues to deal with his toe injury (which sounds like it will be all season) the Bucs will have to find ways to keep him involved during practice and carefully get him his rep. At the same time, they have to ensure he doesn't suffer any setbacks going forward. The coaches will continue the challenging process of getting Irving up to speed and holding secondary walkthroughs as well. However, the results in Week 8 were good, and if the results against the Chiefs follow the same suit, this will be a non-story going forward.

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