Todd Bowles Provides Injury Update on Buccaneers' Starting Wide Receiver

The second year Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver is opening this year the way he ended the last.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Russell Gage appeared in just 13 games in his first season with the team after coming over from the Atlanta Falcons where he appeared in no fewer than 14 in his first four seasons.

Getting set to start his second season with the Buccaneers, Gage is starting this season the way he ended the last.

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Injured, and unavailable to help the Bucs offense reach lofty goals with so many doubting it will avoid a post-Tom Brady meltdown.

"It's a lower extremity injury - it's a leg injury," coach Todd Bowles said on Wednesday following the team's first practice of training camp this year. "He'll be fine. We're counting on him. He'll be back and he's working to get back."

Working to get back is something Gage did plenty of in 2022.

In his first year with the Bucs the receiver played just 26 snaps in the team's Week 1 win but appeared on no fewer than 41 in the next six. 

After that, however, Gage missed four games in a string of six games where he failed to record more than 26 snaps on offense. 

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When he was on the field he had a clear impact on the offense and had the best catch percentage of his career in his first season with Tampa Bay. 

With the Buccaneers installing a new offense and new starting quarterback behind offensive coordinator Dave Canales and either Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask, it's easy to see why the team is counting on Gage this season.

But according to Gage's injury history, this is the eighth lower-body injury of his career, and while coach Bowles says might be confident in his return it's becoming a growing concern for onlookers even as we reside in the early days of training camp.

Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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