The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to be tasked with containing Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field, and that task just got even tougher. Antoine Winfield Jr. is inactive for the Buccaneers in Sunday's pivotal NFC Championship Game versus the Green Bay Packers.

NFL Network's James Palmer has more details on the situation:

Winfield reportedly suffered the ankle injury in practice later in the week, which put his status for Sunday up in the air. Tampa Bay allowed Winfield to test out his ankle ailment in pregame warmups, but he apparently wasn't able to do enough to be on the field at kickoff.

The loss of Winfield is massive with the Buccaneers needing to slow down the aerial attack of the Packers. The rookie safety has quickly come into his own in his first year in the NFL, showing he has learned plenty from his father, who was a legendary cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings.

In his first season with the Buccaneers, Winfield accounted for 94 tackles, six pass breakups, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception while starting in all 16 games in the regular season. Also, in his first two playoff appearances, Winfield combined for 12 tackles and a forced fumble.

With Winfield set to be inactive, Tampa Bay will likely lean on Mike Edwards to take his place. Edwards has made seven starts in his first two seasons in the NFL. Besides not having Antonio Brown on the offensive side of the ball, the Buccaneers will also be shorthanded on defense with Winfield unfortunately out with an ankle injury.