The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a grueling defensive slugfest to the Green Bay Packers, 14-12, Sunday in their home opener. Tom Brady and the Buccaneers offense struggled to move the football. Much of that likely had to do with missing personnel. The Bucs were without Mike Evans, who was suspended. They were also without both Chris Godwin and Julio Jones on the outside.
After the game, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles provided an update on Jones' status.
Bowles said he expects Julio Jones to be able to play next week against the Chiefs.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 25, 2022
According to The Athletic's Greg Auman, Bowles said that he expects Jones to be able to play next week.
That would be a big boost for Brady and the Bucs offense. In the loss to the Packers Sunday, Brady was throwing passes to Scotty Miller, Cole Beasley, Russell Gage and Brashad Perriman. Both Gage and Perriman fumbled, costing the Buccaneers a couple of possessions.
Tampa Bay was also banged up on the offensive line. They were without three of their starters on the line, and even their backup left tackle was ruled out prior to the game. That made things difficult to establish a run game as well. Leonard Fournette finished with just 35 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Credit to the Packers on taking away what the Buccaneers wanted to do offensively.
Despite all of that, Brady led the Bucs on a 91-yard touchdown drive with just seconds remaining. However, they took an ill-timed delay of game penalty on the two-point conversion. That backed them up to the seven yard line where Brady fired an incomplete pass from.
The Buccaneers will look to get back on track against the Kansas City Chiefs next week. Julio Jones presence would likely be a welcomed sight.
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