The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to get rocked by both COVID and injuries, having lost many key players over the past few weeks. Well, you can add another critical member of the squad to that list. Per Ian Rapoport, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is among the latest individuals to be placed on the COVID-19 list, having tested positive on Tuesday. The Buccaneers' boss issued a statement on his positive test, as well as who will be replacing him on the sidelines on Sunday.
Harold Goodwin will take over as acting coach. A quote from BA on testing positive https://t.co/ZjfxL3RY7f pic.twitter.com/DWyDEnxfFH
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 28, 2021
As Arians denotes in his statement, he's only experiencing mild symptoms and he looks forward to rejoining the team “as soon as he can test back in.”
With Arians likely out of commission for the Buccaneers' Week 17 matchup against the New York Jets, Buccaneers' assistant head coach and run-game coordinator Harold Goodwin will be taking over head coaching duties. Arians seems confident in Goodwin's ability to pull out a win against the Jets, which should certainly ease the nerves of Bucs fans.
Article Continues BelowWe've placed CB Jamel Dean & CB Sean Murphy-Bunting on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 28, 2021
In addition to Arians' positive test, the Bucs also placed a couple of key defensive players on the COVID-19 list, losing cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting to the league's protocols. Deal typically serves in a backup capacity, however Murphy-Bunting is a key starter on the defense. With him on the sideline, it's anticipated Carlton Davis or Ross Cockrell will see an increase in snap count.
With the playoffs already in their grasp, the Bucs won't need to worry too much about the Week 17 matchup, though they'll certainly be vying for a win in order to improve their seeding for the postseason.