Buccaneers place 2 key offensive starters on PUP list

Training camp is officially underway for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it will open up without two key players on offense.

As veterans report to camp, the Buccaneers will be without two of their most important players on the offensive side of the ball due to injury. The Bucs have announced they have placed wide receiver Chris Godwin and left tackle Tristan Wirfs on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to start camp.

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In the case of Chris Godwin, this news was expected and has been for some time. The seven-year veteran has been sidelined since suffering a dislocated ankle against the Baltimore Ravens in October. Although not a surprise now, Wirfs' inclusion is something Bucs fans have been fearing since news of additional surgery on his right knee was reported in early July.

What was supposed to be a non-invasive knee scope resulted in the finding of more damage than believed, which required surgery. The injury originally occurred in the Bucs' Week 10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, when Wirfs left the game with a torn MCL. Wirfs missed an additional game with the help of a bye week in between, but was back in action with a heavy knee brace on. He sat out of all spring camps as a precaution when the injury flared back up early in the offseason.

There is a silver lining, however. Players placed on the PUP list at the beginning of camp are able to come off at any time. Wirfs is projected to stay on the list throughout the end of camp, resulting in him missing at least the first four games of the season. The same is not the case for Godwin, though. The Bucs have said they remain hopeful the veteran wide receiver will be ready for Week 1, which in turn would mean he would need to come off the list a few weeks before to get into football shape.

The Bucs have been met with their first adversity of the season. How they handle the potential loss of Wirfs early on will be crucial to getting off to a good start. The team has all of training camp to get Charlie Heck ready and come up with a game plan that works, and having Godwin part of that could be enough to help get them by.

Quarterback Michael Pratt, guard Sua Opeta and tackle Silas Dzansi were also added to the PUP list.

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