Buccaneers at Saints: Lavonte David a Full-Go at Friday's Practice
The Buccaneers' Week 8 injury report is one of the league's lengthier reports, but it looks like it could shorten up considerably by the time Sunday's game against the Saints kicks off.
Antonio Brown has already been ruled out, but the biggest development is seeing linebacker Lavonte David listed as a full participant during Friday's practice session. His overall status is still questionable and there's still a chance he won't play on Sunday (even if it's small), but getting in a full practice session is an excellent step in the right direction. If he doesn't play this week, then I'd bet my mortgage he returns after the bye week.
Four other players were listed as questionable: cornerback Dee Delaney, tight end Rob Gronkowski, EDGE Jason Pierre-Paul, and cornerback Richard Sherman. JPP played last week and recorded 2.0 sacks despite not practicing all week long, so he's probably going to play this week. There were reports earlier in the week that Gronk is expected to give it a go. Sherman is still a question mark, but he was able to get in limited sessions all week, which is a good sign. Out of these four, Delaney seems to have the smallest chance of playing due to his unavailability all week long. There's still a chance he plays, but it's not good.
Everyone else is good to go unless some kind of odd setback occurs.
As for the Saints, they will be without quarterback Taysom Hill, starting left guard Andrus Peat, EDGE Payton Turner, and running back Dwayne Washington. Wide receiver Deonte Harris is listed as questionable after getting in consecutive limited sessions this week. He injured his hamstring during the Saints' Week 5 contest with the Football Team and hasn't played since.
It will be interesting to see how the Saints shuffle their line without Peat, but shuffling the offensive line is something they've done all year long, so this is nothing new. Turner's absence takes away from depth along the defensive line, however, EDGE Marcus Davenport made his first appearance since the Week 1 win against the Packers and defensive lineman David Onyemata makes his 2021 debut this week, so the Saints aren't in as dire a position as they once were. And of course, the team traded for running back Mark Ingram earlier in the week to help offset Washington's absence.
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