Buccaneers Place Cornerback on Injured Reserve
First it was Sean Murphy-Bunting. Now, it's Carlton Davis III heading to injured reserve.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced Thursday that Davis has been placed on IR. Davis will miss the next three weeks, at minimum, but he will not count against the 53-man roster.
Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the injury is expected to keep Davis out for 4-6 weeks.
Davis has been battling a hamstring over the last couple of weeks, but it's a quad injury that will cause him to miss the extended period of time. The injury occurred on a punt return during the Buccaneers' Week 4 matchup with the New England Patriots. Davis injured his quad as he tracked down the Patriots' return man during the play.
“It’s a quad injury – pulled muscle," Bruce Arians told reporters on Wednesday
Arians also alluded to Davis missing a good chunk of time when he spoke with reporters on Wednesday.
“The two that are Sean [Murphy-Bunting] and Carlton [Davis III], I don’t see either one of them coming back anytime soon," said Arians. "I’m fine with the other guys we have.”
It's another big blow to the Bucs secondary, even if it was semi-expected that Davis would miss a decent amount of time. Good cornerbacks are hard to find in the NFL and Davis is most certainly the Bucs' best corner.
As it stands, Richard Sherman is the favorite to take over the No. 1 corner position for the Bucs. Ross Cockrell and Mike Edwards will mix in at nickel while Pierre Desir and maybe even Rashard Robinson/Dee Delaney mix in at the other outside cornerback position until Jamel Dean returns from his knee injury.
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