The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without star safety Antoine Winfield Jr. for "a couple of weeks" due to a knee sprain, head coach Todd Bowles told reporters Monday. The All-Pro suffered the injury to his right knee during Sunday's win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Winfield went down in the second quarter and did not return to the game.
This is the latest in what has been a long list of injuries at the position for the Bucs, as they were already without safety Jordan Whitehead, who is on injured reserve with a torn pec. Meanwhile, Mike Edwards was also sidelined with a hamstring injury. In Winfield's absence, Kaevon Merriweather should see increased reps. In the win over the Raiders, Merriweather tallied seven tackles and a sack.
This injury comes on the heels of the Bucs moving into first place in the NFC South after beating Las Vegas and the Minnesota Vikings taking down the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Heading into Week 14, Tampa Bay and Atlanta were knotted with a 6-6 record on the season, but the Falcons held the head-to-head tiebreaker, which required the Bucs to jump them by at least a game.
They'll look to keep the Falcons at arm's length over the final four games of the regular season but will need to do so -- at least in the immediate -- without a key piece in Winfield. This season, the 26-year-old has totaled 60 tackles in nine games played to go with two sacks and three pass breakups.
Over the final month, the Bucs will face the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys on the road and then head back to Raymond James Stadium for a two-game homestand against the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints to wrap up the year.
