One of the biggest stories prior to Sunday's slate of NFL games was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' decision to make Devin White a healthy scratch for the Buccaneers' game against the Packers.
White missed the Buccaneers' last two games with a knee injury, but several outlets, including the Tampa Bay Times, have reported that White being inactive for Sunday's game had nothing to do with injuries. Speaking to reporters following Week 15, White pushed back on the idea that his benching was due to anything beyond health.
"I've just been seeing a lot of stuff saying like, that I quit on my team," White said, via ESPN. "I don't understand how I could do that when it was a personal -- like for me and coach [Todd] Bowles -- decision to sit down and rest to be able to help my team. And even when I haven't been playing, I've been in the building. I've been out there just supporting them. ... I'll never quit on my team."
Head coach Todd Bowles noted that White was medically cleared to play but indicated to the team that he didn't feel right, which is what led to him listing the veteran inactive on Sunday. White added that he didn't have much of a reaction to ultimately being ruled out.
"My mindset is like, 'Man, I got to be out there. I make the team go. I make the defense go,'" White said. "But if you can't be yourself, then you can't really go out there and help your team -- more so hurting them.' And that's something that me and Coach Bowles had like a father-to-son talk, because that's how I look at him. He's like, 'D, I got to get you back healthy. I got to help you get healthy so you can help the team.'"
This has been a trying season for White, who wanted but was not given a contract extension this past offseason. White initially asked for a trade before ultimately deciding to play under the $11.7 million club option. He had 69 tackles, an interception and two sacks through 11 games before suffering his knee injury.
The fifth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, White has started in each of his 73 career regular season games. He has six additional starts in the preseason that includes the Buccaneers' upset win over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. White was named to the Pro Bowl in 2021 after recording 128 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
With White out, three-year veteran K.J. Wright will continue to start in his place. Wright has 18 tackles this season after having a season-high eight stops during last Sunday's win over the Falcons.
