The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are cruising vs. the Philadelphia Eagles on Super Wild Card Weekend, but they will have to finish out the contest without their Pro Bowl right tackle. In the first quarter, Tristan Wirfs injured his ankle and needed help to limp off the field. He was officially listed as questionable to return.
Wirfs spent some time in the locker room, but did return to the field with a bit of a limp. He ended up re-entering the game, but did not look like himself. Ryan Kerrigan even bullied him into a sack before he exited the game a second time. At halftime, the Buccaneers officially ruled Wirfs out for the remainder of the game.
Josh Wells is the backup tackle, and he gave up a sack to Kerrigan as well. Erin Andrews of Fox said that Bucs head coach Bruce Arians relayed to her that Wells is dealing with an injury of his own. Wirfs, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, earned his first Pro Bowl bid this season, and had never missed an offensive snap in his two seasons up until Sunday.
While the Buccaneers will likely be moving on to the divisional round, it remains to be seen the extent of Wirfs' injury, and if he will be able to go next week as the Buccaneers continue to chase their goal of repeating as Super Bowl champions. The Bucs are already dealing with the season-ending injury to Chris Godwin and the bizarre parting of ways with Antonio Brown, while receiver Cyril Grayson was ruled out for the Eagles playoff game, and cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting was inactive due to injury. Running backs Ronald Jones II and Leonard Fournette also missed the game while dealing with injuries.
