The Bucs have seen more and more of their players go on the COVID/Reserve list even though almost 100 percent of roster is fully vaccinated. It’s a troubling situation for Bruce Arians as he could lose players for up 10 days, such as is the case with defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh.

“The virus issue is concerning because everybody has very, very mild symptoms,” Arians said on Sunday. “Things that you wouldn’t miss a day of work with in your life – but now you’re out 10 days. That’s got me concerned that it can be transmitted that easily. I may sneeze and I test positive, so that’s the biggest concern for me right now.”

Because of the uncertainty with vaccinated players still getting very mild cases of COVID-19 or the Delta variant, Arians has implemented some of the same protocols in the building that the Bucs had last season. The team will be able to do that thanks to the amount of space at their main building and the team’s indoor practice facility. 

“We’re definitely going back to last year’s meetings where we’re all spread out,” Arians said. “Because the facility is so good where we can do that.”

Other teams such, as the Titans, are requiring players to wear masks when they’re in the facility. But Arians isn’t ready to implement a rule like that quite yet.

“It’s something we’ll talk about as a team,” Arians said. “That’s the biggest thing as far as masks – until I’m ready to wear one, I won’t require anybody else to wear one.”

Another obstacle that Arians will have to worry about is the mandatory four days off for NFL players following the end of the preseason.  The Bucs will be away from the facility until Thursday, and some players may travel out of town.

Arians is not worried about the players having time off, but COVID-19 and the contagious Delta variant still active in Florida and elsewhere, it’s another variable where someone could get exposed to the virus. The Bucs are lucky enough that they’ll be able to get players such as Suh and kicker Ryan Succop back before the home opener on September 9 against the Cowboys. Ultimately, he’s confident in his players to stay out of high-risk situations during their time off from practice.

“We’ll have everybody back,” Arians said. “But now these four days off, and re-testing now with the new protocols, who knows? When we reconvene as the Bucs in a few days. Our guys are very, very aware of the situation and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn’t affect our team.”

The NFL currently requires players to get tested every 14 days, but there’s discussions of moving it to every seven days if it can help decrease the number of cases. Arians doesn’t think lowering the number of days would make any difference.

“I don’t think it’ll help at all, Arians said. “I was fine with the other protocols, if your team’s 100 percent vaccinated I don’t even know why you have to test at all.”