The Bucs have their focus set on beating the New Orleans Saints and earning their first NFC South division championship since 2007. But shortly after the game, they’ll also need to address the suspensions of wide receiver Antonio Brown and safety Mike Edwards.

Both players will be serving the last of their three-game suspensions on Sunday for providing fake vaccination cards to play under the same protocols as vaccinated players in the NFL. Bruce Arians was fairly non-committal that either player would jump right back into the lineup when they return. In fact, Arians wouldn’t commit to either player remaining with the team when asked about it a couple weeks ago.

On Monday, Arians made it clear he hadn’t yet reached a decision.

“I haven’t made that determination yet,” Arians said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Bucs FS Mike Edwards – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The suspensions came at a bad time for the Bucs, especially Edwards’. Jordan Whitehead has missed the last two games with a calf injury, and Edwards would have been his replacement. Andrew Adams has been solid in replacement, but the Bucs were so depleted at the position that they had to cross-train veteran Richard Sherman at safety last week. Sherman recorded an interception while playing 20 defensive snaps in the Bucs’ 33-27 win over the Bills.

Though Edwards is a young player with a clean track record, the situation with Brown is more complicated. When Brown signed with the Bucs last season, Arians stated that there would be a zero tolerance policy if Brown stepped out of line again.

There’s no question that Brown makes the offense better when he’s available. But Brown hasn’t played since Week 6 because of an ankle injury. Breshad Perriman and Tyler Johnson have stepped into the third wide receiver role in Brown’s absence, making a minimal impact until Perriman’s game-winning 58-yard touchdown reception in overtime.

Outside of that thrilling overtime play, the two receivers had combined for 14 catches, 161 yards and no touchdowns from Week 7 on. Brown alone has 29 receptions, 418 yards and four touchdowns in just five games. With that said, Arians feels good about the players filling in for Brown.

“The more you make plays, the more you get to play,” Arians said. “I think Tyler got a bunch of his snaps back this week, because he’s been playing good also. We’ll see how the game plays out with those guys. I’m comfortable with either one in there.”

Tampa Bay will have a decision to make on whether or not Brown and Edwards will play at Carolina – even if Brown is healthy.

“We’ll talk as an organization,” Arians said. “It’s coming up soon. When we know, we’ll let everybody know.”