The Bucs will once again be without two starters for Sunday’s Week 17 contest against the Panthers at Raymond James Stadium, as safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and tight end Cade Otton are among the gameday inactives for Tampa Bay.

Winfield will miss his third straight game after suffering a knee sprain in a 28-13 win over the Raiders on Dec. 8. He hasn’t practiced since, and considering the other injuries Tampa Bay has at the safety position, he has been sorely missed.

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today

As for Otton, he’ll miss his second consecutive game with a knee injury. He was missed in the Bucs’ passing game in last Sunday night’s loss at Dallas, with No. 2 tight end Payne Durham finishing with a career-high five catches on seven targets for 29 yards. Durham will have to step up into his place once again on Sunday.

While Otton is having a career year with 59 catches for 600 yards and four touchdowns, his absence not only impacts Tampa Bay’s passing game but also its run game. That’s something that Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo outlined prior to last week’s game against the Cowboys.

Here is the full list of inactives for Tampa Bay in Week 17:

Former Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Also among the Bucs’ inactives is the recently re-signed Shaq Barrett. The veteran outside linebacker recently came out of retirement and was waived by the Dolphins, and once he cleared waivers, Tampa Bay brought him back into the fold.

But Barrett only just signed with his old team on Saturday, so it was always going to be a tough ask to have him active one day later. That leaves next week’s regular season finale (and a potential playoff run) for Barrett to help bolster the Bucs’ pass rushing depth.

Barrett’s 45.0 career sacks with Tampa Bay is the fourth-most in franchise history, but he’s a full 10.0 away from passing Gerald McCoy for third-most all time.

Tampa Bay elevated two players from the practice squad this week, rewarding third quarterback Michael Pratt (who is inactive) and giving a gameday roster spot to linebacker Deion Jones, who signed with the team last week.

Panthers Are Short-Handed Against The Bucs In Week 17

On the Panthers’ side of things, they come into Sunday’s matchup without some key players on both sides of the ball. As they try to play spoiler this week against the Bucs and/or next week against the Falcons, they’ll be doing so without some key pieces.

The team placed 1,000-yard rusher Chuba Hubbard on injured reserve this week, meaning the offense will be without its top two running backs for the rest of the season with rookie Jonathon Brooks also on injured reserve.

Right tackle Taylor Moton will also missing from action on Sunday for the Panthers, which is a big loss for their offensive line.

The Carolina defense is also missing some of its top players, with second-leading tackler Josey Jewell and top cornerback Jaycee Horn among the inactives for Sunday’s game.

Here’s the full list of inactives for Carolina in Week 17: