Bucs cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting’s exact timetable to return remains unknown, but it does not appear to be season-ending. After Friday’s practice Arians said surgery is off the table for the young corner.

“Right now [I] do not think he needs surgery,” Arians said. “And it’s going to be anybody’s guess as far as how long, but there’s not going to be surgery involved. We hope we can get him back some time.”

After initially predicting a 4-week to season-long prognosis for Murphy-Bunting’s injury, the team sought a second opinion. Arians most recently said on his weekly radio show that Murphy-Bunting could be out 3-6 weeks.

The Bucs have started preparations for extended time without their starting corner. Safety Mike Edwards has been practicing at nickel, and the team also added corner Pierre Desir to the practice squad. The team also has Herb Miller on the practice squad, whom they used a protection spot on this week. Ross Cockrell will take over Murphy-Bunting’s snaps in Week 2, and probably beyond.

Safety Jordan Whitehead said that Murphy-Bunting has still been in the meeting room and out at practice helping his teammates.

“Sean is still out there,” Whitehead said. “He’s still talking to us and getting us ready for practice and everything. He’s still in the meeting room, so Sean’s presence is there. That’s the good thing from Sean – he’s going to be around. He always has the same personality and brings that energy to us. We’ll be ready. Everybody knows, like I said before, there is only one Sean. But we’ve got a lot of great players on this team and they will do anything they’re asked to do.”