The Bucs have opened up the 21-day practice window for safety Jordan Whitehead to come off of injured reserve. This means Whitehead has up to three weeks to participate in practice and can be activated to 53-man roster at any instance. The Bucs only have two games remaining, this would roll over into the postseason if Tampa Bay were to make it.

Bucs SS Jordan Whitehead and Giants QB Tommy DeVito – Photo by: USA Today

Whitehead injured his pec in the Bucs’ 30-7 win over the Giants coming out of the bye in Week 12. He had tackled Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito at the goal line and immediately grabbed his body where he was injured and ran off to the side.

Whitehead was playing through a couple of injuries already this season, and that was the one that put him on injured reserve.

Bucs Have Been Banged Up At Safety

Tampa Bay was able to go 3-1 in his absence but lost a crucial game to the Cowboys on Sunday night football that no longer allows them to control their own destiny.

On top of that, Antoine Winfield Jr. was injured in the Week 14 win over the Raiders and it looks like he’ll miss this next game if not the season finale, too. Tampa Bay was also without Mike Edwards for a bit. He was injured the week after Whitehead when the Bucs defeated the Panthers in overtime. He was out for the games against the Raiders and Chargers but came back last week.

Bucs safeties Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

This has put the Bucs into scramble mode to find personnel just to play the position. They had Kaevon Merriweather in at one point and even brought back Ryan Neal for a game. Tampa Bay has a solid backup in Christian Izien and have gotten great play in the slot from rookie Tykee Smith. And just when the Bucs seemed like they were getting healthy at the position, Izien was placed on injured reserve, so they’re down another player. It very much still felt like the team has to duct tape this unit together.

Through 11 games this season, Whitehead has recorded 76 tackles with two for a loss,  three passes defensed and one quarterback hit. He provides a veteran stability back there and a physical presence to a defense that could use it. 

Asked about whether he’ll be available for Sunday’s game against the Panthers, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles left it open.

“Physically, there are some things he’s done well,” Bowles said. “I won’t know really until Thursday where he progresses to. [They were] just walking through the day after the game, so I’ll see him move around a little more on Thursday.”