There was good news for the Bucs after Wednesday when only two Bucs were listed on the injury report. The bad news on Thursday morning was that one of those players wasn’t seen during the session of practice open to the media today.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Saints QB Derek Carr – Photo by: USA Today

Bucs starting nose tackle Vita Vea was on the injury report with a foot injury. He was limited on Wednesday, but was not warming up with the rest of the his teammates a day later. Vea is typically out there early with the group and warms up in the middle of the line of players that spreads across the entire field.

It’s still way too early to decipher Vea’s availability for Sunday against the Falcons. What would be frustrating is that the Bucs other starting defensive lineman, rookie Calijah Kancey, just returned last game so we’ve only gotten a taste of what these can do as a duo on the defensive front. Vea has relatively been healthy over the last two seasons, missing just four out of a possible 36 games.

The only other player that the Bucs mentioned on their injury report was Anthony Nelson, who is coming back from a concussion. He practiced in full on Wednesday and was participating Thursday as well.

Wide receiver Mike Evans was practicing once again, so no need to worry about his availability this weekend.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield Throwing Once Again

Baker Mayfield said his hand was “golden” when asked about how he was feeling. For the second day in a row Mayfield has his left hand wrapped up. That didn’t limit anything with what he was able to do, though. He took snaps in shotgun and under center. Mayfield also was throwing the ball during warmups without any issues doing so.

Mayfield will be looking for a bounce back game in his first matchup against the Falcons as a Buc. The offense scored just six points last week and Mayfield missed some big plays by overthrowing the ball.

With that said, after Mayfield struggled against the Eagles in Week 3, he bounced back in Week 4 by throwing for three touchdowns, so he’s more than capable of rebounding when he needs to. With first place on the line, it’d be a good time to do so.