As the Bucs go into their final preseason game of 2017, here were five things we learned from the open locker room period on Monday, August 28.

Adjei-Barimah Back With Bucs

Cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah, who was put on waivers following a knee injury he suffered during training camp, has cleared waivers and is back with the Bucs. He told PewterReport.com that he has been placed on injured reserve, but isn’t sure whether or not they will designate him to return or if he will just be on IR for the year. That will be determined after cuts.

Adjei-Barimah suffered a patella injury last fall against Kansas City, but elected not to have surgery and instead elected to heal up during his four-game PED suspension last year. He thought the injury had fully healed, but broke his patella again during training camp in a non-contact drill. Adjei-Barimah had surgery and is expected to recover in 12 weeks.

Humphries Gives Advice To Young WRs

Wide receiver Adam Humphires, who made the Buccaneers as an undrafted fringe player in 2015, offered up some advice to the young receivers as they try to make their last impact in the fourth preseason game. In 2015, Humphries had four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins in the team’s final preseason game, which propelled him to make the final cuts – and he hasn’t looked back.

“That was probably the biggest game of my career, obviously,” Humphries said. “I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember every catch I had in that game. It was going down to the wire between me and another guy (Ranell Hall) to make the team. Obviously, we both played well that game, but I had the chance to make some big plays and I ended up making the team that year. Obviously, that fourth game is huge. A lot of guys are excited to go out there and put some good film on tape.”

The candidates for the Bucs’ fifth wide receiver role behind Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, Humphries and Chris Godwin, the team’s third-round draft pick, are Bernard Reedy (six catches for 65 yards), Josh Huff (two receptions for 13 yards, one run for 10 yards), Freddie Martino (two catches for 27 yards) and Donteea Dye, who missed the first two preseasons games due to a foot injury.

“It was very frustrating missing the last two games due to injury,” said Dye, who had two catches for 18 yards against the Browns and nearly had a touchdown catch. “It really hurt my heart more than it hurt anything else, just watching my teammates go out there and compete. It’s always good cheering them on, but it’s better being out there with them. It felt great Saturday night stepping out there on the field with them for the first time in months. It felt real good.”

Dye, who was a part of the rookie class in 2015, remembers Humphries’ game against Miami.

“He scored a touchdown in that fourth preseason game,” Dye said. “I don’t look at it like it comes down to one game because you have to have a strong camp. You can’t control everything that happens in a game. You can run all the right routes but you may not get the ball thrown your way. A lot of times it’s how you block and the effort plays. I’m a hustle guy, so I go by that. You can’t just think, ‘If I score a touchdown I’m going to make the team.’ But Adam had a great camp during his rookie year, and that combined with his touchdown helped him. You can’t slack just because you had a good game. You have to bring it every day and that’s what Adam did. That’s why he made the team.”

Humphries also addressed his recent injury which took him out of Saturday’s game.

“The hip is good,” Humphries said. “It’s a little sore right now, but it’s kind of a good week to put everything back together and start preparing for September 10. I think I’ll be fine.”

Bullough To Make The Most Of Final Game

Hard Knocks feature player Riley Bullough knows that this Thursday is all he has left, but he also know it will be the most playing time he’s had. Bullough has been on the third team for every preseason game thus far, but he should see at least a full half of game play during his final audition.

Evans On Hurricane Harvey In His Hometown

Evans, a Galveston, Texas native, is having to watch his hometown go through a devastating hurricane from afar. On Monday, he spoke about how tragic it is for that area, and gave his own account when he went through a similar situation with hurricane Ike in 2008.

Later in the interview, Evans also said that him being held out of last Saturday’s game was just precautionary. He said he’s “100 precent.”

Bucs Sign And Release

The Bucs announced that just six days before final cuts, they have signed defensive ends Mehdi Abdesmad and Hendrick Ekpe.

Abdesmad was with the Tennessee Titans in 2016 and spent the first 14 weeks on the practice squad before being promoted to the active roster for the final three games. Ekpe has spent the preseason with the Chicago Bears.

To make room, the team placed Justin Trattou on IR and placed Blake Sims on waivers.