The Bucs didn’t activate newly signed outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul for the Thursday Night Football game against the Falcons, but he is expected to be in play the next week when the team travels to Carolina to play the 7-6 Panthers.

“Possibly,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said on Friday when asked about Pierre-Paul’s availability for the Panther game, following Tampa Bay’s 29-28 loss to Atlanta on Thursday Night Football. “We’ll look at him next week and see what the practice looks like and get a better look at him and kind of gauge it from there.”

The 36-year old Pierre-Paul, who suited up for Tampa Bay from 2018-21 and helped the team win Super Bowl LV, was signed to the practice squad on Monday and attended the walk-through practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. But it was too soon for him to be elevated with the short week.

With the 7-7 Bucs desperate to beat the 7-6 Panthers in Charlotte next Sunday in an attempt to retain a fifth straight NFC South title, the team could use Pierre-Paul to help pressure Bryce Young.

“We’ll see what he can do the next couple of weeks,” Bucs outside linebackers coach Larry Foote said on Tuesday. “This is a short week, [we’ll] see if he [has] something in the tank. We worked him out and he looked good; I worked him out personally and he can still move and bend and he [has] that God-given freaky ability, and we’ll see what he can do next week.”

Bucs OLB Jason Pierre-Paul and OLBs Larry Foote – Photo by: Kat Buetel/PR

The addition of Pierre-Paul seems like a desperate move for a team that has not gotten much sack production from the outside linebacker position outside of Yaya Diaby, who leads the team with six. But why not add a player with 94.5 career sacks, including 33 with four years with the Bucs?

If anything, Pierre-Paul can bring some swagger and some juice to a Bucs team that has looked lifeless at times since the bye week as the team has gone just 1-5 since an early 6-2 start.

“We’re not looking specifically – I don’t want to speak for Jason Licht and [Todd] Bowles, but it wasn’t just for the outside linebackers,” Foote said. “[He’s] a guy that can bring some of the intangibles that we cannot bring as coaches that I think he can help. I’m not speaking for [those] guys, that’s the way I’m looking at it. His energy and his juice…

“He’s a [University of] South Florida, Miami boy, he loves football. He’s just a dog, old-school like you mentioned earlier and hopefully the young guys can benefit just seeing the way he goes about his business. He has already been helping this morning in meeting rooms just giving little tips on how to attack offensive tackles.”

Diaby acknowledged that Pierre-Paul was already helping out the outside linebacker room during Tuesday’s meeting and he’s excited for JPP to join the squad.

Bucs OLB Jason Pierre-Paul and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes – Photo by: USA Today

“It feels good, man,” Diaby said. “Growing up, I watched him a lot. We have the same kind of body type and I looked up to him and studied his game. Just having played here before and what he did, now having him back is great.

“Just watching him [on Tuesday] in our meeting room he was pointing out different things on film. He was telling us how offensive linemen were going to set and when they were going to pull just by looking at little things he sees. He’s already trying to help us anyway he can.”

Foote, who coached Pierre-Paul when he ran that room from 2019-21, played a role in getting JPP back in red and pewter.

“I’m excited [about] him being back, my all-time favorite [player],” Foote said. “I think we’re looking for some juice, looking for some energy, wasn’t necessarily [about] what my guys were doing. Those guys are trending, they’re playing well. He’s been on the internet looking good, working out and he’s been making a couple phone calls, so we gave him a workout the other day and he looked good.”

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs Is Excited To Play With Jason Pierre-Paul Again

It isn’t just the Bucs defensive players who are thrilled to have Jason Pierre-Paul back in the building for an important final month of the season. Some of the offensive players that JPP won a Super Bowl with like wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. and left tackle Tristan Wirfs are also excited to have him back in Tampa Bay.

“I remember him whipping my ass in training camp when I first got here – him and Shaq Barrett,” Wirfs said. “That was horrifying. But I have a lot of memories of seeing JPP and growing up watching him and then it was pretty outrageous getting to be his teammate. But I remember how scared of him I was during training camp.

“He has an old school edge about him. He played in the early to mid-2000s. I don’t know if it was a different mentality they played with back then or what. I remember playing JPP with the Ravens the year after he left here. I was a little nervous because I liked it better when he was on our team because practice doesn’t count – it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter going against your own guy. It seemed like he could just do whatever he wanted to me in practice. I just couldn’t block the guy.”

Bucs OLBs Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

After recording just one sack in a stunning loss to the Falcons on Thursday Night Football, the Bucs could use all the help they can get to get after quarterbacks down the stretch.

“I think everyone is pumped that he’s here,” Wirfs said. “If nothing else, it will give a boost to everybody knowing he’s here and what he brings to the building with his experience. He’s a juice guy. It’s awesome and I think we’re all excited.”