Although NFL teams aren’t mandated to provide official injury reports until next week, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles gave an injury update on Rueben Bain Jr. and wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan after Tuesday’s practice.

All three players are considered starters – and the hope is that all three play in the 2026 season opener at Cincinnati.

Bain returned to practice on Tuesday, but Egbuka and McMillan didn’t.

Bucs Address The Week 1 Status Of Rueben Bain Jr., Emeka Egbuka And Jalen McMillan

During Tuesday’s press conference Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles addressed the current injury status of all three starters leading up to the Week 1 game at Cincinnati.

Wide receiver Jalen McMillan has been dealing with a knee injury that has been lingering throughout much of camp that initially caused him to miss practice time. Then before the joint practices at Jacksonville, McMillan returned to practice in a limited basis then wasn’t participating at all in the joint practices with the Jaguars.

As for Emeka Egbuka, he hasn’t practiced since suffering a toe sprain during the first joint practice with the Jets nearly a month ago. He has not returned to practice since.

Neither McMillan nor Egbuka practiced on Tuesday, and while the team remains hopeful that either or both receivers can suit up against the Bengals on September 13, that remains to be seen on the practice field.

“I’ll feel better when I see next week,” Bowles said. “Right now, they’re day by day, week by week. We’ll see how they come along next week.”

If neither receiver can go at Cincinnati, Tampa Bay would start Chris Godwin Jr., rookie Ted Hurst III and second-year receiver Tez Johnson with Kam Johnson as a reserve. If McMillan and Egbuka are out of action in Week 1 that would prompt the team to elevate a receiver from the practice squad – either Dean Patterson IV or Garrett Greene most likely.

As for rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr., he suffered a slight shoulder sprain of the AC joint in the first joint practice against the Jaguars last Tuesday. At the time the injury wasn’t believed to be serious and Bowles indicated just that at the time.

On Tuesday, Bowles said that Bain wasn’t necessarily ahead of schedule, referring to his participation in practice.

“I don’t think so, we were expecting him to play,” Bowles said. “He said he’s feeling good, so we’re going to roll with that. He feels good and we’re going to play with it.”

Bucs OLBs David Walker, Rueben Bain Jr. and Yaya Diaby – Photo by: Scott Reynolds/PR

Buccaneers inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis, cornerback Benjamin Morrison, offensive tackle Ben Chukwuma and guard Billy Schrauth were all practicing on Tuesday, while offensive tackle Justin Skule, outside linebacker Anthony Nelson and inside linebacker Christian Rozeboom remained sidelined along with McMillan and Egbuka.

The Buccaneers are holding just two, short practices on the field this week – each one hour long – on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for the season opener at Cincinnati. But the team will be doing a lot of classroom work and meetings prior to breaking for the weekend and then returning to practice next week in full preparation for the Bengals.

“Well, it gives us a head start on Cincinnati,” Bowles said. “It gives us a jump start. You know, you can’t get into too much, but we’ve got to get in shape and we’ve got to go from playing eight to 10 plays to 60 to 70 plays. That’s part of it as well. So, we’ve got to get in the rhythm and they’ve got to get used to the grind of the season.”