TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs knew the pain in his right knee this offseason was real, but doctors couldn’t pinpoint the problem as he tried to tough it out. He couldn’t even go up and down the stairs.
“It was really frustrating because like I was training like I normally train and getting MRIs and seeing it get worse,” said the four-time Pro Bowler, who was just voted the ninth best player in franchise history as part of the team’s 50th anniversary celebration.
“I was preparing [for the season]. I was like, ‘All right, we’re going to get through it.’ From what we saw, they’re like, ‘Nothing’s wrong.’ And I was like, ‘All right, we’re going to get through the season. It’s going to suck. I don’t know if it’s going to be pretty, but we’re going to do it.'”
But then they did find something, and Wirfs had arthroscopic knee surgery in July, just before the start of training camp, knowing that he’d miss the start of the season. Now, he says he’s “pain free” and has a chance to play Week 4 as the Bucs host the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox), the week’s only matchup featuring two 3-0 teams.
“It was just kind of like almost a relief knowing that I’m not crazy, that there’s something there that was causing this,” Wirfs said. “Frustrated about the timing but really glad it got fixed.”
But he acknowledged the predicament his absence put his team in. And it got even worse when the Bucs lost right tackle Luke Goedeke (foot) and right tackle Cody Mauch (knee) to injured reserve after their Week 2 game at the Houston Texans, with practice squad call-up Mike Jordan, who filled in at left guard, also injuring his knee.
Replacement left guard Elijah Klein had seen action in only two games and played all of nine snaps last year. Right guard Luke Haggard, who spent the past two years on the Bucs’ practice squad, had never taken any. Even their two lone original starters — center Graham Barton and left guard Ben Bredeson — were playing out of position.
“The boys have played great. They kind of got tossed a s— sandwich and came out swinging,” Wirfs said, adding that Barton’s feat should get talked about more, likening it to what Joe Thuney did in the playoffs last season for the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I was just telling him, I said, ‘You are an athletic freak — you are strong enough — just go be an athlete,'” Wirfs said. “[I] tried to dumb left tackle down as much as I can, but just stay in front of them. … Do not get beat fast, do not get beat inside and things are going to be OK.
“I was so proud of him. The work he put in to do that is — you guys do not understand, he has played what … at the time say 16, 17, 20 games at center. To be like, ‘Hey, you are going to play left tackle,’ on a week’s notice … that is insane, but he did it. He did it for three weeks and [allowed] one sack to Danielle Hunter.”
He’s proud of quarterback Baker Mayfield, too.
“I think that is who he is,” Wirfs said. “[He is] going to do everything he can to put the team on his back and find a way to win. Watching three [total] drives to go down and win a game — they are not easy. He is going down and doing it.”
You could argue that the Bucs’ receiving corps has been served a similar delicacy as the one Wirfs described. But help is potentially on the way, with Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. fully practicing Wednesday. Godwin, who had a league-leading 50 catches with five touchdowns through Week 7 last year, was still working his way back from a second surgery on his left ankle and did not practice in training camp.
But the injuries have mounted. In the second preseason game, Jalen McMillan, who had an NFL-leading seven touchdowns in the final five games last season, suffered a significant neck sprain that will have him out at least through the Week 9 bye.
Then against the Jets on Sunday, Mike Evans, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, suffered what sources described as a “mild to moderate” hamstring strain that will keep him out three or four weeks. It has meant that rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka, who leads the team with three touchdowns, and Sterling Shepard, whose 153 receiving yards are second most on the team, have had to carry the weight.
Mayfield, Godwin and Wirfs are all listed as questionable this week, but coach Todd Bowles said Mayfield “should be OK for Sunday.” Godwin and Wirfs were full participants in practice Friday, with Bowles saying they would be evaluated to see how their bodies responded to practicing.
“Saturday and Sunday play a big role,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to see how they react toward the end of the week. That’s why everything is on hold right now.”
Bowles said of Godwin, whose position as a big slot receiver means catching passes in traffic, “It’s just a matter of getting tangled up and those types of things — guys cutting him or tackling his legs. You can’t simulate those things, so those will be things we’re looking at.”
Getting Wirfs back would allow Barton to go back to center and Bredeson back to left guard. But if Wirfs went to the left side, that would leave the right side more vulnerable, which is something the Bucs will have to navigate. They had Charlie Heck start on the right side against the Texans. He contributed an 82.9% pass block win rate in that game. The Bucs have been using their tight ends less in the passing game to help out their tackles. Evans’ absence and a potential Godwin return can mean Cade Otton can continue providing that support.
“It is tough to say until we know if Tristan is going or not,” Mayfield said. “We have asked those tight ends to help on the edges, chipping and doing some of the dirty work, which they have done a great job of. It is tough to say until then, but we would love to get Cade more involved just because of how reliable he is — always in the right spot at the right time.”
Wirfs can also impact the run game. This season, the Bucs have averaged 3.3 yards per carry when rushing to the left. Last year, it was 5.3 yards per carry. And even with Goedeke’s emergence, the Bucs still heavily favored rushing to that side last season.
“[There is] nobody better to do it against,” Wirfs said. “If I am out there, my teammates are counting on me. Rust is going to be rust, that is going to fall off when it falls off. My teammates are counting on me to do my job, so I am going to do everything I can to get that done.”
Godwin’s presence also means Egbuka won’t have to be the sole occupant of the opposing defense’s attention. For example, his game-winning touchdown in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons came with Evans drawing All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III’s attention in the middle of the field while Egbuka got single coverage on the outside.
“I think [Egbuka] started worrying about that after the first game,” Bowles said, “but we can’t tell how people are going to play us.”
Mayfield added that Evans “completely changes how teams play us.”
“He draws a lot of attention, so in the midst of a game, [I] did not see them adjust and adapt that much when it came to Emeka, but we will see. Everybody [has] to step up. One person is not going to fill Mike’s shoes, so everybody has to step up and do their role at a very high level and execute against a good ballclub.”
Godwin and Egbuka can line up anywhere, and the slot has been occupied the most by Shepard — which is where Godwin has seen his greatest production since 2019 and where Egbuka spent a good chunk of the summer. In fact, all three of Egbuka’s catches in the slot this year have gone for touchdowns. But Egbuka has spent the majority of his time lining up outside opposite Evans because of the loss of McMillan.
“You know when he is in there, good things are going to happen,” Mayfield said of Godwin. “He just gets everybody on the same page, whether he is really communicating it or not, he is going to correct someone if they mess up. He is always great to have in there — we will see — hopefully he can, that is what we are hoping for, but yeah, it would be great to have him out there.”