Buccaneers Receive Good News on Wide Receiver Before Jets Game
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gone through hot and cold periods since the turn of the century, but they're currently in a hot one. After winning the 2002 Super Bowl, they didn't win another playoff game until 2020, when 42-year-old Tom Brady led them to another title.
The Buccaneers then made the playoffs two more times with the future Hall of Famer before he retired. After that, they experienced another stroke of luck with Baker Mayfield.
Tampa Bay signed the former No. 1 overall pick to a one-year, $4 million deal in March 2023, hoping he'd rebound after a couple of disappointing seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, and Los Angeles Rams. He responded by tossing 4,044 yards on a 64.3 completion percentage with 28 touchdowns and 10 picks before guiding the team to the NFC Divisional round.
The Buccaneers then signed Mayfield to a three-year, $100 million extension before drafting Oregon running back Bucky Irving in the fourth round. Both players had standout seasons last year, with the signal-caller notching a career-high 4,500 yards on a 71.4 completion percentage with 41 touchdowns and 16 picks, while the tailback had 1,514 scrimmage yards and eight scores.
Tampa Bay lost in the Wild Card round, but it's now in the best position it's been in since 2020. In addition to Mayfield, Irving, and its star wide receiver duo of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, it also has dynamic rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka.
The Buccaneers drafted the latter player No. 19 overall after he notched 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns for Ohio State in a championship-winning season. Additionally, he already has three scores through his first two NFL games.
Egbuka is listed on the injury report with a hip/groin injury, but Tampa Bay received good news about his health on Friday, via The Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud.
Egbuka returned to practice on Friday after sitting out on Thursday, which is a positive sign about his status for Sunday's bout with the New York Jets. This is especially important considering that Godwin (ankle) won't play , although he did participate in practice, via ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The Jets have little depth in their secondary outside of star cornerback Sauce Gardner, who might guard Evans for the majority of the contest. Egbuka's presence will give Mayfield another weapon to help open up the passing game in Godwin's absence.
Additionally, offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs (knee) has been ruled out for Sunday despite participating on Friday, via Schefter.
Buccaneers Have No Excuse to Lose to Jets
Not only will Tampa Bay likely have most of its weapons available on Sunday, but it will also face a New York defense that has allowed the third-most points per game thus far (32). The Buccaneers will also be at home against backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, as Jets' starter Justin Fields (concussion) is out. On paper, there is no reason they shouldn't win the game and start the season 3-0.
Eagles clearly already regret disappointing non-active offseason signing
It's rare to see Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman miss a mark on signing a player, but there are those times where he doesn't quite get it right.
This offseason, he signed 12 free agents to one-year contracts to mostly fill in as role players on the team. There have been some great choices of players they signed, with Josh Uche already hitting the ground running in two games. Some, though, have been whiffs.
All Eagles fans would probably turn to Adoree' Jackson as one of the first choices, but he's a starter. While it hasn't been great, he is showing improvement, and the Eagles are still ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in pass defense.
No, there's one other player who has literally done nothing since joining the team.
The disappearing act of Azeez Ojulari has been a Philly-sized mystery
When the Eagles signed Ojulari in the offseason, he was seen as someone who could be a perfect backup pass rusher. Injuries cut into his time with the New York Giants, but when he was on the field, his speed off the edge was undeniable.
37 quarterback hits and 22 sacks in 46 career games were supposed to be what the Eagles were getting from Ojulari. It turned out to be a guy who hasn't even seen the field in the regular season.
Dating back to training camp, there was zero buzz around Ojulari. There were a lot of concerns with the backup edge rushers on the Eagles with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio at one time mentioning that he wanted to see someone other than Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith Jr. step up off the edge.
Ojulari never did that. In fact, he was a candidate to get cut at the end of camp. It was Uche who answered the call, and that helped him get significant playing time in two regular season games.
What did that get Ojulari? Two consecutive games of him being inactive. While Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni chalks it up as needing to find the right matchup for him to be active for, it feels like fluff.
The Eagles are holding on to Ojulari for depth purposes, but don't expect him to be on the team in 2026. He might not even make it through the regular season.
