Bucky Irving Breaks His Silence Since Being Injured
Bucs running back Bucky Irving spoke to the media for the first time since injuring his foot and shoulder against the Eagles back in Week 4. The team did not put Irving on injured reserve even though he missed more than four games due to the injuries in part because Irving had difficulty dealing with being injured for the first time in his career.
Being away from the team was stressful during his rehab and it took a toll on Irving, who doesn’t have much of a support system outside of his Bucs teammates and members of the organization, which rallied around him.
“It’s tough, man, [especially] your first time being hurt,” Irving said. “When I step out onto that field – like I always say – I don’t take this game for granted. I love what I do every day. I love my teammates. When I go out there, I show them that each and every time I get the ball, I’m trying to make plays and make things happen for this organization and this team to help them in any type of fashion to win football games.
“When God takes something away from you, He’s telling you to get closer to Him and lean on Him. Being down and having something taken away from you… everything was alright because I had the right people around me.”
Living in the training room and missing the camaraderie of being with teammates in the meeting room, in the locker room and on the practice field can be a lonely existence and some players deal with that better than others.
“[It’s] tough,” Irving said. “It’s always tough not being able to be out there and go to war with your guys, but being able to go through that, learn from that and being able to move on – I’m happy to be back with my guys.”
Bucs right tackle Luke Goedeke said that when he was confined to the training room rehabbing a foot injury that cost him five games it was awful.
“Anytime you miss time it [expletive] blows,” Goedeke said. “It’s very annoying. There’s a saying that when you see guys crying because they get injured, it’s not the pain. It’s because of how much time they know they’re going to miss.”
Irving struggled more than most, but the Bucs organization rallied behind him during his grateful, to which he’s grateful.
“This whole organization – I can’t name everybody from this person to this person, but the people who were with me every step of the way know who they are,” Irving said. “I want to give big praise and a shout out to them for helping me throughout this process. They’ve been around and they’ve seen it before, so just being able to trust them, trust their plan and help me get back and be around my teammates. I love being around my teammates.”
Irving ran for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, but didn’t have the same kind of success at the start of the 2025 season. He ran for just 237 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry with no touchdowns through the first four games, but he excelled as a receiver, catching 19 passes for 193 yards (10.0 avg.) and two touchdowns, including a 72-yarder against Philadelphia.
Bucs Plan To Have Bucky Irving On A Pitch Count
Bucky Irving said his shoulder feels great and his foot injury is also behind him. He’s been a participant in practice for the second straight week and is expected to return to action this Sunday at home against the 3-8 Arizona Cardinals.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles suggested that Irving will be on a pitch count similar to what wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. was on in his return to action last week against the Rams.
“His will be similar – he’ll probably be on a pitch count,” Bowles said. “We’ll kind of see how he goes, which [running] back does what, and then the timing will be dependent on that.”
Offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard concurred with Bowles.
“I think it’s a lot like we did with Chris, where you can’t expect a guy who hasn’t played in numerous weeks to go out there and get a normal lion’s share of the carries,” Grizzard said. “For Chris, I think Chris played 25, 26 snaps, so, to be able to bring them along, allow them to get their confidence back up, allow them to build their play strength back up.
“Then, as well as the scheme, where you’re not overloading them with too many, ‘This kind of run, that kind of pass,’ things like that…Trying to find that balance between using them and knowing they’re going to help us – but just thinking they’re going to go play 60 snaps off the rip, I think, would be a disservice to those guys.”
Grizzard alluded to the fact that Irving’s recovery from his injury was just as much mental as it was physical.
“I think it is for anybody, especially when you’re away from it and you do get banged up,” Grizzard said. “But I think that’s the ultimate [benefit] of the team [with] the amount of resources we have here and the things we do – whether it’s Bucky or anybody else – on being able to help those guys as much as possible and rehab it and get them back to where they need to be. Ultimately, they want to go out there and compete and have fun and help the team. So, it’s good to see him in a good spot.”
Steelers GM Omar Khan Sparks Backlash: Executives ‘Disappointed’ After Controversial Move
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a lot of roster turnover during the 2025 offseason, and a lot of that came on the offensive side of the ball. The entire quarterback room changed, and there was a major shift at wide receiver as George Pickens was traded to the Dallas Cowboys after Pittsburgh had acquired DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks. The move was frowned upon at the time as many fans wanted to see what the offense could look like with both Pickens and Metcalf, but the fan base never got the chance to see that as Pickens was dealt in May.
Pickens had an up and down time in Pittsburgh. He was causing issues behind the scenes as he was late to meetings, practices, even games, and it was clearly time for a change of scenery for the wide receiver. The potential issues he was causing and concerns for his level of maturity hurt his trade value, as did the fact that he was coming up on the final year of his rookie deal. Regardless, Jerry Jones and Dallas decided to trade for him, as the Cowboys sent Pittsburgh a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick in exchange for Pickens and a sixth-round pick.
The trade has worked out well for Dallas as Pickens is having the best season of his career. NFL insider Dianna Russini wrote about the trade in a recent article for
"After striking out on landing a top-tier receiver in this year’s draft, Jones made a move that, at the time, raised eyebrows," Russini wrote. "By early May, Dallas finalized a deal with Pittsburgh, with the Steelers sending a 2027 sixth-round pick along with Pickens to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 third and a 2027 fifth. Rival executives are still shaking their heads at the return Jones squeezed out of the Steelers — and how this might be looked at as the Cowboys trade of the year."
Calling the Pickens acquisition the trade of the year for Dallas is probably true, and that statement carries some weight considering the amount of deals that Jones has made. He dealt Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for significant draft capital, and he also acquired Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets.
Pickens' talent level was always obvious, which is why other executives around the league still can't believe Omar Khan only got a Day 3 pick swap and a third-round pick in exchange for the young wide receiver. Again, other factors diminished Pickens' trade value, but looking back, Khan should have found a way to bring in some more capital in exchange for Pickens. It is not a great look for someone to get swindled by Jones, who is someone whose decisions are often criticized and seen as delusional.
Steelers' Ex-Wide Receiver Set To Become One Of League's Highest-Paid Receivers
Pickens is having a career year, and that could not come at a better time as his rookie deal is set to expire after the 2025 season. Through 11 games, the young wide receiver has 67 receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards. He has already set his career high for a season when it comes to touchdowns as he has scored eight. Dallas will have the option to franchise tag Pickens, but the player and his team will probably want a long-term deal.
Pickens' current market value sits at over $30 million per season, with Spotrac projecting a five-year deal worth roughly $153 million.
