TAMPA, Fla. — The biggest concern for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they open training camp for their 50th season on Tuesday is the status of offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs and wide receiver Chris Godwin.
WATCH: Bucs open training camp without offensive stars Tristan Wirfs and Chris Godwin
Godwin continues to recover from a dislocated ankle that he suffered last season in week 7, and Wirfs recently underwent knee surgery that could require him to miss a handful of games.
“It didn’t heal. It had to be done,” head coach Todd Bowles said of Wirfs’ surgery. “It’s not a murder mystery where we need to find out what happened. It’s about him getting better, and he’s in great spirits.”
Both players are officially on the team's physically unable to perform list.
Bowles remains hopeful that Godwin will be able to play in Week 1. But, if he’s not ready, the Tampa Bay passing game should still be explosive with quarterback Baker Mayfield and receivers Mike Evans, rookie Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan.
“I'm really just focused on making my plays and doing whatever the coaches need me to do,” McMillan said. “Obviously, Chris not being here sucks. He’s in the building every day. He’s involved heavily. We’re ready for him when he gets back.”
For the rest of the team, getting back means building on what they learned from OTAs and mandatory minicamp.
“It’s almost getting back to where we left off with that,” offensive lineman Cody Mauch said. “It almost takes a couple of days to get back into the headspace you were in when you were working on techniques and whatnot.”
Linebacker Lavonte David returns for his 14th season for one reason only. He believes this team has what it takes to win a Super Bowl.
“I feel like we fell short last year. I felt like we would’ve had a great run at it last year. We just fell short,” David said. “Probably one of the reasons we came back, I know what we are capable of and what we can do.”
The Buccaneers open the season on Sept. 7 in Atlanta against the Falcons.
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