Give Me A Break!

That’s exactly what Jon Gruden is going to do for the Bucs this week. The Bucs are going into their bye week following a victory over the Arizona Cardinals, putting them back on top of the NFC South. The Bucs have managed 5 victories even with the slew of injuries they have faced. Time for some time off? Almost.

“Our players deserve some time off, they have played really hard, and I am proud of them. At the same time, I think we all understand we need to play better to be a really good football team.”
-Head Coach Jon Gruden

Gruden’s plan is to have the players practice on Wednesday morning, them give them until Sunday off. That is one more day than they usually get off, as Gruden usually schedules a Thursday practice. This also is a way to help banged-up players stay off the injured list. B.J. Askew was said to have injured his ankle, Jeremy Trueblood injured his shoulder, and Alex Smith re-aggravated his ankle. The extra rest will help other players who have bumps and bruises as well. The Bucs are so hampered by injury, that the past two Wednesdays, Gruden had to turn a full-speed workout into an extended walk-through, simply because they were down so many bodies.

Hopefully, the one extra day of rest will do more than one extra day of work.