The Tampa Bay Buccaneers play their final season finale Sunday without two of their top defensive players and another important reserve.
On Friday, the Buccaneers put backline player Devin White, lineout player Shaquil Barrett and defender Steve McLendon on the reserve / COVID-19 list. They will miss Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, in which Tampa Bay wants to claim the best Wild Card spot in the NFC playoffs with a win.
The new reserve list category was created for a player who tests positive for COVID-19 or who has been placed in quarantine after being in close contact with an infected person or persons. If a player falls into one of these categories, his club must immediately place the player on the reserve / COVID-19 list. According to the agreed NFL-NFLPA policy, clubs may not comment on the player’s medical status except to refer to the roster status. Clubs may not disclose whether the player is quarantined or positive about COVID-19.
White and Barrett are two of the Buccaneers’ three players who have eight plus pockets this season, along with Jason Pierre-Paul, the outside team. The Bucs and the Steelers are the only two teams in the NFL with three players with at least eight pockets. McLendon, who traded with the New York Jets in October, has since provided valuable depth on the interior.
White is the leading Buccaneers packer with 140 points, tied for third place in the NFL. He also has 15 tackles for loss, 9.0 bags, 16 quarterback hits, four passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He is the only player in the NFL with at least 100 tackles and nine bags.
Barrett scored 57 tackles, 8.0 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, defended three passes and scored two forced fumbles. According to the NFL Public Service Radar360, Barrett is tied for fourth place in the NFL with 40 quarterback pressure.
McLendon has played in all nine games since the trade, contributing 17 tackles and two tackles for loss, and was primarily the backup for Rakeem Nunez-Roches.
Both White and Barrett each started from the Buccaneers’ first 15 games. They helped the Tampa Bay defense to finish sixth in the allowed net meters, allowed the seventh point, the fifth in the meter per game, the first allowed in the running meter per game, the first allowed in the meter per rush , the eighth in the meter allowed per game, the sixth in bags per pass attempt and fifth in the first downhill per game.
The Buccaneers have two reserve backs in the rankings, veteran Kevin Minter and rookie Chapelle Russell. Minter started two games in place of White last year when the then newcomer full-back missed three games with a knee injury. The depth of the team at the lineout player includes sophomore Anthony Nelson and unmarked rookie Cam Gill. Nelson recorded his first career sack in last week’s win in Detroit.