Tristan Wirfs Injury Update

Tristan Wirfs suffered a leg injury yesterday that has Bucs Fans ready to throw in the towel. The injury looked pretty gnarly and gave good reason to believe that it could have been pretty severe, leading some folks to begin saying that Wirfs was done for the season. Reports came out of Cleveland Sunday afternoon that Wirfs was seen walking pretty well, though limping, around the locker room and then seen leaving the locker room with a boot on. Reports also appeared that his initial X-ray had been negative for any type of break. It was reported that Wirfs was to have an MRI Monday morning which seemed to have discovered some ligament damage, but the star RT hopes he is only to miss 3-4 weeks.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler: “Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs is expected to miss multiple weeks with his ankle/foot injury, per source. There’s some ligament damage, but he should be able to avoid surgery barring second opinion revealing more. Wirfs is hoping it’s a 3-4 week injury.”

If Wirfs is to miss 3-4 weeks, it is going to be a tough go for the Buccaneers’ offensive line. The Bucs do have some capable backups in Josh Wells and even Luke Goedeke, who played Tackle in college. Goedeke was drafted to play left guard but could find himself back at the Tackle position when he is healthy. Nick Leveretter seems to be a swiss army knife of sorts, and if Goedeke is healthy and returned to the Left Guard spot, he could find himself filling in at Right Tackle. Brandon Walton, in my opinion, would be the front-runner to fill in for Wirfs in his absence, and I’d expect practice squad Tackles Justin Skule and Dylan Cook to have their shot at being activated as well.

Hopefully, Wirfs heals up quickly and can get back out there as fast as possible. For many, Wirfs’ injury, marks the end of the Buccaneers’ season and the team’s chance for the Playoff, but as long as Tampa can stay at the top of the division, the team has plenty of opportunity to make the Playoffs and by then, have a lot of guys return for a run at the trophy.