Bucky Irving returned to action on Sunday, and he marked it with a touchdown. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back suffered a shoulder injury in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles and remained inactive for several weeks until his return against the Arizona Cardinals.
Irving punched in a 13-yard touchdown run to cap Tampa Bay’s opening drive of the second half, extending the Buccaneers’ lead over Arizona to 17-3. It was his first touchdown of the season, having failed to find the end zone in his four appearances before getting injured.
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The drive that led to the Buccaneers’ touchdown involved seven plays for 67 yards, spanning just under four minutes. Bucky was involved in a play prior to his touchdown, rushing for two yards at the Cardinal’s 40-yard line before being brought down by linebacker Cody Simon.
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Without a doubt, Bucky Irving‘s return is a big boost for Tampa Bay in the race to secure playoff qualification. While the Buccaneers sit atop the NFC South, they face strong competition from the Carolina Panthers for the automatic playoff spot.
The running back’s touchdown generated a lot of reactions from fantasy football coaches. It’s been a long time since he played, and the score comes as a reward to those who kept and had trust in him. Here’s a look at some of the reactions online:
Bucky Irving had a mixed workload update ahead of the game
While he was set to return, how much Bucky Irving would be involved was uncertain ahead of the Week 13 game. Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said the Buccaneers will ride the hot hand at running back when asked how big a role Irving might have against the Cardinals.
“We’ll put him in,” Bowles said, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “Once he gets in, we’ll see how he is rolling, and then between him, Rachaad [White] and Sean [Tucker], we’ll kind of go with the hot hand.”
However, Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard had a different answer earlier in the week when asked about Irving’s potential role. Grizzard noted that Irving could follow the same path Chris Godwin took last week: returning from injury and being eased back in with a limited workload.
Bucky Irving would eventually play a big part in the game for the Buccaneers on Sunday. He led the team in rushing yards, gaining 61 yards on the ground on 17 carries. He was averaging 50 snaps per game before his injury, and he has immediately returned to that workload.
Edited by Farouk Yusuf
