Buccaneers Have No Interest In Signing Paxton Lynch
- The Buccaneers recently worked out former first-round draft choice Paxton Lynch, but Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Bucs have no interest in signing Lynch at this time.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/3/18
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:
Detroit Lions
- DBs Kurtis Drummond, Steven Terrell, Jack Tocho, Damarius Travis (link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- P Brock Miller (link)
New England Patriots
- LB Calvin Munson; DT David Parry (link)
New York Giants
- WR Quadree Henderson (link)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- QB Paxton Lynch; RBs Troymaine Pope; WRs Reggie Davis, DeAngelo Yancey; T Rick Leonard; DT Jamie Meder; LBs Zaire Anderson, Terence Garvin; Ss Marcelis Branch, Isaiah Johnson (link)
Tennessee Titans
- Gs Jordan Morgan, Landon Turner; T Justin Evans (link)
Buccaneers Work Out RB Charcandrick West
The Buccaneers auditioned free agent running back Charcandrick West, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), but Tampa Bay didn’t sign him following the workout, tweets Greg Auman of The Athletic.
Tampa Bay is currently fielding one of the league’s worst rushing attacks, as the club ranks dead last in yards per attempt and 30th in Football Outsides’ rushing DVOA. Peyton Barber has handled the bulk of the carries for the Buccaneers, but he hasn’t topped 35 yards since Week 1. Rookie Ronald Jones was finally active in Week 4, and Jacquizz Rodgers has managed most of Tampa’s passin game work, but neither has been overly effective.
The Chiefs released West earlier this year, and although he subsequently latched on with the Jets, he lasted less than a month in New York before getting cut again. The 27-year-old West’s most productive campaign came in 2015, when he managed 160 carries for 634 yards and four touchdowns, but his rushing role with Kansas City had been greatly reduced in recent seasons. While he played more than 500 offensive snaps from 2016-17, West handled only 106 total carries, including just 18 last year.
West has seen more action in the receiving game, as he’s posted at least 20 receptions in three consecutive seasons. However, he hasn’t been very efficient with his touches, as he finished 57th among 62 running backs in FO’s receiving DVOA.
NFL Workout Updates: 10/2/18
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Arizona Cardinals
- WR Jordan Leslie (link via Adam Caplan of SiriusXM)
Atlanta Falcons
Cleveland Browns
- LB Junior Sylvestre (link); CBs Sterling Moore, Josh Robinson; K Daniel Carlson, Miles Bergner (link via Caplan)
Denver Broncos
- P Brock Miller (link)
Detroit Lions
- RB Akeem Hunt; C Jake Eldrenkamp; Ts Antonio Garcia, De’Ondre Wesley; G Landon Turner (link)
Green Bay Packers
- LBs Josh Carraway, Aaron Wallace (link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com)
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
- RBs Matthew Dayes, Orleans Darkwa (link via Caplan)
Los Angeles Chargers
- LBs Jonathan Celestin, Tre’von Johnson; P Shane Tripucka; LS Taybor Pepper (link)
Los Angeles Rams
- LB Anthony Winbush; DBs Xavier Coleman, Ranthony Texada; K Kai Forbath
Miami Dolphins
- Gs Austin Davis, J.J. Dielman; Cs Dillon Day, T.J. Johnson, Jon Toth; T Gerhard de Beer; DTs Xavier Cooper, Will Sutton (link)
Minnesota Vikings
- DE Terrence Fede; LB Tyrone Holmes (link)
New England Patriots
- T Andrew Nelson (link)
New Orleans Saints
- G/T Oday Aboushi; Ts Chaz Green, Austin Howard; Gs Jordan Morgan, Isaiah Williams; CBs De’Vante Bausby, Jeremy Boykins, Byron Maxwell (link)
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
- DEs Damontre Moore, Jacquies Smith; LBs Travis Feeney, Edmond Robinson; K Nick Novak (link via Caplan)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- CB Herb Waters (link)
Seattle Seahawks
- WR Keon Hatcher; DE Hau’oli Kikaha; LB Chris Odom; CB Kalan Reed; Ss Maurice Alexander, Eddie Pleasant, Jeremy Reaves (link)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- CB Josh Shaw; S A.J. Howard (link)
Tennessee Titans
- QB Garrett Gilbert; WRs Aaron Burbridge, Reggie Davis, Damoun Patterson; LB Antwione Williams (link)
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/1/18
Here are today’s minor moves:
New York Jets
- Promoted from practice squad: DE Bronson Kaufusi
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
- Signed: DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches
- Released: DT Jerel Worthy
Bucs To Start Jameis Winston
Fitzmagic is no more. On Monday, coach Dirk Koetter announced that Jameis Winston will be the Bucs’ starting quarterback when they face the Falcons in Week 6. 
[RELATED: Bucs’ O.J. Howard To Miss Time]
Winston was suspended for the first three games of the season and Fitzpatrick was stellar in his absence – at least through the first two games. Fitzpatrick had an up-and-down Week 3 against the Steelers and the wheels completely came off on Sunday against the Bears. When Winston took over, he outperformed the Harvard product by completing 16 of 20 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. Winston threw a pair of picks in the process, but he still looks like the more promising option of the two.
Winston is under club control through the 2019 season thanks to his fifth-year option. The option, guaranteed for injury only, is worth $20.9MM. If Winston plays well from here on out, the Bucs will have an easy call to make in the offseason. If he falters, Winston could hit the free agent market, where he can still cash in due to positional scarcity.
Bucs’ O.J. Howard Suffers MCL Sprain
Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard sprained his MCL and is expected to miss 2-4 weeks, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The good news is that the Bucs are coming up on their bye week, so Howard could wind up missing only one game if he heals quickly. 
[RELATED: Bucs Bench Ryan Fitzpatrick For Jameis Winston]
Howard, the No. 19 overall pick in last year’s draft, has impressed despite having to share tight end duties with Cameron Brate. The Bucs, naturally, will lean a bit more on the the 27-year-old for however long Howard is out. They also have Antony Auclair and Alan Cross on the roster, so they don’t necessarily have to bring in an extra tight end.
In his four games, Howard has eleven catches for 222 yards and a touchdown. Last year, Howard found the end zone six times and had 26 grabs for 432 yards.
Bucs Bench Ryan Fitzpatrick For Jameis Winston
Active for the first time after serving his three-game suspension, it didn’t take long for Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston to see the field. The former first-overall pick replaced starter Ryan Fitzpatrick during the second half of Tampa Bay’s loss to the Bears today.
The Buccaneers offense struggled mightily with Fitzpatrick in the game. Before being benched, the veteran quarterback had completed nine of his 18 pass attempts for only 126 yards. He also threw an interception and was sacked twice. Winston ended up finishing the game having completed 16 of his 20 pass attempts for 145 yards, one touchdown, and two picks. He also added a single seven-yard rush. After the game, head coach Dirk Koetter said Winston had probably done enough to earn the starting nod for his team’s Week 6 contest against the Falcons (via The Athletic’s Greg Auman on Twitter).
Fitzpatrick got off to a roaring start this season, as he compiled at least 400 passing yards and four touchdowns in each of his first two games. However, the 35-year-old threw three interceptions during last week’s loss to the Steelers, and Koetter admitted to his team that he almost replaced the veteran with backup Ryan Griffin.
Some wondered whether this was an attempt by the organization to lay the foundation for Winston’s inevitable return to the lineup. When the team announced that Fitzpatrick would be starting today’s game, they partly attributed the decision to the fact that Winston had had less than a week of practice under his belt. Koetter had previously said the coaching staff would reevaluate the quarterback position during the upcoming bye week.
While Fitzpatrick may have won the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award following his performance in the Bucs’ first two games, it’s sounding like he’ll probably be riding the pine when the Bucs return to the field in Week 6.
Latest On Buccaneers’ QB Situation
Although the Buccaneers could not conjure quite enough FitzMagic to pull off a comeback win against the Steelers on Monday, Tampa Bay will start Ryan Fitzpatrick against the Bears this afternoon, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). This was the expected move given how well Fitzpatrick has generally played through the first three weeks of the season and in light of the fact that the team is on a short week this week.
Plus, we heard earlier this month that Fitzpatrick would remain under center for as long as he performs at a high level. But according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Tampa Bay head coach Dirk Koetter told his team during a meeting on Wednesday that he was “one or two plays away” from lifting Fitzpatrick on Monday night in favor of backup Ryan Griffin. At the time Koetter was contemplating that move, Fitzpatrick had just thrown his third interception and the club was trailing Pittsburgh 23-7.
Koetter, of course, did not end up pulling Fitzpatrick, but the fact that he made his thought process known to his team took some Buccaneers by surprise. Some players simply took Koetter’s words at face value, but some wondered whether he was laying a foundation for Jameis Winston to return, perhaps as soon as Week 6 (Tampa Bay has a bye in Week 5). After all, the team still views Winston as its long-term quarterback, so it stands to reason that he will be under center at some point soon, even if Fitzpatrick continues to overachieve.
Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports that the Bucs will reassess their QB situation during their bye week, and that Koetter has informed Fitzpatrick and Winston of his plans. Koetter said, “We know what we’re going to do. Both guys know what we’re going to do. Hope everybody can appreciate that it doesn’t do us any good to tell our opponents what we’re going to do.”
Winston was not permitted to practice at the team facility during his suspension, but Laine writes that he brought in quarterbacks coaches George Whitfield and John Beck and longtime trainer Otis Leverette to help him maintain the same schedule he had with the Bucs, and the group conducted daily workouts with 25 free agents and former teammates.
Winston’s initiative impressed Koetter, who said, “Hats off to Jameis for putting together a group of guys to do what he did…Jameis is a quarterback, coach and GM all at the same time — perfect. I think there is a little adjustment period, and that’s one of the things we’re trying to move along as quickly as we can.”
Reading between the lines, it certainly seems as if Winston may be starting for the Bucs in Week 6.
Dirk Koetter Made Changes In Offseason
- Dirk Koetter wanted Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken to focus more on the offense as a whole rather than having to split time between OC duties and wide receivers coach as he previously did. It was Koetter’s decision to hire a wideouts coach, Skyler Fulton, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times notes. Monken then took over devising the Bucs’ practice scripts before calling plays in the preseason, per Stroud, who adds Koetter made a concerted effort to accelerate Bucs camp practices in order to squeeze in more work. Stroud argues it was a smart decision for the Bucs to stick with Koetter, a chopping-block candidate after 2017’s disappointment, than bringing back Jon Gruden.