There might finally be light at the end of the tunnel for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when it comes to injured running back Bucky Irving.
The Buccaneers offense has been without Irving for the last 5 games, since a Week 4 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on September 28 due to a variety of injuries, although a shoulder injury has been of the most concern.
“Possibly big Bucs news,” Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on Wednesday, November 12. “RB Bucky Irving is participating in the walk thru practice. G Ben Bredeson also working. Irving has not played since Sept. 28 due to foot and shoulder injuries.”
The Buccaneers are 6-3 headed into a brutal pair of road games coming up with a trip to face the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 before heading all the way across the country to face the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12.
Irving, who rushed for over 1,000 yards as a rookie, has been sorely missed.
While the Buccaneers have made up the slack at wide receiver with Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan out with injuries, it’s been harder to do that with Rachaad White stepping in for Irving.
“Todd Bowles said it was good to see Bucky Irving on the practice field but he was limited and it was just a walk-through,” Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith wrote on his official X account. “Needs to see Irving in a full-speed practice before making any proclamations about a timetable for his return.”
While Irving’s follow up too a bravura rookie campaign has fallen flat to this point, he has the advantage of playing on a team that’s in first place in the NFC South Division — with a 2-game lead at that — and could very well be a dark horse contender if everyone comes back healthy over the next month who has been injured.
Right now, the perception of Irving is that rookie year was just a flash in the pan.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon called Irving the “Most Disappointing Player” on the roster in 2025.
“After averaging 5.4 yards per rush as a rookie, Irving has seen that number decline to 3.3 in 2025,” Gagnon wrote on October 24. “Only one qualified back is below that. He’s also yet to score a rushing touchdown.”
Irving had a season high 165 yards of total offense agains the Eagles — 15 carries for 63 yards and 5 receptions for 102 yards. That kind of production can flip games like the 28-23 home loss to the New England Patriots in Week 10.
Right now, it seems like the only legitimate weapon 2-time Pro Bowl quarterback Baker Mayfield has on offense he can rely on is 2025 first round pick (No. 19 overall) and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
Egbuka, possibly the frontrunner to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, leads the Buccaneers and is ninth in the NFL in receiving with 40 receptions for 677 yards and 6 touchdowns.
The Buccaneers have also gotten a boost lately from their final pick in the 2025 draft with rookie wide receiver Tez Johnson.
“There are just two rookies across the NFL this season with 250+ receiving yards and 4+ receiving touchdowns through Week 10 … Both are Buccaneers drafted by Jason Licht,” Buccaneers Communications wrote on its official X account on November 10. “Emeka Egbuka (pick No. 19) & Tez Johnson (No. 235).”
Things have gone awry for the Las Vegas Raiders. While they weren’t expected to be a Super Bowl contender this season, many thought they’d be better than 2-7.
Head coach Pete Carroll has a long history of winning and usually does a great job of building a culture, but there seems to be a disconnect between the roster and the coaching staff. When the offense plays well, the defense fails, and when the defense shuts down an opponent, the offense can’t do anything.
There’s something going on with the team that hasn’t really been reported on, and defensive tackle Adam Butler made some comments that are stirring speculation.
“It’s very frustrating sometimes, I can’t lie, when the other side isn’t delivering the way you think that they should deliver, and sometimes it’s frustrating when we don’t deliver how we should deliver,” Butler told reporters on Tuesday.
“Everybody can see what’s going on, we know what’s going on and the only thing we can do is do our job. I just focus on doing my job and focusing on helping the team win.”
It’s unclear what he means by “everybody can see what’s going on.” It’s obvious that the team isn’t very good, but it’s possible that there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes.
Sometimes teams are just bad because they lack talent. The Raiders don’t have an overly talented roster, so that’s likely the biggest reason they aren’t good, but Butler’s comments suggest that there could be something else.
The most obvious potential issue could be coaching. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has not done a good job this season, and players could be turning on him. He’s paid a lot and isn’t known to form great relationships with players.
Some players could be fed up with the fact that he hasn’t been held accountable for the Raiders’ offensive woes. There could also be frustration that quarterback Geno Smith hasn’t been benched despite his poor play. There are many reasons why Raiders players could be frustrated right now.
Heading into the season, it seemed like a given that Carroll would at least get two of three years to turn the Raiders around, but the team wasn’t expected to be this bad. It still might be too early to put Carroll on the hot seat, but it’s definitely warming up.
What’s not going to help Carroll is that he’s the reason why the team traded a third-round pick for Smith and gave him a big contract extension. The Raiders need to start showing signs of progress. Carroll is 74 years old, so he’s not the kind of coach the team is going to want to be patient with.
Carroll likely has enough juice to keep his job if the Raiders can win another two or three games, but Kelly is very much on the hot seat. The offense has to play better, or there’s a chance he could get fired before the end of the season.