Bucs Holding Their Breath On Crabtree

August 29th, 2013

Every NFL coach has the same goal in a preseason game: Stay healthy.

The Bucs couldn’t get that done tonight.

Lined up at fullback, as he’s done several times this preseason, tight end Tom Crabtree got his leg rolled up on while blocking and was carted off. The official word in the press box was “ankle injury.” If that’s accurate, it would be pretty darn rare to be carted off the field with a bad ankle and have it recover anytime soon.

It’s likely that Greg Schiano will update Crabtree’s condition tomorrow morning at his day-after-game news conference.

Crabtree appeared to have easily won the starting tight end job and was a key special teams player. Joe would be shocked if he plays against the Jets on opening day.

Schiano had recently acknowledged that the Bucs were running a tight-end-by-committee situation. That committee has now lost its chairman.

13 Responses to “Bucs Holding Their Breath On Crabtree”

  1. Teddy Says:

    I guess it’s a good thing that TE isn’t a big part of this offense.

  2. RBellBuc Says:

    Get to work Dom. There will be a lot of players available real soon.

  3. Raphael Says:

    High ankle sprain would be real bad….hope not tho

  4. Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:

    Dominick stated on the telecast that x-rays came back negative but it appears to be a really bad sprain.

  5. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    He’ll be fine. Might miss 1-2 games at most.

    Teddy, according to Schiano they are adding two tightend sets this year. So tightend is a big part of the offense now.

    Joe, I watched the videos on buc.com today and in one of thenSciano gave the impression that Stocker would be named starter but that Crabtree would play just as much.

  6. kh Says:

    i forget, how long is the recovery time on a high ankle sprain typically? 4 weeks?

  7. Teddy Says:

    Bonzai, I have the feeling that the two-TE set was in actuality one TE and one H-Back, much like how they had Crabtree playing when he got hurt. This may open the door for a more traditional fullback role for someone like Hillis, or it might force Eric Lorig to play more as an H-Back.

  8. BuccaneerBonzai Says:

    Hillis was hurt too. Also an ankle. Not sure how badly.

  9. BigMacAttack Says:

    At a position they are so thin at, he never should have been in the game. Real bonehead move by Schiano. He should have pulled Page sooner too.

    We have our ones, and then it drops off to 4’s and 5’s. The rookie D linemen looked decent, but everyone else that played tonight could get cut. Dom needs to really work the wire or trade for a couple good guys on bubbles.

    Maybe now we can see some real football.

  10. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    We are a better team than last year….trust me….when Revis walks on the field the rest will follow…..
    Sunday night 9/8….tonights game will be a very distant memory…..

  11. MadMax Says:

    I agree BigMac….he shouldn’t have been out there.

  12. JonBuc Says:

    Big Mac & Mad Max- agreed! Bynam, Noble,….anybody else! Sounds like he was playing fb at the time…but damn!

  13. Tomcin Says:

    If the Bengals cut QB Skelton the Bucs should give him strong consideration. Also the Giants have an abundance of good defensive lineman. But I’m sure Dom already knows that.