Todd Bowles Expects Bucky Irving Back Sometime “In The Summer Or The Fall”
May 26th, 2026
Timeline changing?
At the combine, a Bucs source told Joe there is nothing to worry about with Bucky Irving’s shoulder. He would be fine and ready to go for training camp.
When Zac Robinson cast a shadow of doubt on Bucky’s timeline, Joe again was told Bucky will be full-go for training camp.
Well, Joe cannot ignore the following since it came straight out of the mouth of KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles this afternoon after the first OTA practice open to the local pen and mic club.
Bucky was in street clothes watching practice from the sideline. When Bowles was asked about Bucky, here is what he said:
“He’s come along fine,” Bowles said. “He’s working out. He’s rough. We expect him sometime back in the summer or the fall, and you know, we’ll look forward to him when he gets back.”
The fall?
Joe was told it was unlikely Bucky would be ready to work out fully at the beginning of OTAs. And Joe was also told the time Bucky would miss — and be ready for training camp — was the normal recuperation from the shoulder surgery he had.
Now, Bowles suggested the timeline for a return could be the fall?
Technically, fall begins on Sept. 22 this year. However, most people consider fall to be Labor Day Weekend. Still others consider fall to be the start of football season. And others consider the start of fall when the first NFL regular-season kickoff takes place.
Football coaches may consider fall the beginning of training camp (in part because summer ends for football coaches and players when camp begins).
So Joe is allowing Bowles some wiggle room here in what he may consider fall.
Feel free to do the math. Bucky will either be ready to hit the practice fields behind One Buc Palace for training camp or maybe not until early in the regular season.
As Joe has typed and spoken on the “Ira Kaufman Podcast” many times, the Bucs got and paid Kenneth Gainwell for a reason.
May 26th, 2026 at 3:14 pm
Here we go!
The Bucs medical and training staff absolutely suck. ?? It’s May 26. –Joe
Ever since the Jensen fiasco, ever summer there is a medical issue that this staff just cant seem to figure out. Guess it’s Bucky’s year.
I’ve been saying for years that this medical/training staff needs to be looked at and upgraded.
May 26th, 2026 at 3:18 pm
J.R. Sweezy
May 26th, 2026 at 3:30 pm
What in the world? The fall?
I have to agree with the comments on the Bucs training staff. Last year they had no idea on timelines – and it wasn’t just coaches giving bad timelines since guys clearly should have went on IR and yet were kept active. No coach is keeping a guy on the active roster for 7 weeks while they’re injured as some sort of advantage. If there’s more insight on that, beyond the training staff being clueless, I’d love to know what it is.
May 26th, 2026 at 3:30 pm
“Bucs medical and training staff absolutely suck.”
This is the same shoulder injury Bucky didn’t disclose to them until week 4 & 5?
How TF is a medical staff supposed to prevent a slipped shoulder or make it better?
May 26th, 2026 at 3:40 pm
Seriously now I understand why they brought in Gainwell for 14 mill for 2 years who keeps screwing up these injuries This better be Precaution measures only an not set backs with him being a RB an taking Alot of hits in his Shoulder I’m sure it is
May 26th, 2026 at 3:42 pm
Wow. We are seriously the most paper-mache team in the whole league. Good god. I am surprised he isn’t going to have voluntary surgery in July.
May 26th, 2026 at 3:45 pm
Bucky is # 17 Bucs all-time with 1710 yards
Baker is # 23 Bucs all-time with 923 yards
Tucker is # 34 with 651
Rachaad White was # 10 with 2656
Bucky is replaceable
May 26th, 2026 at 3:54 pm
He’s done as a starter. His rookie season was fun though. Not For Long.
May 26th, 2026 at 4:01 pm
After last season, the Buc’s signed KG!! They will have a great starting RB one way or another!! Throw in Sean Tucker and that room is set!! IMO.
May 26th, 2026 at 4:15 pm
Baffles me they didn’t draft a rb
May 26th, 2026 at 4:18 pm
Remember Carl nicks
May 26th, 2026 at 4:21 pm
Why rush Bucky with Gainwell signed and Tucker staying with the team? Even if Bucky misses a couple games, we are in good shape and this give Bucky fresh legs deep into the season.
May 26th, 2026 at 4:24 pm
There’s a reason they gave Kenny some decent money. Tuckers time to shine, or someone else needs to step up. I bet they bring in another back before camp. Buckys shoulder is long term. It takes a year from first surgery if all goes well to get to 100%. Shoulders take time.
May 26th, 2026 at 4:43 pm
Joe says it May 26th..missing your point on how that’s relevant to the amount of injuries, botched surgeries or lack thereof..guess it’s all roses and rainbows when it comes to the medical staff Coaches take blame, GMs take blame, players take blame..guess there’s never a need to reevaluate how the training and medical staff have done over the past few years.
May 26th, 2026 at 4:49 pm
this is the reason they got gainwell, never mind buckys mental health
May 26th, 2026 at 4:49 pm
Warren says:
This is the same shoulder injury Bucky didn’t disclose until week 4 or 5…
So this injury has been known since October of last year. Here we sit 8 months later and now they’re saying he will be ready in the summer or fall???
There’s the problem. It’s not preventing ot from happening, it’s identifying the injury and then fixing it.
Wirfs knee was not surgically repaired until the week before camp last year. Ridiculous
May 26th, 2026 at 4:55 pm
Careful now. Bowles is the same guy that said he liked the effort of the defense last year.
I wouldn’t exactly take his word on anything meaningful, outside of the ability to eat 50 KitKat bars in one sitting.
Todd says Bucky will be ready by this fall??? I’m guessing his career is close to done.
Perhaps we could have drafted a RB instead of a no name WR from a third rate college.
May 26th, 2026 at 4:56 pm
Trade him
May 26th, 2026 at 5:01 pm
Allow me to repeat…..and add that it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s not ALL the way back to normal until the 2027 season. He had surgery in February. Six moths heal time is August…..100% activity with no physical issues could be as long as next February.
Most people regain full strength and function approximately 6 months after surgery to repair shoulder subluxation. However, recovery sufficient to return to contact sports can take up to 12 months.
Muscle atrophy from weeks of having his arm immobilized is a real thing.
Part of the recovery process will be overcoming the natural inclination to favor the shoulder and try to shield it from full contact….the mental part of the recovery.
Mayfield had a very similar surgery after the 2021 season and didn’t really begin to regain his normal passing mechanics until late in the 2022 season.
I wouldn’t expect to see Irving become effective until later in the season…..if then.
May 26th, 2026 at 5:04 pm
Year 3 for Sean Tucker.
Time for him to be the #1.
May 26th, 2026 at 5:13 pm
Hodad … ‘There’s a reason they gave Kenny some decent money. Tuckers time to shine, or someone else needs to step up.’
I’m voting for ‘someone else needs to step up’. Kenny Gainwell’s solid & a very nice addition, but he’s no bell-cow back. In his 5 years in the NFL, he’s played in 83 games (only missed 2 games in 5 years) and has carried the rock only 394 times. That averages out to less than 5 times a game. What’s nice is that he sports a 4.4 YPC average, and has been quite consistent in achieving that. Still, not a bell-cow.
Sean Tucker is also a solid back, but he’s got a LOT less experience to his credit. In his 3 year career, he’s only played in 45 games, and has carried the rock only 151 times … an average of a tad more than 3 times per game. His 4.3 YPC average is just about the same as Gainwell’s, but he hasn’t been nearly as consistent (1.5 YPC in 2023, 6.2 YPC in 2024 and 3.7 YPC in 2025). Can’t see him becoming a bell-cow either.
Licht & Bowles allowed our true bell-cow (Rachaad White) to move on to Washington. Rachaad averaged 10 carries per game in his 4 years here (677 carries in 67 games) for a 3.9 YPC average. Not fantastic, but he was also targeted 230 times in the passing game & had 205 catches for an astonishing 89.1% catch rate. That contributed 1450 yards for a 7.1 YPC average. And oh ya, he could block & he averaged over 600 offensive snaps per season. THAT’s as close as we’re coming to a bell-cow.
Licht needs to keep his eye out for another bigger back who can perform at least as well as Rachaad did. I was hoping that we’d sign AJ Dillon (6’2″ & 247 lbs) during free agency, but instead the Panthers snatched him up for a measly $1.4 mil. AJ averaged 10 carries per game in his 4 yrs with Green Bay, and contributed an average of 4 TDs per year with them. Bucs could’ve used him.
May 26th, 2026 at 5:22 pm
Do like the titans and get better nutritionist and health staff please
May 26th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
“So this injury has been known since October of last year. Here we sit 8 months later and now they’re saying he will be ready in the summer or fall???“
Sir, the training staff didn’t know about the shoulder until Bucky hurt his ankle against the Eagles, meaning he likely started the season or got the shoulder injury leading up to that Eagles game. How in the blue hell is the medical staff on the hook for that when clearly the only way for a player to conceal an injury like that is to either not mention it or lie about it.
Not trying to make Bucky out to be a bad guy, but blaming the training staff for anything is freaking ridiculous.
May 26th, 2026 at 5:50 pm
With his size this should be expected. Let him heal and its next man up. Injuries happen to all teams and it really depends on how Bucky takes care of his body on his own outside of the training staff.
This is gonna be a rough season. Keep your fingers crossed Gainwell stays healthy for 17 games.
May 26th, 2026 at 6:00 pm
Well, now I understand why they Ran Out and got Gainwell. Wise to do so.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of an undrafted guy or two getting solid consideration. A little bit surprised but Not blown away if Licht picked up someone else of “substance” for the running back room since Bowles is desperate to be a run first team. Not sure how Robinson views it other than Sure, he likes to have plenty of available running backs.
If Bucky is THAT vulnerable, fall maybe optimistic. It’s hard to tell how much is in his head. It’s rather scary to think k about the sounds that breaking bones make. It’ll give you a queasy feeling….
May 26th, 2026 at 6:18 pm
The fall? Wow…did he think that would get passed everyone? Tucker might be a decent late round fantasy pick up. Yikes.
-David
May 26th, 2026 at 6:27 pm
Looks like Bucky will be joining the Licht’s Losers club. Going on year three and more injuries or slower than expected recovery. Sounds like Bucky likes the paycheck, but not the work. A Todd Bowles disciple.
May 26th, 2026 at 6:29 pm
Not many of Licht’s draft picks make it past their first contract with the Bucs. What a terrible GM.
May 26th, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Here’s my question- why was the surgery in February and not the day after we knew we weren’t in the playoffs? He’d have a better chance of being recovered by now!
May 26th, 2026 at 7:02 pm
I’d of been out the door to, if I were R. White. He clearly knew Bucky was damaged goods and the team continued to force feed the whiney Bucky who hid his injury to the detriment of the team. That there is poor leadership from GM–>HC–>OC–>position coach. Oblivious. I would have benched Bucky and resigned RW
May 26th, 2026 at 7:05 pm
Lack of Cody Mauch is why our running game sucked last year. For further information, check the Mauch thread a couple spots lower than this one.
May 26th, 2026 at 7:07 pm
My guess is they are just being very cautious with him and will probably hold him out until regular season. Bowles and Licht job is on the line this season. They can’t afford any serious injuries especially before regular season even starts.
May 26th, 2026 at 8:21 pm
I can do the math – Gainwell signed a 2yr, $14 million contract with $9.83m guaranteed. Bucky is hurt and the Bucs are not comfortable with his injury.
May 26th, 2026 at 9:56 pm
I don’t know how well he was hiding it, but he did seem to be noticeably injured after getting absolutely blown up by a huge hit in the Eagles game, if I remember right. But that was early in the season, and the fact that he’s not ready to go, possibly by week 1, seems insane to me. I’m starting to wonder if colder conditions create more hard-nosed players, less likely to be injury prone, because our players are soft and hurt all the time. Ever heard of cold plunge? I gotta assume the cold weather may actually benefit players.
May 26th, 2026 at 10:04 pm
Bucs been lying about player injuries like this for years. Surprised Bowles and Licht having been called into the League Office
May 26th, 2026 at 10:57 pm
LOL – Chicken Little had nothing on the lot of you…..
May 26th, 2026 at 11:24 pm
Williams was solid, what happened
May 26th, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Another one hit wonder.
Cut your losses.
Every RB is a midget.
Get a bigger RB.
May 27th, 2026 at 6:46 am
Maybe trade for a bigger back. Arizona has a couple they don’t really need now since they drafted Jerimya Love. Tyler Algiers anyone?
May 27th, 2026 at 8:39 am
Another website already updated that it is confirmed he will be back in the summer. No worries he will be ready for the season
May 27th, 2026 at 8:43 am
They should not roll Bucky out before he is fully healed. Losing him to IR for a large portion of the season will be mismanagement on a galactic scale – particularly since we ran off Rachaad for no good reason. Just another bonehead move like Dean. Bucky not revealing the injury is completely unacceptable. He should be benched for that insubordination alone. Accepting that kind of behavior is how you lose a team. You can’t punish White for not being OK with it. Now you have no Bucky and no White. Too many unforced errors allowed by this coaching and management staff. Where is the Arian’s accountability board?
May 28th, 2026 at 9:08 am
It’s crazy how people don’t have the slightest clue about sports injuries and recoveries. Anyone critical of the medical staff should seriously STFU and open a book. You are all idiots.