Day off.

Joe almost had a stroke while reading the Thursday injury report. Thank goodness it was a false alarm.

The first player Joe noticed who did not practice yesterday was Bucky Irving. What??? With Kenny Gainwell nursing a sore hip, the last thing the Bucs need is to have Bucky Irving unable to play Sunday in a critical NFC South landfill game against the Dixie Chicks.

But, whew, it was just day of rest for Bucky. Thankfully. Chris Godwin also was resting.

Another piece of good news was to seeing monster rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter return to practice. He did not practice on Wednesday with a flu bug that has run through the Bucs’ locker room.

The only starter who did not practice yesterday due to an ailment was right tackle Luke Goedeke. He also missed Sunday’s game in Carolina with a sore calf.

Additionally, outside linebacker YaYa Diaby also was back full-go after an illness issue on Wednesday.