Jason Licht Expects Bucky Irving To Be Ready To Play In Two Weeks
June 19th, 2026
Three weeks ago, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said running back Bucky Irving would be ready for a full return from shoulder surgery “in the summer or the fall.”
That freaked out a lot of fans. The “fall?”
Well, Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht told Sports Day Tampa Bay that Bowles was misinterpreted, Irving is very close to being healthy and he’ll be full-go long before training camp kicks off.
“[Bucky Irving is] fine,” Licht said. “In fact, I think if we were playing here in a couple of weeks, he’d be ready to go.”
That should soothe the Bucs faithful. Licht thinks Bucky will be game-ready on July 4; the Bucs open the season on Sunday, Sept. 13, in Cincinnati.
Irving returned to practice (no contact) last week for the first time following his January surgery.
June 19th, 2026 at 8:59 am
Maybe Bowles was having a little fun. He is known to have a sense of humor
June 19th, 2026 at 9:12 am
Jason and his annual kiss of death… “Freak” David Walker (out for year), “Key Cog” Jensen (career ending injury), “Shock the world” Braswell (invisible man), “Rising star” McCullum (got bored once paid), “Like family” Evans (divorced)….Jason truly has no read on his team. He should try something different this year, shut up
June 19th, 2026 at 9:13 am
does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?…
too many contradicting statements lately….
GO BUCS!!!!
June 19th, 2026 at 9:32 am
Is that like a regular two weeks or an Orange Foolius two weeks?
June 19th, 2026 at 11:12 am
Reporter: “When will Bucky Irving return from shoulder surgery?”
Bowles: “How many Seasons are there?”
Reporter: “4”
Bowles: “Should be one of those”
Reporter: “So just to clarify, Bucky should be back sometime in the fall, summer, winter or spring”
Bowles: “Correct”
Reporter: “Thanks for clarifying Coach”
…..
Jenna Laine: “Coach, what’s your favorite Frank Valli & The Four Seasons song?”
June 19th, 2026 at 2:26 pm
Coach Bowles says maybe the fall and Licht says he was misinterpreted?
That’s pretty hard to misinterpret.
Fall officially begins September 22nd.
That would be week 3 of the regular season.
Somebody tell Todd when the season begins.
June 19th, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Unpopular opinion:
I’m really not all that excited for the return of Bucky Irving. Not saying he isn’t good or good for us, but there’s a couple of factors like the blocking scheme Robinson will lean and the addition of Gainwell that kind of makes me feel like “so” in response to this news.
June 19th, 2026 at 3:09 pm
@WBL
Kind of feel the same.
Still not sure how much wide zone Zac’s going to run and if it’s a lot how well Bucky fits that run scheme.
Could actually benefit Tucker more if they do major in zone/wide zone imo.