Bucs To Sit ‘A Lot’ Of Starters To Sit For Preseason Opener

The Bucs are one week into their 2022 training camp, which means their preseason opener isn’t far off. The Dolphins will be in town next week for two joint practices before the teams wrap up their week together with a preseason game at Raymond James Stadium. And because of those joint practices, many Tampa Bay starters won’t play in the game Saturday night.

“There will be a lot of starters that won’t play in that game,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after Wednesday’s practice. “They’ll get plenty of work in practice, though. In those practices, we’ll get to play similar to a game for those guys, and we’d like to see some of the younger guys play that I mentioned that kind of build our depth and go from there.”

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bowles confirmed that quarterback Tom Brady is among the group of starters who won’t suit up for the preseason matchup. Starters typically only play one or two drives in a team’s preseason opener anyway.

So, this news doesn’t come as a surprise, especially with Miami in town for practices next Wednesday and Thursday. Joint practices allow the teams to simulate a lot of game action, making those one or two extra drives unnecessary. And after Tuesday’s news, those practices between Tampa Bay and Miami may have gotten even more interesting.

The 2022 preseason is unique for Tampa Bay, as the team has two sets of joint practices scheduled. After their week with Miami, the Bucs will practice on their own to start the following week. Then, they travel to Tennessee for two joint practices and a preseason game with the Titans. Those practices should mean more game situations for the starters, so it’s unclear what that might mean for the game between the two teams, scheduled for Aug. 20. However, the second preseason game is often when the first-team units get most of their game work in.

With the season opener soon after, the third and final preseason contest usually doesn’t feature starters. The Bucs’ final exhibition is Aug. 27 against the Colts in Indianapolis. They open up the 2022 regular season about two weeks later, traveling to Dallas for a Sunday Night Football game against the Cowboys.

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