Bucs Sign Inside Linebacker Amidst Devin White Saga

The Bucs have signed inside linebacker Vi Jones back to their practice squad on Tuesday, the organization announced. Jones was  on Tampa Bay’s practice squad  from Weeks 12-14 before getting released last week.

Going undrafted out of NC State in 2022, Jones was a practice squad regular for the Seahawks last season, getting elevated for three games. He started the 2023 season with the Seahawks in training camp but was waived with an injury settlement.

Making room for Jones on the practice squad, the Bucs released long snapper Evan Deckers. Last week it was Jones who was waived and Decker that was signed, but this week the Bucs went in the other direction. Deckers was brought on as insurance for injured long snapper Zach Triner, but Triner was able to play in the Bucs’ win over Green Bay. Now Jones is on the roster again for a similar reason.

What Does This Mean For Bucs’ ILB Devin White?

Bucs ILB Devin White and Titans QB Will Levis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The signing of Jones does come at a very interesting time for the Bucs. There is a ton of drama around inside linebacker and team captain Devin White, who has missed the last three games but could’ve potentially returned last week. White practiced in full on Thursday and Friday but was inactive on Sunday.

What transpired within those days has been the root of the problem. According to reports including from Pewter Report, White was told that K.J. Britt was going to play on Sunday. Because White didn’t want to share snaps, he said that he couldn’t go.

On Monday, Todd Bowles fumbled through his press conference trying to explain the timeline of events that led to White being inactive. He couldn’t remember whether he spoke to White on Friday or Saturday, but when allegedly he couldn’t go, that was it.

The problem in Bowles’ statement, though, is that the Bucs twice made updates to the injury list for other Bucs players over the weekend. On Saturday, Tampa Bay announced that Ryan Neal was downgraded to out while Vita Vea was upgraded to questionable. A day later, the Bucs added Josh Hayes to the injury report as questionable because of an illness, and that was about 20 minutes before game day inactives were coming out.

None of what Bowles said had added up. It was evident that he was covering up for White. That makes the question of his availability for the rest of the season a mystery.

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

White Makes A Statement

Fast forward to today and White went onto instagram and had another cryptic post. White does this from time to time so this is nothing new to Bucs. On his instagram story, he shared a post he had from months ago where the last photo is a text message that says “What motivates you more than anything?” with a reply that says “Disrespect.”

White then added is own comment to it saying “& just like that!! We back. Built a story but didn’t ask the main character any information..Where do they find that at?” You can see it in the tweet below.

This only aggravates more issues that are unwanted by the Bucs at the moment. The team has won three games in a row and has direct shot at winning the division. White’s anger once again can only be a distraction.

We’ll find out in the coming days what’s up with White and if he’ll ever play for the Bucs again. In the meantime the Bucs will roll with Lavonte David, K.J. Britt, SirVoce Dennis and J.J. Russell on the roster. Jones becomes added help on the practice squad if another situation comes about.