Following the end of Wednesday’s practice, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles announced that starting left guard Matt Feiler would be out for the Bucs’ Thursday night game against the Bills. Feiler injured his knee last week against the Falcons, but was able to finish out the game. He did not practice at all on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday on a short week.
So…who is going to start in replacement of Feiler? Bowles spent no hesitation on that follow up question by saying that Aaron Stinnie would take Feiler’s spot on Thursday night.
Aaron Stinnie Has Very Important Starting Experience With Bucs
Although Stinnie tore his ACL in the preseason of last season, he has more than enough experience in the NFL. Stinnie infamously subbed in during the rest of 2020 postseason run after Alex Cappa fractured his ankle in the Wild Card round against Washington and was out for the remaining playoff games.
Stinnie played well as a starter for the rest of the playoffs and helped the Bucs win Super Bowl LV. That experience for Stinnie can’t be looked over when faced with taking on a big responsibility this week.
There was plenty of discussion on whether it should be Stinnie or Nick Leverett that would get the nod if Feiler wasn’t available. We may have already known that answer since Week 1.
Starting right guard Cody Mauch had back spasms on Thursday and Friday and his availability uncertain. It was that Friday where Todd Bowles mentioned that Stinnie “probably” would start if Mauch didn’t play, but he ended up being able to go. Fast forward to Week 8 and the decision to start Stinnie against the Bills isn’t surprising.
The Bucs also don’t have a ton of depth at center after Robert Hainsey. Keeping Leverett, who got snaps at center during training camp and the preseason, available in case something happened to Hainsey makes a lot more sense. If Leverett were to start and he went down with an injury, the Bucs would be on very thin ice if Hainsey suffered an injury later in the same game.
Tampa Bay has had struggled mightily in the run game this season. We’ll see if a changing of the guard at left guard to a player that helped Tampa Bay win its most recent Super Bowl could help that area improve.
Status Of Other Injured Bucs
Among the other Bucs on the injury report, safety Kaevon Merriwather (ankle) is the only other player that’s out against the Bills. Nose tackle Vita Vea (groin) is a game-time decision while wide receiver Chris Godwin (neck) is good to go for Thursday night.
Vea did not practice this week. He was seen coming out later on Wednesday after warmups were already over.
Vea was wearing a hat while everybody else had their helmets on, but he did look to be in good spirits. This would obviously be a huge blow for Bucs if he couldn’t play.
Tampa Bay’s defense has been the biggest reason why the team has won three games this season and is clearly the best unit that the Bucs have. They’ll need another great defensive effort on Thursday night if they want to pull off the upset against the Bills, who are 8.5-point favorites.
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