Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles looks on against the Tennessee Titans. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles reveals Week 2 preseason plan for starters

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Buccaneers on SI
By River Wells | Last updated Aug 11, 2025 2:19 PM ET

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are headed up north to face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in their second preseason game, and Bucs fans might look forward to seeing some starters play during that contest.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was asked by reporters whether or not starters would be featured in Tampa Bay's game against the Steelers. And while he remained non-committal about exactly how many or the length that they would play, Bowles did confirm that some starters are preparing to play during this upcoming matchup — just like they do every week.

"They prepare like that every week. Some of the guys will play, some of them won’t," Bowles said. "Depends on practice Thursday and how much we can get done Saturday to determine next week."

Buccaneers would be wise to play starters vs. Steelers

The Bucs have an interesting preseason schedule this year, because it includes a weird caveat — the Bucs will finish their preseason schedule against the Buffalo Bills, who the Bucs also play in the regular season in Week 11. Because of this, both teams won't want to tip their hand before that game, and while the Bucs and Bills could always look at film to see how the starters play and what tendancies offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard tends to use, they'll also want to be extremely cautious when it comes to revealing anything about each other during this matchup.

Because of this, if there was any game to play your starters the most in, this would be a good one. When preseason was four games, it was usually the third game that starters would play the most, and now that the schedule is just three, this second game would fall in the middle of preseason in a similar way that the first one did. Additionally, Grizzard and Bowles wouldn't have to fear giving away too much about personnel usage or how their players are developing to the Steelers, who won't be playing the Buccaneers this year.

There were a few starting players or starting-adjacent players who played against the Titans last Saturday — Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, Rachaad White and SirVocea Dennis, among others, all contributed during the preseason game. Based on Bowles' comments, it seems like we might get a few more of those players next Saturday, so it will be interesting to see who starts and who will rest once the game comes around.