On Sunday, Bucky Irving experienced a fright during his career day.
During a kickoff return in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 26-23 overtime victory over the Carolina Panthers, the rookie running back sustained a hip injury. After the game, an ice pack was placed around Irving’s torso as he hobbled out of Bank of America Stadium, raising concerns about the injury.
Near the end of the first half, Irving was hurt returning a kickoff. At halftime, Irving hobbled off the field.
The #BucsRB Bucky Irving injurypic can be found here: https://twitter.com/EI7YLeuy7p
Luckily for the Buccaneers and Irving, he came back to play in the second half and helped the team win. In addition to three receptions for 33 yards, Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. During the game, he had 29 touches and 205 all-purpose yards.
Todd Bowles, the head coach of Tampa Bay, received backlash on social media for forcing Irving to return a kickoff with five seconds left in the first half. According to critics, Irving, the Buccaneers’ most dynamic player and top rusher, is a vital component of the offense and shouldn’t be on special teams.
It was time for Bucky Irving to stop returning kickoffs. He is their best running back. Special teams shouldn’t be around him. RB1 is not a special teams player.
I hate to say it again, but our coaching is (awful). The Fully Loaded podcast’s host, JC Cornell, posted on X. However, why in the world would your best running back continue to return kicks? On a kick return, Bucky Irving had no business being harmed.
With four seconds remaining in the half, Todd Bowles had Bucky Irving return a kick. He was injured.A historically awful coach made an unbelievably bad coaching choice.
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