TAMPA, Fla. — Coach Bruce Arians says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, making the reigning Super Bowl champions the second NFL team to announce they’ve reached that status.

“We’re 100% vaccinated. Everybody in our organization – all the players, all the coaches, everybody,” Arians said after practice Thursday.

The Bucs open the season at home against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 9. The Atlanta Falcons are the other team that’s announced its roster is fully vaccinated.

Earlier Thursday, kicker Ryan Succop was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Three other Tampa Bay players – defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh and reserve offensive linemen Earl Watford and Nick Leverett – are expected to return from the list before next week’s opener, Arians said.

Running back Leonard Fournette was among players who’ve been vaccinated since training camp began in late July.

“People are still catching (COVID-19), but it just made it a lot better that I have the shot. … We need every hand in here for these next couple of big games we’ve got coming up, especially the opener,” Fournette said.

PATRIOTS: New England returned linebacker Harvey Langi to the 53-man roster late Wednesday and placed wide receiver N’Keal Harry on injured reserve.

Harry, who injured his shoulder in the second preseason game, will have to sit out at least the first three games of the season.

COLTS: Carson Wentz spent three days attending Zoom meetings and rehabbing his injured left foot at home.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback also used the time to think about how to avoid another trip to the reserve/COVID-19 list.

On Thursday, Wentz returned to practice still unvaccinated but with a stronger commitment to the league’s safety protocols after he and two other starters were activated.

“I’ve weighed a lot of things, I’ve factored in everything,” he said. “I know what’s at stake, I know all of those things and like I said, it’s just where I’m at, where I’m at with my family. That’s why just understanding the protocol to truly try everything we can to avoid what happened this week, it is what it is. The protocols are in place. So we’ve got to honor them as best we can so we can avoid what happened.”

This was a big week for Wentz – for all the wrong reasons.

Coach Frank Reich announced Sunday he wanted to test Wentz’s foot to see if it could withstand the rigors of an NFL game. The plan was to use Wentz at all four workouts without limitations for the first time since he had a bone fragment removed Aug. 2.

Instead, team officials were forced to revise the schedule when Wentz, center Ryan Kelly and receiver Zach Pascal were deemed to be close contacts to someone who tested positive for the virus. Because league protocols require unvaccinated players to sit out – vaccinated players do not if they continue to test negative – a public debate ensued about Wentz’s vaccination status and that of the Colts, who have one of the league’s lowest vaccination rates.

While Wentz, Kelly and Pascal were all out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the former North Dakota State star naturally became the biggest target. Wentz was criticized in the media and by fans who warmly embraced him after being traded from Philadelphia to Indy in March.

Reich even had to come to Wentz’s defense Tuesday when he was asked if Wentz’s aversion to take the shot demonstrated a lack of leadership.

The questions continued when Wentz returned to the field, still limited though taking most of the first-team snaps.

“It felt great to finally get out there in full pads,” he said. “Obviously, I’d hoped to get out there earlier this week.”

What everyone wants to know now is whether Wentz will be the starter Sept. 12 against Seattle?

The answer might not come until next Thursday. Indy doesn’t practice again until Monday and Wentz hasn’t been full-go on consecutive days since late July.

Reich is optimistic.

“He’s got to come back Monday and if all goes well then he’ll go and Wednesday and then we’ll see,” he said. “The only way that would be inhibited is if he couldn’t go Thursday.”

The virus isn’t the only thing that could put Indy at a disadvantage.

Team officials announced four-time Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton, third-string quarterback Sam Ehlinger and second-year receiver Dezmon Patmon were put on injured reserve.

Hilton had surgery on a injured disk in his neck earlier this week, a procedure General Manager Chris Ballard said gave Hilton instant relief. They’re not sure how much time he’ll miss but expect him back later this season.

Ehlinger sprained his right knee in the preseason finale at Detroit. Patmon is out with a foot injury.

And, as the Colts already have learned, vaccinations aren’t necessarily the answer, either.

Nine players have already been on the COVID-19 list, most as close contacts. Reich missed the first week of training camp and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus missed the first two games after positive tests. Both coaches were fully vaccinated.

RAIDERS: Las Vegas added another veteran to bolster its banged-up linebacker group, agreeing to a one-year contract with K.J. Wright.

Wright has been one of the most dependable linebackers in the league since being drafted by Seattle in 2011. He had 86 tackles, 10 passes defensed and 11 tackles for loss last season, when he was the only player to reach double digits in those last two categories.

JAGUARS: Jacksonville placed receiver Tavon Austin on injured reserve, two days after Coach Urban Meyer said he was good to go for the season opener.

Austin injured his left quadriceps in practice last Friday and missed the team’s preseason finale at Dallas. Because the 31-year-old journeyman made the 53-man roster before going on IR, he is eligible to return to practice after the first three weeks of the regular season.

TITANS: Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey is retiring from the NFL after 10 seasons, the first nine with Tennessee and the last with Denver.

Casey was a five-time Pro Bowl pick, six-time defensive captain and a team two-time Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. His 51 sacks rank seventh in franchise history and are second only to Jevon Kearse’s 52 sacks since 1999 in the Titans era.

Casey started 140 of 142 career games with 51 sacks, 59 tackles for loss, 19 passes defended, eight forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. He missed only five games with the Titans, who traded him to Denver in March 2020. Casey played three games with Denver before a biceps injury ended his season, and the Broncos released him in February.

His 139 regular-season games between 2011 and 2019 tied for sixth among all NFL defensive linemen in that span. He matched Aaron Donald, Geno Atkins and Fletcher Cox as the only defensive linemen chosen for each Pro Bowl between 2015 and 2019.

SEAHAWKS: Seattle added a third quarterback to the active roster, signing Jake Luton.

The Seahawks also placed offensive lineman Cedric Ogbuehi on injured reserve.

PANTHERS: Carolina claimed running back Royce Freeman off waivers from the Denver Broncos, giving the team some veteran experience behind Christian McCaffrey.

VIKINGS: Minnesota switched specialists again right before the regular season, signing former Pittsburgh punter Jordan Berry and releasing Britton Colquitt.

The Vikings also signed quarterback Sean Mannion to the practice squad for another backup option to Kirk Cousins. Mannion was the No. 2 quarterback behind Cousins each of the last two seasons.

BILLS: The team won’t renew its lease with the state and county without a partially publicly funded agreement in place for a proposed new $1.4 billion stadium, leaving its future uncertain beyond July 2023.

“No, we absolutely will not,” Pegula Sports and Entertainment senior vice president Ron Raccuia told Buffalo’s WBEN-Radio. In saying the topic of relocation has not been raised during discussions with government officials, Raccuia didn’t entirely rule out that possibility by using the word “yet” when asked if the Bills might begin looking elsewhere once the lease expires in about 23 months.

“We’re not even focused on that, yet,” said Raccuia, who is chief negotiator in talks for PSE, the parent company which owns the Bills. “We’re just committed to getting everybody together as quickly as possible to get to a solution. Talking about options and what happens if, that serves no purpose. It’s not where any of our focus or resources are being dedicated.”

FORMER NFL player Keith McCants was found dead Thursday at his home in Florida after a suspected drug overdose, investigators said. He was 53.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in an email that deputies were called to a St. Petersburg home about 5:10 a.m. McCants was dead inside the house, where others also apparently lived.

McCants, a linebacker, was the fourth overall pick in the 1990 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Mobile, Alabama, native earned All-America honors as a college player at the University of Alabama.

McCants played for three seasons in Tampa, followed by stints with the then-Houston Oilers and Arizona Cardinals before his football career ended in 1995. McCants was arrested several times for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia over the years.

 

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