TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have placed wide receiver Louis Murphy and offensive guard J.R. Sweezy on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, the team announced Tuesday.
Murphy is still in the process of recovering from the torn ACL he suffered in October 2015, while Sweezy is recovering from a back procedure he underwent during the offseason. Both players missed the offseason program and began training camp on the Active/PUP list, but per NFL rules, they were transferred to the Reserve/PUP list because neither has been medically cleared to play.
"I feel good," said Murphy, who was running routes in practice Monday on a field adjacent to where his teammates were practicing. Sept. 19 will mark 10 months since he underwent surgery. "I'm just patiently waiting to get out there. I'm rehabbing every day and trying to get better."
He admitted that it has been hard to watch younger players at the receiver position improve while he is sidelined.
"Nobody is better than me, but that's just part of it," he said. "Coming off injury, you've always got to mentally tell yourself that you're gonna be better than you were when you come back."
In March, Sweezy signed a five-year contract with the Bucs worth $32,500,000, including $14.5 million guaranteed. In four years with the Seattle Seahawks, he started 49 games and never missed more than three games in a season. He was expected to take over the starting left guard position for Logan Mankins, who retired.
In 2014, Murphy, who is from nearby St. Petersburg, Florida, signed a three-year extension with the club worth $5.4 million. In his two seasons with the team, he saw action in 17 games with four starts while playing the No. 3 wide receiver role behind Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans.
Per NFL rules, players who begin the season on the PUP list must miss at least six games and cannot practice. During that time, players do not count as part of the 53-man roster. Once the six-week window is over, there is a three-week period for the team to activate players to the 53-man roster.