TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles ruled out All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., tight end Cade Otton and wide receiver Sterling Shepard for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.
It will be Winfield's third consecutive missed game since suffering a right knee sprain against the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 8. He has not practiced since.
Otton suffered a knee injury at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15 and has not practiced since, missing the Bucs' 26-24 loss at the Dallas Cowboys last week that snapped a four-game winning streak.
Shepard, who has helped fill the void left after Chris Godwin sustained an ankle injury in Week 7, suffered both hamstring and foot injuries at Dallas.
The Bucs have already been without their other starting safety, Jordan Whitehead, although he did begin his 21-day return-to-practice window this week after suffering a partially torn pectoral muscle in Week 12 and landing on injured reserve. He has not been activated to the 53-man roster yet, however, but was a full participant in practice this week and has been practicing with a harness.
The team does have one starting-caliber safety left, although he wasn't initially a starter or even on the Bucs' roster at the beginning of the season -- Mike Edwards -- who was claimed off waivers just prior to Week 12. Edwards, however, missed Weeks 14 and 15 due to a hamstring injury and then was dealing with an illness Tuesday of this week, although he was a full participant the remainder of the week. The team has until Saturday to activate him -- and the Bucs could certainly do that with backup nickelback/safety Christian Izien going to IR with a pectoral injury -- but they'll also need to clear a roster spot for punter Jack Browning, who has maximized his practice squad call-ups for the year.
On top of that, safety Kaevon Merriweather, who played 51.8% of defensive snaps against the Cowboys, has been limited by a knee injury all week.
At tight end, Payne Durham will continue to replace Otton at the "Y" receiver position going forward. And in Shepard's absence, Ryan Miller, who scored a 13-yard touchdown with 2:40 to go to give the Bucs a chance against the Cowboys, is expected to get a heavier workload.
Bowles said that starting inside linebacker K.J. Britt, who has been dealing with an ankle injury, will be a game-time decision.
Also Friday, the Bucs waived linebacker Antonio Grier Jr. and defensive lineman Earnest Brown IV. Corresponding moves haven't been announced yet. They have two players who could be activated from their 21-day practice window in Whitehead and wide receiver Kameron Johnson -- and both of those positions are in need due to injury -- and Browning also would need to be signed to the 53 if they intend to use him. They could technically have all three on the 53-man roster now given Izien was placed on IR.
The Bucs likely will need to win out to pull ahead of the Atlanta Falcons, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over them, in order to advance to the playoffs.