TAMPA, Fla. — In terms of pandemic precautions, the Bucs enter next Thursday’s season opener against the Cowboys at full strength.
Coach Bruce Arians said Thursday his team is “100 percent vaccinated,” adding he expects the three players currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list to be cleared by Monday.
“We’re 100 percent vaccinated,” Arians told reporters following a late-morning practice in the AdventHealth Training Center’s indoor facility. “Everybody in our organization — all the players, all the coaches, everybody.”
While maintaining that vaccination was a personal decision, Arians insisted at the dawn of training camp in July that he would strictly enforce the rigid COVID-19 protocols set out for unvaccinated players.
Tailback Leonard Fournette, among the lingering vaccine holdouts, said he chose to get the shots after praying about it.
“(Vaccinated) people are still catching (COVID-19), but it just makes it a lot better that I have the shot and don’t cause other things on the team,” Fournette said. “We need every hand in here for these next couple of big games we’ve got coming up, especially the opener.”
Meantime, kicker Ryan Succop, one of four players placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week, appeared at Thursday’s indoor workout. Those expected back by Monday are defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh and reserve offensive linemen Earl Watford and Nick Leverett.
