TAMPA, Fla. _ Bucs wide receiver DeSean Jackson is slated to get a second medical opinion on his nagging thumb injury, putting his status for Sunday's home division contest against the Carolina Panthers into question.
Coach Dirk Koetter said Jackson was re-examined by a local hand specialist Monday and will be traveling to New York to receive a second opinion there on Tuesday. It's typical that players receive another medical opinion when their first diagnosis isn't a favorable one.
Jackson was listed on last week's injury report with a thumb injury and had a brace on his left hand during Thursday's practice, but still participated in practice and played 36 snaps in Sunday's 27-9 win over the 49ers at Raymond James.
But Jackson didn't play a major role in the Bucs' win on Sunday. Despite being targeted eight times, Jackson made just three catches for 19 yards and added a 6-yard run on an end-around play. Jackson's biggest play of the day came on a 14-yard reception down the sideline in the third quarter.
Quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 312 yards and connected with eight receivers, but missed Jackson on three deep balls, including one ball in the second quarter when Winston had Jackson wide open downfield but overthrew him.
Those three deep-ball misses didn't include a defensive pass interference call that Jackson drew that served as a 23-yard gain to set up Peyton Barber's 2-yard touchdown runs three plays later to give the Bucs a 20-9 lead.
"The thing with DeSean (Sunday) is we just flat missed him five times," Koetter said. "One was a tough over-the-top shot that Jameis overthrew but there were four other times that DeSean was open and we just missed him. We didn't miss many throws yesterday, but the ones we did miss unfortunately were mostly to DeSean."
Much has been made of how Winston and Jackson have been unable to connect, and Winston has completed just 13 of 33 pass targets _ 39.4 percent _ to Jackson this season with one touchdown and three interceptions. By comparison, Ryan Fitzpatrick connected on 71.1 percent of his targets to Jackson this season.
Jackson also didn't deny reports that he requested to be traded in advance of the trade deadline at the end of last month.
Jackson has played in all 11 games this season, making 40 catches for 750 yards. His 18.8 yards per reception is tied for second-best in the league. Jackson missed the last two games of last season with an ankle injury after he was injured during a Week 14 loss to the Falcons.
