TAMPA, Fla. — Tight end Cameron Brate has been added to the Bucs’ injury report, which nonetheless appeared a bit more encouraging Thursday.
Brate, who has sparkled in the postseason (11 catches, 149 yards, one touchdown) while Rob Gronkowski mostly has brandished his blocking chops, was a limited participant at practice due to an unspecified back issue. Coach Bruce Arians did not address Brate’s status during his brief media session.
But he offered an encouraging assessment of the other injured starters, namely receiver Antonio Brown (knee) and safeties Jordan Whitehead (shoulder) and Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle).
Brown was a full participant; Whitehead and Winfield were limited, according to the report.
“They all worked today and looked good,” Arians said. “Now it’s just a matter of, do they swell (Friday)? We’ll monitor that in the training room, but they were active today and ran around pretty good.”
Others practicing on a limited basis were inside linebacker Lavonte David (hamstring) and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul (knee), whose mid-week practice participation has remained minimal all season. Defensive tackle Steve McLendon (not injury-related) did not participate Thursday.
“I told (Pierre-Paul) not to practice today, and he’s running all over the place,” Arians said.
