The Tampa Bay Buccaneers season just took another big hit. As the team remains winless on the year, rookie quarterback Mike Glennon is in need of all the offensive weapons he can get his hands on. While Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson were creating a solid receiving tandem for the Buccaneers, the team is officially down one.
The Tampa Tribune reports that Williams will be placed on injured reserve with a torn hamstring, ending his season. Williams first suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4. The receiver failed to get healthy during the Week 5 bye. He returned against the Atlanta Falcons, catching four passes for 32 yards. However, during the loss to the Carolina Panthers, Williams tore his hamstring and his season.
Williams was a crucial part to the Tampa Bay offense. While the team ranked 26th in passing offense with their rookie quarterback at the helm, Williams was the second leading receiver with 22 catches for 216 yards. The injury comes after he signed a $40.25 contract extension in the offseason. Head coach Greg Schiano is hopeful the team can step up in his absence.
"I think the biggest thing is you look at what are you doing well,'' Schiano said. "There's a lot of games that, early on, we believe we should have won. What did we do well to put us in a position to win? What did we do in these last three games where it wasn't as tight of a game, or at least this last one? Take what you do well, build on it.
With the NFL trade deadline approaching, the Buccaneers are still unlikely to target a move. As of now, Tiquan Underwood, Chris Owusu and Eric Page are the best options to replace Williams on the field. Kevin Ogletree is another receiver that could prove to be a strong target for Glennon.
Jackson will move up as the best wide receiver the team has. He will get all of the work load that he can handle in the absence of Williams. If the Tampa Bay offense did not already rely on the captain, it sure does now. Glennon is averaging just 5.5 yards per attempt which is worse than pretty much every other quarterback in the league aside from his former teammate, Josh Freeman. While Jackson will be a hit in fantasy because of his targets, owners should not expect a whole lot of scoring out of him.
