Buccaneers Get Important Injury Updates Ahead of Wild Card Weekend

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers battled through injuries throughout the season and impressively put together a 12-4 campaign and the No. 3 seed in the NFC. Luckily, Tampa Bay seems to be getting healthy at the right time as a trio of important playmakers returned from the injured reserve on Wednesday.

The #Bucs designated three players currently on injured reserve to return to practice: LB Lavonte David and RBs Leonard Fournette and Giovani Bernard.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 12, 2022

Leonard Fournette Injury Update

Running back Leonard Fournette was placed on IR with a hamstring issue after Week 15. The stellar rusher missed Tampa Bay's final three games, but is hoping to immediately step into his No. 1 spot on the RB depth chart upon his return.

Fournette led all Tampa Bay rushers with 812 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns in 2021 and played a massive impact in the passing game, turning 84 targets into 69 receptions for 454 receiving yards and 2 additional TDs.

Lavonte David Injury Update

All-Pro linebacker Lavonte David also went on IR after Week 15 with a foot ailment. David was a tackling machine despite playing in only 12 games and ranks second on the Bucs with 97 combined tackles, plus 1 fumble recovery and 2.0 sacks.

Giovani Bernard Injury Update

Running back Giovani Bernard is the third Buccaneer to return to practice on Wednesday. The passing-down specialist last played in Week 14 before his own trip to the injured reserve list. Bernard saw action in 12 games this season and turned 29 targets into 23 receptions for 123 receiving yards and 3 TDs.

This trio could have a huge impact on Tampa Bay's course to another Super Bowl title. The Buccaneers enter the postseason with +750 odds (3rd) to win Super Bowl LVI on FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.