{"id":301500,"date":"2025-08-19T20:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T20:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/301500\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T20:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T20:43:09","slug":"shilo-sanders-not-a-lock-for-spot-with-tampa-bay-bucs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/301500\/","title":{"rendered":"Shilo Sanders not a lock for spot with Tampa Bay Bucs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Shilo Sanders is fighting for his NFL dream with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The undrafted rookie safety impressed<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/1954351568524067108\" rel=\"nofollow\"> in his preseason debut<\/a> but stumbled in his second game. Now, his future may come down to one final chance against the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n<p>Strong Start in Debut<\/p>\n<p>Sanders made an impact in his first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans. He delivered a solo tackle, a quarterback hit, and played 37 defensive snaps\u2014third most on the team.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Todd Bowles praised his toughness, noting Sanders\u2019 strong tackling and energy on the field.<\/p>\n<p>Setback Against the Steelers<\/p>\n<p>The second preseason game told a different story. Sanders came in during the third quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He recorded two tackles but also missed two key plays and failed to stand out in coverage.<\/p>\n<p>NFL analysts called it a poorly timed dip in performance. With roster cuts looming, every snap matters.<\/p>\n<p>Current Roster Outlook<\/p>\n<p>Most projections now leave Shilo Sanders off the Buccaneers\u2019 53-man roster. Tampa Bay appears set with safeties J.J. Roberts, Kaevon Merriwether, Christian Izien, Tykee Smith, and Pro Bowler Antoine Winfield Jr.<\/p>\n<p>Still, GM Jason Licht and coach Bowles have both highlighted Sanders\u2019 hunger and work ethic. Bowles said: \u201cThis last week is going to be very important for those guys to show up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A Family Moment<\/p>\n<p>Even amid roster uncertainty, Sanders shared a touching moment. After his debut, he gave his game-worn jersey to his mother. His father, Deion Sanders, joked he wouldn\u2019t accept one unless Shilo grabbed \u201cmultiple interceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Final Chance Against the Bills<\/p>\n<p>The Buccaneers face the Buffalo Bills on August 23. For Sanders, this game could determine whether he earns a roster spot, lands on the practice squad, or is released.<\/p>\n<p>Key Takeaways<\/p>\n<p>Strong debut: Standout plays vs. Titans.<\/p>\n<p>Second-game struggles: Missed tackles vs. Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>Roster projection: Currently on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n<p>Coach\u2019s view: Praised for toughness and effort.<\/p>\n<p>Last opportunity: Must perform well vs. Bills.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shilo Sanders is fighting for his NFL dream with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The undrafted rookie safety impressed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,564,11,198,7,2879,4146,945,6,2715,6025,704,250,15556,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-301500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-deion-sanders","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-hbcu","14":"tag-hbcu-sports","15":"tag-jackson-state","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-shilo-sanders","18":"tag-swac","19":"tag-tampa-bay","20":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","21":"tag-tampa-bay-bucs","22":"tag-tampabay","23":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115057380983310857","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}