![\"Haason](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2234711792_09f9aa.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKevin C. Cox\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Haason Reddick did not play Sunday against the Saints.<\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>\u2018 dominant defense is likely to get even stronger after their Week 9 bye.<\/p>\n Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles offered an update on EDGE rusher Haason Reddick, saying he is only dealing with an ankle sprain and knee soreness after their 23-3 win over the New Orleans Saints<\/a> on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.<\/p>\n Reddick missed the Bucs win in the Big Easy with the multiple lower-leg injuries but has 1.5 sacks, 16 tackles and three tackles for loss in seven games this season.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay (6-2) leads the NFC South by two games over the second-place Carolina Panthers<\/a>. The Bucs will meet the New England Patriots<\/a>\u00a0at Raymond James Stadium on Nov. 9.<\/p>\n The Buccaneers Dodged A Bullet With Haason Reddick\u2019s Injury<\/p>\n Reddick was carted off the field during the Bucs\u2019 24-9 loss to the Detroit Lions<\/a> last Monday night, which could have been a catastrophic injury given Reddick\u2019s potential impact rushing the passer.<\/p>\n Reddick is 14th in the NFL<\/a> in pressures and has taken the 15th-most snaps among EDGE rushers entering Week 8, according to Pro Football Focus. Those are despite the 58.9 grade, which only ranks 80th among players at that position.<\/p>\n Yet, when asked about Reddick\u2019s status post-bye, Bowles admitted the Bucs dodged a bullet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is just a sprain. Right now, we are taking it day-by-day, week-by-week,\u201d Bowles said. \u201cThe knee is sore, but it will be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact Reddick dodged a season-ending injury seems beneficial, since Tampa Bay ranks third in the NFL in sacks (25) behind only the Denver Broncos<\/a> and Los Angeles Rams<\/a>. He is one of the best pass rushers on the team.<\/p>\n The Buccaneers Should Wait Until Haason Reddick Is Fully Healthy Before Bringing Him Back<\/p>\n Reddick has long been a closer. He is the Von Miller-like EDGE rusher that comes in and seals games with a sack.<\/p>\n He has 60.5 career sacks \u2014 22nd among all active players \u2014 and rushing the passer is what he did best as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>, particularly in 2022 when he posted 16 sacks and finished fourth in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting while helping them reach the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Yet, the Bucs defense managed just fine without him against the Saints on Sunday, who granted are one of the worst offensive teams in the NFL. Filling in for Reddick, Anthony Nelson had a career game, logging two sacks, four tackles, a forced fumble and a three-yard interception return for a touchdown against New Orleans.<\/p>\n Nelson is now second on the Buccaneers in sacks (3) this year, and they have 12 players with at least one sack this year \u2014 a consequence of their extremely deep defense and Bowles\u2019 exceptional ability to dial up pressure via an array of blitzes and stunts.<\/p>\n Five different Buccaneers players had at least a half-sack against the Saints, led by Nelson. They may have a harder time against the Patriots, who have allowed just 28 sacks in eight games this year.<\/p>\n But the Bucs have their sights set higher than just a regular-season game in November, since they are a virtual lock to win the NFC South. Having a player like Reddick healthy \u2014 since he has 3.5 sacks in four career playoff games \u2014 could be the difference between a playoff season and a championship-caliber year.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tPat Pickens<\/a> is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Buccaneers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images Haason Reddick did not play Sunday against the Saints. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers\u2018 dominant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-480499","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-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115448353485604782","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480499","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=480499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}