After Bucs head coach Todd Bowles announced all of the players who would be out against the Seahawks due to injury, there are no real surprises as to who is inactive this week. The team announced its inactive list 90 minutes before gametime, and it completely comprised the injured players Bowles had already announced would be out.
Inactives for #TBvsSEA 👇 pic.twitter.com/3U4wc044Ni
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 5, 2025
Bucs Secondary Hit Hard
The Bucs secondary, which has played close to lights out through the first quarter-turn of the season, is especially hard hit this week after the offensive line had it’s turn earlier in the season. Starting cornerback Jamel Dean will miss his first game of the season after injuring his hip against the Eagles last week.
The player who would normally fill in for Dean, Benjamin Morrison, also got hurt last week after filling in at an elite level for the rest of that game. Morrison is also out for this game forcing some juggling in the Bucs defensive backfield for Todd Bowles.
Bucs CB Jamel Dean – Photo by: USA Today
The most common theory, and one Bowles acknowledged, is that the team may move their starting nickelback Jacob Parrish and move him outside in base defense. When the team has to matchup against Seattle’s three-receiver sets it’s anyone’s guess though.
Izien would have been the logical choice, but he’s the third defensive back inactive due to injury. The Bucs could move Parrish back inside in nickel downs and have either Kindle Vildor or Josh Hayes play on the outside or they could keep Parrish on the boundary and drop safety Tykee Smith into the slot where he played well last year.
In that scenario Kaevon Merriweather would come on the field to replace Smith at safety.
Bucs Missing Two Offensive Weapons
Wide receiver Mike Evans, as expected, will miss his second consecutive game. Joining him will be fellow starter Bucky Irving who is dealing with two separate injuries – a foot injury and an injured shoulder. It came out today that his shoulder may be the more severe ailment of the two and figures to keep Irving sidelined beyond just this week.
Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Fortunately for the Bucs, wide receiver and running back are two of their deeper position groups and the team stands to absorb both losses as well as any. Rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka is 11th in the NFL in receiving yards and tied for third in receiving touchdowns through the first four weeks of the season. And Rachaad White is the team’s former starting running back and averaging 4.7 yards per carry this year.
