GMC out against the Bears

Gerald McCoy has been ruled out of the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears in London. Although he did practice on a limited basis this week unfortunately the coaching staff did not see enough from him to put him on the field. His absence while somewhat expected hurts a Buccaneer defensive line that has a tough matchup against Matt Forte today. 

Jeff Faine is also out today meaning we'll have Jeremy Zuttah starting at center and Ted Larsen stepping in at LG. No surprises here as Faine was ruled out of the game a few days ago. Zuttah has been a fantastic swingman playing several different positions along the line and playing most of them well. We will have to see if Larsen can step up and play at the level of the rest of this offensive line. 

Other than McCoy and Faine the Buccaneers will be without Sammie Stroughter, Myron Lewis, James Lee, Legarrette Blount, and Zach Pianolto who are all inactive today.

On the flip side Luke Stocker will be back in action today. He fully participated in practice this week and will be on the active roster today. He adds some much needed versatility to the offense because of this ability to block and catch. That will be huge against an experienced Bears linebacking corps that figure to be a very tough test for the young Buccaneer offense today. 

Chicago inactives after the jump.

The Chicago Bears will be without DE Mario Addison, QB Nathan Enderle, S Major Wright, WR Earl Bennett, OL Gabe Carmini, DT Matt Toeaina, DE Corey Wootten. 

This list is very similar to the Bears roster last week against the Vikings. Top draft pick Gabe Carmini is out again which is good news for the Buccaneers as their defensive line will be looking to get after Bears QB Jay Cutler. 

Major Wright being out hurts the Bears secondary. Wright was hurt in practice late this week and will not play. He'll be replaced by Chris Harris in the starting lineup. 

Seems as though the Buccaneers are going to be missing more key players on our team with our starting RB, DT, and C out but as always you won't hear excuses coming from Tampa. The next man up mantra is in full effect this week and the next man will need to step up as these old rivals from the former NFC central division clash across the pond. 

It's going to be a black and blue kind of day Bucs Nation. Let's get the pads on and deal out some punishment!