The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get one key player back this week: Charles Sims. The rookie running back is eligible to return from injured reserve, designated for return. With Doug Martin's struggles, Sims could very well get a large workload sooner rather than later. In fact, Pewter Report on Sunday said that the team expects him to supplant Martin, while Lovie Smith seemed excited about Sims' return in today's press conference.
"Very [excited about Charles Sims' return]," Lovie Smith said. "As I talk about not being able to get more from our running game, of course it's just not on the front - we say it starts up front. A lot of the big plays you see happening in the league in the running game is based on yards after contact - making someone miss in the open field. That's all a part of it also."
"We need more production from the running game, period," Lovie Smith later noted. "But again, it's not just on Doug. Doug is a part of it and we'd like to have more, but in order for Doug to get more yards, we need to get a lot more touches and going to go to third downs."
In preparation for SIms' return, the Bucs have waived quarterback Mike Kafka, who has played the backup role for the past few weeks. With Josh McCown healthy, there's no need to carry him on the roster and he can go back to the practice squad. The team also waived receiver/return man Eric Page from the practice squad and placed cornerback Derrius Brooks on injured reserve.