Doug Martin, Gerald McCoy unlikely to play against Falcons

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are unlikely to play Doug Martin against the Atlanta Falcons tonight, Ian Rapoport reports.The running back is suffering from a knee injury and has been limited in practice over the past two weeks, but it seemed like he was ready to play. Apparently, that's not the case. The Bucs will test him in pre-game warmups, but those tests rarely change a situation. We should have definitive word on his participation around 7:00 p.m.

With Doug Martin out, Bobby Rainey should get the start. Even if Martin starts, Rainey will get a significant amount of carries.With the Falcons' defense being a bit of a disaster of their own, Rainey should at least have a productive night.

In other bad Bucs news, Rapoport also reports that Gerald McCoy will not play, as it's too early in his recovery from a broken hand. That would leave the Bucs without their best defensive player. Clinton McDonald is likely to slide over to three-technique from the nose tackle position, with Da'Quan Bowers also stepping on passing downs. Second-year player Akeem Spence will get the bulk of the work at nose tackle.

Tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins and middle linebacker Mason Foster have already been declared out for the game.

In slightly-not-disastrous news, it does look like Michael Johnson will return to play tonight. So, there's that minor bit of good news.