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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew they would be without receiver Antonio Brown and that they would see the return of tackle Vita Vea - however, no one was anticipating the loss of a PFWA All-Rookie member and standout safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
Winfield tweaked his ankle in practice on Thursday and now the Bucs defense will go against a red hot Packers offense without one of their key pieces. Safety Mike Edwards, who had an interception last week against the Saints as well as one in week six against these very Packers, will start in his place.
For the Packers, they will be without defensive end Kingsley Keke who could not clear concussion protocol. Keke’s absence will certainly not help the Packers’ ability to get after Tom Brady or their ability to slow down Ronald Jones or Leonard Fournette.
Here is the full list of inactive players for the NFC Championship;
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
S - Antoine Winfield Jr.
WR - Antonio Brown
QB - Ryan Griffin
RB - Ke’Shawn Vaughn
DL - Khalil Davis
DL - Jeremiah Ledbetter
TE - Antony Auclair
Green Bay Packers
QB - Jordan Love
DL - Kingsley Keke
CB - Josh Jackson
LB - Jonathan Garvin
TE - Jace Sternberger
CB - Ka’dar Hollman
S - Vernon Scott
Vaughn is inactive for the Bucs for the second straight game, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissaro reported that RoJo is “much healthier” than he was for last week’s divisional round. The Bucs will lean heavily on their running back duo in Lambeau Field today.
The Bucs and Packers kickoff at 3:05 p.m. ET on FOX. Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi will be on the call. Aaron Rodgers attempts to get to his second Super Bowl as the Bucs attempt to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium - a feat never before accomplished.