Josh McCown could miss six weeks with torn thumb ligament

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have to be without Josh McCown for the long term. According to ESPN, the quarterback has torn a ligament in his thumb and would miss at least six weeks if he were to undergo surgery on his thumb. He will attempt to throw on Monday, but if the pain is not manageable he will need to have that surgery.

Lovie Smith has stood behind his quarterback, but McCown has struggled so far this year, throwing mind-boggling interceptions in every game and leading a very unproductive passing attack. While McCown has completed a large percentage of his passes, he hasn't managed to do much with those completions, throwing for just 6.2 yards per attempt.

At a minimum, Mike Glennon will get the start today against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The second-year quarterback had a somewhat promising rookie season, and could turn into a quality starter, provided he shows improvement in some key areas, specifically a willingness to pull the trigger down the field. It's not unthinkable that a quality performance sees him taking the starting job away from McCown permanently, although Lovie Smith has historically been reluctant to change quarterbacks.

The Bucs play the Steelers at 1:00 p.m. ET, as they try to recover from that horrifying loss to the Atlanta Falcons ten days ago.