Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was limited to 10 games last season due to injury.
He’s on the mend after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, but is not yet participating as Tampa Bay gets its OTA practices started this week.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, Irving got on the field midway through the day’s session and worked on the side with trainers and running backs coach Skip Peete.
“[H]e’s coming along fine,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after the session, via PewterReport.com. “We expect him sometime back in the summer or fall, and we’ll look forward to him when he gets back.”
That Bowles would mention the fall when discussing Irving’s return is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. But it is still late May, giving Irving months to recover before Tampa Bay’s Week 1 matchup against the Bengals.
Irving rushed for 588 yards with one touchdown and caught 30 passes for 277 yards with three TDs last season. As a rookie in 2024, he rushed for 1,122 yards with eight touchdowns and caught 47 passes for 392 yards.