Bucky Irving's Recovery Timeline Takes a Concerning Turn for the Buccaneers
Just a few weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ official stance on Bucky Irving’s recovery was cautiously optimistic.
Now, Head coach Todd Bowles is throwing around phrases like “summer or fall,” and it’s doing absolutely nothing to calm nerves in Tampa Bay.
Irving’s 2025 season was a nightmare from the jump. He suffered foot and shoulder injuries in a Week 4 loss to the Eagles. Then came a mentally rough patch while he was recovering, when Irving was isolated from the team as he rehabbed.
Irving missed seven games from Week 5 through Week 12, and was never able to fully recover from his shoulder injury, playing with a brace the rest of the way.
And even when he did return, he didn’t look like himself. His yards per carry dropped from 5.4 in 2024 all the way down to 3.4 in 2025 due to injuries.
Fast forward to the offseason, and while his foot fully healed, his shoulder didn’t, and eventually required surgery to fully fix.
He’s currently rehabbing, but he’s not ready. And now the head coach is admitting he might not be ready for the season opener.
On Tuesday, Bowles confirmed that Irving is expected back “in summer or fall,” meaning he could potentially miss the start of the 2026 season.
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In his rookie 2024 season, Irving ran for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns, both of which led all rookies, along with 392 receiving yards.
He became the first Tampa Bay rusher to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards since Doug Martin did so in 2015.
His 5.4 yards per rush attempt was not only a franchise record, but it was the third-highest mark in NFL history among rookies with 200-plus rush attempts in a season, trailing only Adrian Peterson (5.6 in 2007) and Clinton Portis (5.5 in 2002).
A fourth-round steal at 125th overall, PFF graded Irving as the highest-rated rookie in the entire league, ahead of Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, and Brock Bowers.
If healthy, Tampa fully expects him to get back to his rookie-year production level, which is why if Irving isn’t ready to go for Week 1 of the 2026 season, it leaves a massive hole in the Bucs offense.
The Bucs’ current depth chart has Kenneth Gainwell next up, followed by Sean Tucker and Josh Williams.
Gainwell is a one-cut runner with elusiveness and burst, and he’s a strong receiver out of the backfield. Tucker is a capable fill-in who can go for 100 yards on a good day. But neither of them is Bucky Irving.
The best-case scenario is that Irving is ready for training camp in late July, gets himself up to speed, and is a full go by September.
The worst case is that he misses the first few weeks of the regular season, the offense struggles early, and Tampa falls behind in the NFC South standings before their best player even takes a snap.
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 10:24 PM.