Just when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get some semblance of positive momentum, some negative news comes along to bring everyone back to Earth.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on November 25 that Tampa Bay safety Jordan Whitehead will miss the rest of the season with an injury — just 1 day after the Buccaneers snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 30-7 win over the New York Giants in Week 12.
“#Bucs S Jordan Whitehead is feared to have torn his pec, an injury that would end his season, sources say. He’s getting an MRI to confirm the diagnosis. Last week, Tampa claimed S Mike Edwards, who won a Super Bowl ring with them. Now, he’ll provide key help in the secondary,” Rapoport wrote on his official X account.
Whitehead signed a 2-year, $9 million contract with the Buccaneers in March 2024 and is in his second stint with the team, having previously played for Tampa Bay from 2018 to 2021. He’s also been one of the few consistent pieces on a defense that’s struggled mightily in 2024.
Through 11 games, Whitehead was second on the Buccaneers with 76 tackles — just 1 tackle behind linebacker Lavonte David — to go with 3 pass deflections.
Buccaneers Welcomed Whitehead Back From NYJ
Whitehead starred in college for the University of Pittsburgh, where he was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2015 and was a 2-time All-ACC pick before the Buccaneers selected him in the fourth round (No. 117 overall) of the 2018 NFL draft.
Whitehead made 11 starts and played in 15 games as a rookie, then started every game he played in for the next 3 seasons, including all 16 games in the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl-winning season in 2020, when he had 74 tackles, 2 interceptions, 9 TFL, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
In the 2020 playoffs, Whitehead was also great, making 4 starts and finishing with 9 tackles and 2 forced fumbles, including a forced fumble recovered by teammate Devin White in the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Buccaneers let Whitehead go in free agency in 2022, when he signed a 2-year, $14.5 million contract with the New York Jets, where he started 34 consecutive games over 2022 and 2023 and had 6 interceptions, including a career-high 4 interceptions in 2022.
Edwards Will Be Called Upon to Step Up for Bucs
Edwards, like Whitehead, is also on his second stint with the Buccaneers after he started his career in Tampa Bay, where he was drafted in the third round (No. 99 overall) of the 2019 NFL draft out of Kentucky and played 4 seasons from 2019 to 2022, including the Super Bowl-winning season in 2020.
Edwards signed a 1-year, $3 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 and won his second Super Bowl after having 51 tackles, 1 interception and 2 fumble recoveries during the regular season.
He’s also played in 11 career postseason games, including an interception for the Chiefs in an AFC Wild Card win over the Miami Dolphins. He also had tackles and 1 pass deflection for the Chiefs in their 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.
“… From 2020-22 Edwards was on the field for 1,533 defensive snaps, ranking sixth in that category among all Buccaneer defensive backs,” Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith wrote on November 19. “During that same span, Edwards was first among all Tampa Bay defenders with seven interceptions. There’s a reason he was known as a ball hawk during his first go-around with the Buccaneers, and that’s a tendency that goes back well beyond his NFL days. He had 10 interceptions at Kentucky, for instance.”
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