The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been relatively healthy so far in training camp. So, when the team saw four of their top five receivers missing from their latest night practice, it was going to raise some alarm bells. The good news is that three of the four injuries do not seem serious. However, it does appear second-year wideout Tez Johnson is going to miss some time with a groin injury.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wide Receiver Room Suffers Multiple Injuries
GettyTampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tez Johnson.
Johnson was getting extra work when he hurt his groin. That is because the other three receivers were already being held out of practice. Todd Bowles said that the team is trying to keep star receiver Emeka Egbuka off the turf. So, for the night practice on turf, the Bucs decided to let him sit.
They were also just being safe with Chris Godwin, who does not appear to have an injury. The team has been giving him maintenance days throughout training camp. He is a seasoned veteran with a long history of injuries, so it makes sense for the team to ease him in.
Jalen McMillan did suffer a knee injury and has been out for the past couple of days. However, Bowles said that the injury does not appear to be serious. He probably could have suited up for the Bucs, but they wanted to give him an extra day to be safe.
Still, without those three, it had Johnson next to rookie Ted Hurst as the two top receivers. Of course, that is until Johnson went down. The question now is how long until he can return, and does his injury open the door for other Bucs receivers?
Tez Johnson Suffers Groin Injury At Buccaneers Training Camp
Johnson fell to the seventh round of the 2025 NFL draft. Despite that, he was able to make an impressive impact during his rookie season. He caught 28 passes for 322 yards and added five touchdowns. They also got seven carries for 22 yards.
The arrow is definitely pointing up for Johnson, but there is not much room for him to navigate the Bucs’ depth chart. Godwin and Egbuka should be the top two. McMillan will definitely get chances ahead of Johnson, and the team drafted Hurst in the third round this year.
They knew what they had in Johnson and still wanted Hurst at a higher draft cost. So, Johnson appeared to be entering camp as the fifth receiver. With the injury added, he could go from a fun rookie story to competing for his roster spot.
Kameron Johnson has a good chance to push Tez Johnson for the number five spot, and might even make it as the sixth receiver. Behind him are David Sills, Garrett Greene, Dennis Houston, Eric Rivers, and Dean Patterson.
Rivers and Patterson are rookie UDFAs, so their potential is unknown, but they could sneak up on Johnson. The other three will be getting more chances with Johnson down. We will see if this impacts his chances in 2026.
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