Read More: Jeremy Trueblood (OT – TAM), Kellen Winslow (TE – TAM), Albert Haynesworth (DT – TAM), Arrelious Benn (WR – TAM), Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t expected to put up much of a fight against the playoff-bound Atlanta Falcons in Week 17, but being without Kellen Winslow might make their chances of pulling an upset even more minuscule.

Winslow missed practice on Friday due to something that is not injury-related, and his status for Sunday’s game is unclear.

The rest of the Buccaneers injury report is relatively clean: Jeremy Trueblood is out with a concussion, and wide receiver Arrelious Benn and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth are both questionable, but no other major name is worse than probable.

Here’s the rest of the Bucs injury report for Week 17:

OUT: T Jeremy Trueblood (concussion).

DOUBTFUL: none.

QUESTIONABLE: WR Arrelious Benn (neck), DE Michael Bennett (toe), DT Brian Price (ankle), DT Albert Haynesworth (knee).

PROBABLE: DE Adrian Clayborn (hamstring), LB Geno Hayes (finger), LB Adam Hayward (foot), DT Roy Miller (back), WR Preston Parker (concussion), WR Sammie Stroughter (knee).

For more on the Falcons, head to The Falcoholic; for more on the Buccaneers, visit Bucs Nation.

By Eddie Maisonet

– Newsdesk contributor

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Dec 28, 2011 – Injuries on a football team can tend to help create depth for the future. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have dealt with their fair share of injuries all season, and younger players have had to step up and play. Per the PewterReport.com, rookie defensive end Da’Quan Bowers has a good perspective on the experience gained this season what the future may hold for the defensive line:

“I think we all made great strides [with] myself starting the last couple of games and Adrian (Clayborn) being in the starting lineup the whole season along with Mason (Foster),” Bowers said. “You know it just goes to show you what this team is going to be capable of in the future. Got a young team and hopefully we can get everybody back in next year and make a decent run at what we need to be on like the Super Bowl and all those type of things. Been a tough year, but [with] us being so young it is not necessarily a bad thing. It gives you a time to grow as a team and as a unit.”

That defensive line’s goal on Sunday will be to take down Atlanta Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan, as the Bucs try to finish the season strong. Here is the full injury report for the Falcons in week 17:

WR Arrelious Benn (neck) DNP
DE Michael Bennett (toe) DNP
DT Adrian Clayborn (hamstring) LP
LB Geno Hayes (finger) LP
DT Albert Haynesworth (knee) DNP
LB Adam Hayward (foot) FP
DT Roy Miller (back) DNP
WR Preston Parker (concussion) DNP
DT Brian Price (ankle) DNP
WR Sammie Stroughter (knee) FP
T Jeremy Trueblood (concussion) DNP

Legend

LP: Limited participation in practice
FP: Full participation
DNP: Did not practice

For more on the Falcons check out The Falcoholic, SB Nation’s Atlanta Falcons blog. For more on the Bucs check out Bucs Nation, SB Nation’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers blog. For more on the NFL, check out the SB Nation NFL hub page.

Read More: Arrelious Benn (WR – TAM), Da’Quan Bowers (DE – TAM), Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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TAMPA — Quarterback Josh Freeman has only so much influence over the direction of games, but at least he has been given more control of the Bucs’ offense.

In Saturday’s 48-16 loss at Carolina, Freeman was finally allowed to push the pace of the offense, operating primarily from the shotgun and spreading the field with three and four receivers.

After LeGarrette Blount fumbled a handoff on the first offensive snap, the Bucs drove 80 yards in 15 plays on their next possession, ending in a 4-yard Freeman touchdown pass to Arrelious Benn.

On their only other possession of the half (not including a kneel down), the Bucs went 61 yards in 11 plays, and Connor Barth’s 42-yard field goal cut their deficit to 17-10.

Coach Raheem Morris said a big part of the game plan was to keep the ball in Freeman’s hands and give him a better chance to get into rhythm, a departure from the plodding, run-first ground attack behind Blount.

“Up the tempo. Increase it. Get the gas going, get into a rhythm,” Morris said. “Josh did a nice job of controlling it, looking at the coverage, looking at what we wanted, getting into the correct play, and those are the things that are frustrating for young Josh right now.

“He takes the blame.”

The third-year quarterback had one of his best games of the season, completing 28 of 38 passes for 274 yards, one touchdown and the interception for a 91.3 quarterback rating.

“The first half, excluding the first fumble, we only had two drives, scored on both,” Freeman said. “And the second half, we came out and turned the ball over.

“We were trying to go out, push the tempo, get the ball in our playmakers’ hands and make some things happen.”

With Blount benched for most of the game after his fumble, running backs Kregg Lumpkin and Mossis Madu were efficient rushing and receiving. Each caught four passes and combined for 44 yards rushing on 11 carries.

The Bucs turned the ball over four times, including a Freeman interception on the first series of the third quarter while they were trailing 20-10.

The Panthers scored 24 points off turnovers.

“I had the tipped pass,” Freeman said. “It could’ve been a little higher, but the guy made a great play on it.

“I thought it was going to be a big play when the ball left my hands. … Yeah, it just didn’t go my way.”

Perhaps not, but that up­tempo offense might be the best way to go for Freeman and the Bucs.

“I was liking what (Freeman) was doing,” Morris said. “I was liking what (offensive coordinator Greg Olson) was doing with the play calling.

“We had the alerts, we had everything we wanted to get going there, dictating what they were doing on defense, and we got something going. But we weren’t able to keep it on track.”

For the second time this month, Newton handed the Buccaneers an embarrassing defeat, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another in the Carolina Panthers’ 48-16 victory Saturday. The staggering Bucs have lost nine straight games, perhaps putting coach Raheem Morris’ job in jeopardy.

“As a player, you try not to think of that,” defensive tackle Frank Okam said. “You want to play hard for him. We know how hard he works, and how he’s doing everything he can to help us win. Then, we go out and make him look bad. When we don’t execute, it’s on us.”

Buccaneers receiver Arrelious Benn, who scored one of Tampa Bay’s two touchdowns, echoed those sentiments.

“A team must go out and do what it’s meant to do,” Benn said. “A coach can do only so much. I know I want to play well for my coach. I can say everyone in here wants to play well for our coach. We have to learn from this adversity we’ve had, and know that we’re not going to do the things that got us here again.”

Morris blamed this loss — and the season — on turnovers.

The Bucs have coughed up the ball 36 times this year, while taking it away only 23.

“That’s the difference between this season and last season,” Morris said, recalling Tampa Bay’s 10-6 record a year ago.

The Bucs (4-11) turned the ball over four times Saturday, including a fumble by LaGarrette Blount on the game’s first possession. After that, a frustrated Morris benched the running back until the second half.

“It’s a basic thing, and to fumble like that, that’s unacceptable,” Morris said. “If some players aren’t ready to play, we’ll put others in.”

And hope they can do something to slow Newton.

In two games against the Bucs this season, Newton accounted for eight touchdowns — four passing and four rushing — as the Panthers totaled 79 points.

Newton, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, broke Peyton Manning’s rookie record for yards passing Saturday and set a franchise mark with a 91-yard touchdown toss to Brandon LaFell.

Newton threw for 171 yards and three touchdowns and scored on a remarkable 49-yard run up the middle in which he outraced smaller defensive backs to the end zone.

The Panthers (6-9) scored on eight of their first nine possessions and piled up 397 yards in three quarters against the league’s 30th-ranked defense. Carolina coach Ron Rivera pulled Newton and the other key starters early in the fourth.

DeAngelo Williams scored on runs of 8 and 22 yards, his sixth and seventh TDs of the season, and Jonathan Stewart ran for 88 yards and caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Newton.

Newton entered the game needing 18 yards passing to break Manning’s rookie record of 3,739 and did so with a 7-yard pass to LaFell on the first possession.

“It’s tremendous, but if you ask the young man he’ll tell you the most important thing is we won the game,” Rivera said. “There’s a lot of good things ahead for us.”

Read More: Ronde Barber (CB – TAM), Derrick Brooks (LB – TAM), Geno Hayes (LB – TAM), Arrelious Benn (WR – TAM), Brian Price (DT – TAM), Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcomed three players back to practice on Thursday ahead of their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Saturday.

Defensive tackle Brian Price (ankle), defensive lineman Michael Bennett and linebacker Geno Hayes (knee) all returned to practice after missing time on Wednesday, all this according to the team’s Twitter account.

The Bucs also tweeted that head coach Raheem Morris expects wide receiver Arrelious Benn to play against the Panthers. Benn was held out for last weeks game against the Dallas Cowboys after suffering from concussion-related symptoms.

In one last note, the team tweets that cornerback Ronde Barber will play in his 224th game with Tampa Bay on Saturday, tying Derrick Brooks for the most games played in team history.

For more on this game, head over to the NFL hub at SB Nation. But you can also check out Bucs Nation for more on the Buccaneers and Cat Scratch Reader for more on the Carolina Panthers.