Bucs Week 8 injury report: Winfield and Egbuka practice, Trotter sits with illness

The first Week 8 injury report brought the Buccaneers two pieces of good news and two new absences. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and quarterback Baker Mayfield were full participants on Wednesday, October 28, and receiver Emeka Egbuka was limited. Linebacker Josiah Trotter, who is ill, and right tackle Luke Goedeke did not practice (Buccaneers.com).

Key facts

• Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (rib) and quarterback Baker Mayfield (right thumb) were full participants in Wednesday's practice (Buccaneers.com, October 28).
• Receiver Emeka Egbuka (concussion/foot) and outside linebacker Yaya Diaby (illness) were limited on Wednesday (Buccaneers.com, October 28).
• Linebacker Josiah Trotter (illness), tackle Luke Goedeke (calf) and running back Kenny Gainwell (hip) did not practice (Buccaneers.com, October 28).
• JoeBucsFan reports that a flu bug is still moving through the Bucs locker room, with several players limited or out last week (JoeBucsFan, October 29).
• For the Falcons, running back Brian Robinson (hamstring), defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. (hamstring) and linebacker Divine Deablo (forearm) did not practice (Buccaneers.com, October 28).
• The Bucs host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 PM ET, 19:00 CET, on FOX.

The team published the report at 4:14 PM ET. It lists practice participation only and carries no game designations; those come later in the week (Buccaneers.com).

Buccaneers injury report, Wednesday

Source: Buccaneers.com, October 28. DNP means did not participate.

Winfield and Egbuka are back on the field

Winfield has a rib fracture that he picked up in the loss to the Packers on October 4, and Todd Bowles gave a range of two to four weeks at the time. Our Winfield update has the details. He was out for the Panthers game on October 25, and Wednesday was his first full practice of this week (Buccaneers.com).

Egbuka was ruled out for Carolina with a concussion and a foot injury, as our Week 7 final injury report showed. His limited practice on Wednesday is his first practice step this week. Mayfield, who threw a touchdown in the 43-13 win in Carolina, was a full participant again with the right thumb (Buccaneers.com). Our Week 7 recap covers that game.

Illness moves through the locker room

Trotter did not practice because of an illness, and Diaby, who had three sacks in Carolina, was limited with an illness as well. JoeBucsFan reports that a flu bug has been going around the Bucs locker room, that several players missed time or were limited last week, and that some were still dealing with it on Wednesday (JoeBucsFan, October 29).

Goedeke missed the Panthers game with a calf injury and sat out Wednesday too. Gainwell did not practice with a hip injury (Buccaneers.com, JoeBucsFan).

Falcons injury report, Wednesday

Source: Buccaneers.com, October 28. Smith's absence was listed as rest, not injury.

What comes next

The Bucs host the Falcons on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 PM ET, which is 19:00 CET and 18:00 in the UK, on FOX. The clocks in the United States go back that morning, so the gap with Central Europe is six hours, not the usual five-hour difference of the last weeks. How to watch from Europe has the details, and the depth chart shows who is next up at each spot.

Wednesday's report is the first of three. The Thursday and Friday reports will show whether Winfield and Egbuka keep progressing and whether the illness has cleared out of the building. For a defense that leans on Winfield and an offense that has Egbuka as a starter, those two names matter more than anything else on the list.