Panthers
The Buccaneers made a roster swap on Thursday, October 22. They activated receiver David Sills from injured reserve and placed linebacker Christian Rozeboom on IR with a finger injury, which clears Sills to make his Bucs debut at Carolina on Sunday (Buccaneers.com, Pewter Report).
Key facts
- The Buccaneers activated receiver David Sills from injured reserve on Thursday, October 22, which makes him eligible to debut against the Panthers (Buccaneers.com, October 22).
- Linebacker Christian Rozeboom went on injured reserve with a finger injury and will miss at least four games (Buccaneers.com, October 22).
- Sills is the first player to return from injured reserve for the Bucs this season; his 21-day practice window opened on October 12 (Buccaneers.com, October 22).
- Sills played for offensive coordinator Zac Robinson in Atlanta in 2025 and set career highs of 18 catches, 191 yards and two touchdowns (Buccaneers.com, October 22).
- Receiver Emeka Egbuka (concussion/foot) did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday (Buccaneers.com, October 22).
- Tampa Bay plays at Carolina on Sunday, October 25, at 1:00 PM ET, 18:00 CET (Buccaneers.com).
The Sills activation
Sills is the first Buccaneer to come back from injured reserve this season. The team placed him on IR during the final cutdown on August 30 with a designation to return, and his 21-day practice window opened on October 12 (Buccaneers.com). We covered the start of that window in David Sills returns to practice as the Bucs open his 21-day window.
He signed as a free agent in April and is reunited with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who coached him in Atlanta in 2025. That season Sills set career highs with 18 catches for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He has also played for the Giants and the Broncos (Buccaneers.com). Our Robinson offense explainer shows what he is walking back into.
Sills was a full participant in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, listed with a hamstring injury (Buccaneers.com).
Rozeboom to IR
Rozeboom went on injured reserve with a finger injury and will miss at least four games. He did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday (Buccaneers.com). He played 25 snaps in the Week 6 loss to the Steelers, with four tackles and a pass defensed.
This season he has appeared in five games with eight tackles, one tackle for loss and two passes defensed. He also has three tackles in kick coverage. Last year he started 15 games for Carolina and recorded 122 tackles (Buccaneers.com).
Player | Pos | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
WR | Activated from IR | Hamstring, practice window opened October 12 | |
Christian Rozeboom | LB | Placed on IR | Finger, at least four games |
Source: Buccaneers.com, October 22.
The receiver room
The timing matters because Emeka Egbuka did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday with a concussion and a foot injury (Buccaneers.com). Chris Godwin Jr. was also listed as a non-participant on Thursday for rest (Buccaneers.com). Jalen McMillan remains on injured reserve; the details are in our McMillan report, and our Egbuka report tracks his status.
Pewter Report names Godwin as the top receiver and lists Ted Hurst III and Tez Johnson for the open second spot, with Sills expected to get some snaps.
What comes next
The Buccaneers play at the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, October 25, at 1:00 PM ET, 18:00 CET, because Europe moves to winter time that night. Our how to watch guide has the details, and the depth chart shows the current receiver and linebacker groups.
Friday's final injury report will show whether Egbuka has a game status. Either way, the Bucs now have a receiver who already knows Robinson's system, and the cost is an inside linebacker who had played in five games.
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