TAMPA, Fla. — Last season, Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin suffered a torn ACL that ended his season on December 19th. Friday, he practiced for the first time this preseason.
Godwin was limited to individual, non-contact drills, but he practiced in full pads with the rest of his teammates. Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles is happy to see Godwin back on the field, but he said #14 has a long way to go before he's up to full speed.
"He’s running around. That’s a whole different thing than playing football. Running around’s a whole different thing," Bowles told reporters after practice. "So we don’t have our hopes up. We’re just happy he’s making progress. We’re not going rush him. We’re just glad to see him out there working right now. As it goes on, we’ll see."
Godwin wasn't made available to the media following Friday's workout.
Bucs rookie running back Rachaad White wants to make a splash just like Godwin did during his rookie campaign. Tampa Bay's third-round pick said he's getting into a groove after his first eight pro practices.
"Just knowing the playbook more and more every day, yeah. It’s great to come out here and be confident and just play fast," White said after Friday's practice.
White has repeatedly said his focus is on becoming the Bucs starting back. Incumbent starter Leonard Fournette has no problem with that at all.
"A lot of people made a big deal about him saying he’s coming in and starting," Fournette said. "Why wouldn’t that be your mindset? When I was a rookie, I had the same mindset."
"He said some good things about me? I didn’t even know Lenny liked me," White joked. "Nah, nah, he’s cool! Lenny, that’s my guy."
"My job is to pass on - help him out as much as I can while I’m here," Fournette added.
White's excited to get more reps in game-like situations next week when the Bucs host the Dolphins for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by the preseason opener on Saturday.
"It’s a lot of excitement going into next week," Rachaad added. "Being a preseason game. Kinda to show what you can do and ways you can help out the team."
Quarterback Tom Brady didn't attend practice on Friday. He had an excused absence for what the team said is a personal matter.
