–The Bucs were among five NFL teams selected Wednesday to be the designated home team as part of the league’s international series in 2019.
Details will be announced next spring, but there will be four NFL games played next season in London and one in Mexico City.
The other “home” teams are the Chargers, Raiders, Jaguars and Rams.
As part of their bid to host the Super Bowl in 2021, the Bucs had to agree to forfeit a home game within five years of that announcement.
“I’ve been associated with games out of the country before,” head coach Dirk Koetter said. “When you get to them, I think the players do enjoy that week, when you actually get over there. The trips are long. Usually you’re rewarded on the back end with your bye week. But once you’re over there, it’s football. It’s new and it’s different. I think for right now, we’re trying to focus on Baltimore. We’ve got our hands full with Baltimore.”
–Bucs receiver DeSean Jackson still hopes to play again this season, but a lingering left thumb sprain he says he sustained in the season opener has gotten worse and he won’t return if he’s unable to catch the football.
Jackson said he aggravated the injury against the Giants on Nov. 18 but continued to play until he caught only three passes for 19 yards on eight targets in a win the next week over the 49ers.
“Yeah, man, actually, I think I did it the first game of the season and just kind of been bearing through it the whole season but kind of reinjured it when we were playing New York,” Jackson said Tuesday prior to his annual Shop with a Jock charitable holiday event at a Tampa Walmart.
“When I reinjured it, I hurt it pretty bad. The pain and just being a wide receiver, not being able to squeeze and grab the ball. I tried to do it against San Francisco. It just was tough and at the end of the day, if I’m not able to do my job and catch the ball, it’s tough to be out there. I’m just trying to get it back healthy. You know, it’s feeling a little better so hopefully I’m pretty close to getting back out there. We’ll see how it goes this week and look forward to next week.”
–Bucs defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, whose team-high 11.5 sacks are tied for ninth-most in the league, certainly stands out as the team’s top defensive performer. He’s been more than an elite pass rusher. He’s also made a tremendous impact in defending the run.
Last week’s game, a 28-14 loss to the Saints, was a good example. Pierre-Paul logged eight tackles and a fumble recovery, and his first three tackles were key stops against the run.
BY THE NUMBERS: 15 – Number of consecutive made kicks (13 extra points and two field goals) before Cairo Santos missed two field goals for the Bucs in a loss to the Saints last Sunday.
