Todd Bowles Says He Doesn’t Know When Ryan Jensen Will Play Next
August 7th, 2023
Ryan Jensen
It’s a safe bet that Robert Hainsey is your starting center Friday night when the Buccaneers get to play real football, glorious football, to open the preseason against Pittsburgh at The Licht House.
Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen started and played an entire playoff game in January, his first action following a major knee injury last summer.
So while Joe is no medical professional, Joe does know it’s a giant red flag that Jensen is not practicing during full contact work this summer.
Head coach Todd Bowles was asked about Jensen’s return to live action this morning and played the clueless card.
“It’s a good question. I don’t know, honestly,” Bowles replied. “I just go by what the doctors and trainers tell me and go by how he’s feeling and work on the progress. Some days are good; some days are not as good. I’ll just wait for the answer and kind of go from there.”
Bowles, of course, did not share what the doctors and trainers are saying.
Joe just hopes Bowles stays dialed in to what’s best for the team. If he thinks Hainsey is more ready for the rigors of facing the Vikings on turf in 34 short days, then that has to happen even if Jensen feels slighted.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:26 pm
I guess it’s still possible that Jensen will acknowledge the obvious and retire at the end of camp, hope it doesn’t come to this
August 7th, 2023 at 12:32 pm
Hold on tight Buc fans. We might look real ugly this season. At least be ready.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:34 pm
Injury settlement soon to come.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:35 pm
4 wins Mike Johnson.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:36 pm
Big reason why they have had leverett in at center too I’m sure. Shoot we probably need to pick up another to be safe.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Word is Hainsey bulked up in offseason. He wasn’t good last year but sometimes these guys need a break in year to get acclimated.
If its Hainsey, then lets hope the guy has taken the next step like other Bucs o-lineman have done in the past after a rough first season go.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:43 pm
It appears we could be looking at centers very early in next year’s draft…
August 7th, 2023 at 12:44 pm
Probably not a good idea to start someone at center you pick up off the August waiver wire.
If its not Jensen – then its Hainsey.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:44 pm
Big men with foot and knee problems some times never get fully recovered. He suited up and gave it a go when it counted, so there’s that at least. Might be time to call it a career though.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:44 pm
Hainsey was decent at pass blocking, less so run blocking
August 7th, 2023 at 12:55 pm
I am struggling to find a GOOD reason to watch this season.
I really want to be all RAH-RAH, but it just feels like the Bucs put a band-aid on wet skin.
Neither any artificial enthusiasm I may be able to muster, nor any success the Bucs will have this season, will last.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:02 pm
Too bad teams can’t opt out for a season. That might do the Bucs good.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:05 pm
Jensen is giving off a David Bakhtiari impression at this point. I don’t know if he’ll play and when he does it probably won’t be at the level we was previously…
I really hope Hainsey got a lot stronger because his run blocking was awful last year.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:16 pm
Hainsey is mobile and a good fit in zone blocking.
Play the long game with Jensen. Get him healthy for the playoffs.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:25 pm
Will Baker start at QB Friday night? Or Trask? Has Bowles made a decision yet?
August 7th, 2023 at 1:27 pm
Maybe dude should have went for the surgery
August 7th, 2023 at 1:36 pm
Talk about dread man some of y’all kick your dog when you wake up don’t cha
August 7th, 2023 at 1:40 pm
Hainsey was the biggest reason our OL fell off the planet last year. He gets completely rag dolled in the run game. The pocket implodes every play with him at C. Will be super disappointing if he’s our starter on day 1.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:41 pm
Let the bum go! He’s done. Same with Russell gage. We are going to suck so bad this season. All of you that remain optimistic are simply delusional morons.
August 7th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
If Jensen needs to start the season on the injured list, then so be it. Better to have him healthy for the second half of the season and Hainsey can start until Jensen is ready.
Having Leveritt as a back up Center makes good sense. Stinnie can back up both guard positions (assuming he makes the team).
Don’t lose a good Rookie just to keep injured players on the active roster.
If Jensen can’t go then let him rehab further on the injured list.
August 7th, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Just sucks that we’re paying Ryan the most $ in the league as a C and he can’t even practice. Then we’ve got Shaq making $20M + for basically a rehab year.
August 7th, 2023 at 2:03 pm
I know there’s not much that can brown at this point, but man, feels like half our salary cap is just being flushed down the toilet this year
August 7th, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Jensen is a real warrior,a leader & a really good guy . To play center in the NFL without a surgically repaired ACL is expecting too much . We will surely miss him as we did last season –but he should retire before he gets hurt further
August 7th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Where the hell did this latest Jensen situation come from? A couple days ago toilet Bowles said we just are giving him one day on and one day off as a precaution. Now he doesn’t know when he’ll be ready to play? Ummm okey doke Todd.
August 7th, 2023 at 2:10 pm
Jensen should have gotten surgery last season.
August 7th, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Jensen will be our starting Center week 1 no need for him to be out there in meaningless games
August 7th, 2023 at 3:04 pm
Surgery or no surgery. I guess he chose his fate. Hopefully he was correct with his decision, if he does not play the non-surgery approach was a total waste of this great player. We can’t replace Ryan with anyone from this roster.
August 7th, 2023 at 3:42 pm
Don’t believe the hype. Bowles is just holding his wild card out to prevent another preseason major blow to the offense. Jensen’s fine, he’ll be ready on live rounds day.
August 7th, 2023 at 3:47 pm
Bucsd will be good whether Jensen plays or not. Believe guys.
August 7th, 2023 at 3:51 pm
here’s an idea, the people who’s jobs are on the line, lets let them decide what to do and lets just be fans, not pseudo GMs.
And im all about keeping starters OUT of preseason games. Let them play in the scrimmage games with other teams, where both QBs put on a red vest and no one can touch them.
you have 80% of people in here making decisions without any information. CALM DOWN as Rodgers once said
August 7th, 2023 at 4:03 pm
Hainsey is not going to prevent the team from succeeding if he starts. He did ok last season and looks to be better this season. The team has other major problems and it is not Hainsey.
August 7th, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Hainsey was something like the 14th ranked center in the league last year by PFF or someone. Taking that with a grain of salt but it was his first NFL action and first time playing center. He will improve. If he takes over he will be better than last year and he was at least average last year.
August 7th, 2023 at 4:08 pm
As far as Jensen. Could be a salary cap thing, but if all he did was rehab it from last year, and he played in January, if he CAN’T play right now, he’s likely done. If he can but they are limiting him that’s a different story. Either way, Hainsey is too good to keep off the field anyways. Jensen must have passed the physical…or did he? If he’s truly in bad shape now, he’ll likely retire near the end of camp and the Bucs will defer as much money into the future as possible.
August 7th, 2023 at 4:15 pm
I’m hoping it’s just a precaution. Unlike Kancey, Jenkins doesn’t need many reps to be ready.
August 7th, 2023 at 5:13 pm
Bill in Seminole Says:
August 7th, 2023 at 1:25 pm
Will Baker start at QB Friday night? Or Trask? Has Bowles made a decision yet?
I just hope both of them get equal snaps with the first team, because, well, YOU KNOW
August 7th, 2023 at 5:20 pm
If he can play, he’ll be out there. Not much more to it than that.
August 7th, 2023 at 5:28 pm
Baker starts the first preseason game, Trask starts the second….thats what Ive read
August 7th, 2023 at 9:17 pm
I have lived here 30 years and have been a Bucs fan from beginning. Watching highlights of Barber this weekend reminded me of the years when Chris Burmen made a living calling us the “Yucks.” Ouch!
I will be a Bucs fan every Sunday if they lose every game this year. It’s who I am. It’s what I do.
August 8th, 2023 at 12:42 am
Why in the hell did this man start the playoff game against the cowboys?!
Seems like gross negligence by our coaching staff.
This O-Line is the crux of our entire season. If we can’t run block, we are looking at a 2022 repeat.