Second-year linebacker Jack Cichy will go from spectator to participant when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take the field on Monday afternoon for their fourth training camp practice. Earlier that morning, Cichy was activated from the active/physically unable to perform list (PUP), his designated status at the start of camp.
Cichy was a sixth-round pick by the Buccaneers in the 2018 NFL Draft, taken 202nd overall. He played in six games as a rookie before suffering an ACL tear in Tampa Bay's win over Cleveland on October 21, which required surgery and pushed him to injured reserve. Cichy did not take part in offseason practices as he continued the rehabilitation process but will now eagerly get back into the mix.
Cichy also overcame pectoral and knee injuries that cost him part of the 2016 season and all of 2017 during his college career at Wisconsin. Prior to that he played in 24 games with 11 starts and recorded 120 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and six passes defensed. With the Buccaneers, he played primarily on special teams as a rookie and had three kick-coverage stops while also logging one tackle on defense. He is listed as an inside linebacker in the Buccaneers' new 3-4 base defense, though he still could utilize his pass-rushing skills in Todd Bowles' aggressive blitz schemes.
The Buccaneers started camp with five other players on the active/PUP and non-football injury (NFI) lists in addition to Cichy. One of those five, wide receiver Xavier Ubosi, was later waived. That leaves four players still waiting to be activated for practice: outside linebackers Jason Pierre-Paul (NFI) and David Kenney (PUP), safety Justin Evans (PUP) and quarterback Nick Fitzgerald (NFI). They can be activated for practice at any time and they continue to count against the 90-man roster while they are on those active lists.
