The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waited until game day to make their final decision on the status of starting cornerback Carlton Davis III, who is dealing with a groin injury that kept him out of all three practices this week. The final verdict wasn't surprising given that Davis was deemed doubtful to play on Thursday's injury report; he will be inactive on Saturday in Detroit.
Cornerback Herb Miller, who was elevated from the practice quad on Friday, will be active, giving the Buccaneers their usual complement of cornerbacks. Jamel Dean, who just returned from his own two-game absence, will start opposite Sean Murphy-Bunting, with Ross Cockrell filling the slot corner role and Miller and Ryan Smith in reserve.
The Buccaneers will also be without running back Ronald Jones, who remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Leonard Fournette is expected to make his second straight start in the Bucs' backfield.
The Lions had a much longer injury report than the Buccaneers and had already ruled out starting right tackle Tyrell Crosby and wide receiver Kenny Golladay on Thursday. This is the third straight game that Crosby has missed, while Golladay hasn't played since Week Eight.
Eight other players were listed as questionable on Detroit's injury report, including quarterback Matthew Stafford (rib, right thumb), Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow (throat) and leading tackler Jamie Collins (neck). Stafford will play, as he did last week, but both Collins and Ragnow are among the Lions' inactives.
The Buccaneers announced their list of inactives at 11:30 a.m. ET, 90 minutes before their scheduled kickoff against the Lions. With Jones not counting against the active roster, Tampa Bay had 53 players to choose from after elevating cornerback Herb Miller from the practice squad, which meant they had to name five players inactive. The Lions entered the weekend with 53 players on their active roster plus two players elevated from the practice squad (CB Tramaine Brock and G Evan Brown) and thus had to name seven players inactive.
BUCCANEERS INACTIVES
- TE Antony Auclair
- CB Carlton Davis
- DL Khalil Davis
- QB Ryan Griffin
- WR Justin Watson
Davis is out due to injury.
LIONS INACTIVES
- LB Jamie Collins
- T Tyrell Crosby
- WR Kenny Golladay
- DL Frank Herron
- S Jayron Kearse
- C Frank Ragnow
- OL Logan Stenberg
Collins, Crosby, Golladay, Kearse and Ragnow are out due to injury.
