Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said Friday that he expects Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin will play Sunday in the Bucs’ crucial NFC South rematch with the New Orleans Saints. Godwin caught the ball for the first time Friday after undergoing surgery for a fractured left index finger Oct. 27.
“We’ll see how sore it is tomorrow. He caught the ball fine, but we’ll see how sore it is,” Arians said. “But I would anticipate him probably playing, just knowing how tough he is and knowing what it all means to him.”
During the portion of practice that was open to the media Friday, Godwin had a bulky white brace on his left hand, but he was not seen making any catches. Godwin suffered the injury in the second half of the Bucs’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders Oct. 25 making a touchdown catch.
Arians believes the finger is past the point of potential infection and that it’s mostly a matter of pain tolerance. He does not believe there will be any risk of further injury for Godwin, whose 1,333 receiving yards last season were third-most in the NFL despite missing the final two games of the season.
The Bucs are currently 6-2 and sit atop the NFC South, but the 5-2 Saints beat them in Week 1, which makes Godwin’s presence that much more vital. Godwin’s already missed four games this year — Week 2 with a concussion, Weeks 4 and 5 with a hamstring injury and Week 8 with the finger injury.
“They’ve got a very nice splint/brace thing worked out that he wore today. But Chris is tough. He’ll be out there,” Arians said. “If there was any jeopardy at all, we would not let him play. He’s been cleared, so we’ll just see how the pain tolerance goes and see how sore he is tomorrow.”