Doug Martin ‘Out’ Sunday according to media report
By Peter Smith
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times and the Buccaneers beat reporter has said that running back Doug Martin will not play this week against the Seattle Seahawks. This is not a huge surprise since the shoulder injury Martin suffered was initially expected to keep him out the entire season. For whatever reason, the Bucs and Martin seem to be trying to get him back on field this year, but it will not be this week.
The winless Bucs will be at a significant disadvantage against the Seahawks this week and not having their top running back option does not help. With Martin out this week, it means the earliest he could return would be for Monday Night Football next week against the Miami Dolphins. This game could now feature all kinds of ugly story lines with Bucs head coach Greg Schiano all but fired at this point and the details slowly leaking out as to what happened in an ugly situation in Miami with offensive tackle Jonathan Martin, which could come back to look extremely bad on the Dolphins organization. The next few games for the Bucs include the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions and then the Carolina Panthers. There is not much reason for Martin to fight to get back this year, but this would simply be the latest of a series of questionable decisions they have made this season.