{"id":385336,"date":"2026-01-01T19:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T19:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/385336\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T19:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T19:50:09","slug":"buccaneers-cb-jamel-dean-lb-anthony-nelson-out-vs-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/385336\/","title":{"rendered":"Buccaneers CB Jamel Dean, LB Anthony Nelson out vs. Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jenna LaineJan 2, 2026, 05:36 AM<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Jenna Laine covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for ESPN. She started covering the Bucs for ESPN in 2016, but she has covered the team since 2009. Jenna is a former cheerleader at the University of South Florida and speaks to the consistency of the program as being one of the top best in the nation.<\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> coach Todd Bowles said Thursday that starting cornerback Jamel Dean<\/a> and outside linebacker Anthony Nelson<\/a> will be out for Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Carolina Panthers<\/a> — a game that will determine the winner of the NFC South.<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers can win the division if they beat the Panthers and the New Orleans Saints<\/a> beat the Atlanta Falcons<\/a> on Sunday, whereas a victory for Carolina would secure the division outright.<\/p>\n

Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey<\/a>, the Buccaneers’ first-round draft pick in 2023, is in play to return after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in Week 2 and undergoing surgery. Kancey was originally thought to be done for the year at the time of the injury but was able to begin his 21-day practice window Dec. 24. He is officially listed as questionable.<\/p>\n

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“He’s definitely in play,” Bowles said. “Obviously we’d have to make some [roster] moves to get there to make that happen. He had a good week. … He had a very good two weeks. … If he plays, he’ll definitely be on a snap count.”<\/p>\n

All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs<\/a> has no injury designation after missing last week’s game at the Miami Dolphins<\/a> with a turf toe injury.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Baker Mayfield<\/a>, who is now dealing with a right shoulder injury and a knee injury that limited him Tuesday, will carry no injury designation after being a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n

Rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison<\/a>, their second-round pick who started the past two weeks in place of injured Zyon McCollum<\/a>, is dealing with a hamstring injury. It forced him to miss practice Tuesday, and he was limited Wednesday, but Bowles said, “He moved around pretty good today.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jenna LaineJan 2, 2026, 05:36 AM CloseJenna Laine covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for ESPN. She started covering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-385336","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}